3rd death anniv of Nazrul Sangeet legend Firoza Begum today
DL Reporter
Kazi Nazrul Islam, Nazrul Sangeet and Firoza Begumthese three words are inseparable from the music world of the Subcontinent. If anyone starts thinking or talking about our National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, the word Nazrul Sangeet is synonymous with him, and the very next word which surely comes alongside Nazrul Sangeet is Firoza Begum. With her own effort, devotion and honesty, Firoza Begum established herself on the throne of queen of Nazrul Sangeet.
Firoza Begum, an icon in this Subcontinent who left behind a colourful legacy, died on this day in 2014.
Born in 1930 in Gopalganj to the zamindars of Ratail Ghonaparha, Firoza Begum was guided by two true mentors, her father Khan Bahadur Mohammad Ismail, a famous lawyer and her mother Kaokabunnesa Begum, a true promoter of music with a sweet voice.
Jodi Porane Na Jage Akul Piyasa with the rendition of the song, she captivated the creator of the song as Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam himself was present at the audition of HMV, the famous Gramophone company of India. She did not even know the Poet before that audition; she enthusiastically took part in the life-changing audition in front of Kazi Nazrul Islam, while Sunil Bose of All India Radio encouraged her immensely. She also did not even know that the historic voyage of her music career will begin from the moment, once she sang the song of Nazrul in front of him. The Poet was impressed incredibly with the enchanting vocal and profound passion delivered by a nine-year old girl at the studio of All India Radio. Firoza was the luckiest one, who got the opportunity to be the direct student of Kazi Nazrul Islam and received love and affection of the Poet in his lifetime. She was taught by the Poet for two and a half years, which was the greatest achievement in her life that she always admitted when she was alive.
In 1942, the first solo record of Firoza Begum was released under the banner of HMV and the music arrangements of the songs were done by Chittarangan Roy, the chief associate to Kazi Nazrul Islam.
The day she met Kazi Nazrul Islam for the first time, she also met young Kamal Das Gupta at the audition of HMV on the same day. Firoza married Kamal Dasgupta in 1956. After he passed away in 1974, she married musician Mansur Ahmed.
Gramophone company HMV released ever first long play of Nazrul Sangeet with the songs of Firoza Begum and she was the first person who worked with musical notation of Nazrul Sangeet after the poet got severely ill.
In her long seven-decade of music career, Firoza Begum performed in about 80 solo musical shows at home and abroad. Before she died, she released as many as 12 LPs, four EPs, six CDs and more than 20 audio albums.
Firoza Begum, for her outstanding contribution to the Nazrul Sangeet, received numerous awards in her lifetime, such as Independence Award, Ekushey Award, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Award, Nasiruddin Gold Award, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Gold Award, Nazrul Sangeet Artist Award (several times consecutively), Nazrul Academy Award, Meril-Prothom-alo Lifetime Achievement Award. She also received a Gold Disk from the renowned Japanese audio production company CBS. l
