1. MAVI KELEBEK (Blue butterfly) Ibrahim
Özgür 3:03 2. KALBIMDE HIÇ YERIN KALMADI (There's no place for you in my heart)
Fehmi Ege 3:07 Prelistening: 3. NEDEN SUSTUN (Why are you silent?)) I. Kipman
2:56 4. BIR ASK HIKAYESI (A love story) Fehmi Ege 3:09 5. ASKIN SESI (The voice of love) Lütfiye Çakmak
3:10 Prelistening: 6. SON NEFES (Last breath) Boulanger/Özgür, arr. Özgür
3:17 7. NE OLURDU SEN BENIM OLSAYDIN (What if you had been mine) Fehmi
Ege 3:09 8. YALANDIR SÖZLERIN (Your words are lies) Z. Bügük
3:13 9. BEL AMI Mackeben/Özgür, arr. Özgür
3:06 10. ARJANTINA (Argentina) authors unnknown, arr. Özgür
3:00 11. AYSE Fehmi Ege 3:08 Prelistening: 12. SEVIYORDUM SENI BEN (I do love you) Fehmi Ege
3:17 13. NEDEN (Why?) Fehmi Ege 3:25 14. ÇOK AGLADIM (I've cried so much) Fehmi Ege
3:03 15. SEVDIM DEDIM INANMADIN (I said I loved you, you didn't believe
me) Fehmi Ege 3:03 16. MEHTABA SITEM (Slighted by the moonlight) Fehmi Ege
3:13 17. DUYGULARIM (My feelings) I. Kipman 3:10 18. SÖNMEDI ATESIM (My fever has not died) Ibrahim
Özgür 3:12 19. KIRPIKLERIMI HANÇER YAPTI (She made my eyelashes into
daggers) Fehmi Ege 3:10
Release date: 25/10/1999
Total playing time: 61:04
Recorded in Istanbul between 1938 and 1949.
Restored and remastered by Torsten Lenk/Misiak Mastering,
Hamburg
10 page booklet in German, English, French + Turkish
"My inner life is in no way like my professional life.
However modern my professional life may be, my inner life is very conservative.
Presumably this is to do with my up bringing."
In the late 20s and 30s Tango was very popular in Turkey. For many composers
and singers it was the first contact they had with "western" music. With the
help of Armenian and Jewish musicians Tango established itself very quickly.
At the time Istanbul was a cosmopolitan city with many foreigners and elegant
audiences enjoying themselves in countless night clubs. The first Tango were
performed by female soloists.
The first man to win such an audience was Ibrahim Özgür. He was born
in Istanbul in 1905 and his father Mustafa played the horn in the state orchestra.
When Ibrahim was 16 he went to Ankara, in order to study clarinet and saxophone
in the Military Academy. After he'd finished studying he went back to playing
in night clubs in Istanbul. He founded his own orchestra and became famous for
his talented arrangements. In 1931 he began the adventure of his life: He went
on a 7 year concert tour to the Far East. This tour began in Beirut and took
him to India, Java, Sumatra, Singapore and Ceylon. Özgür returned
to Istanbul via England, where he then opened his own club "Ates Böcekleri",
the "Glow-worm".
His first recording dates back to 1938. He wrote many tango songs and had an
evident talent for nostalgia. His velvety voice was predestined for romantic
tangos. The famous "Mavi Kelebek" (Blue Butterfly) was the most popular tango
of his career and had general appeal, especially for his female followers.
"I wrote many of my tangos in order to feel I had the right to be the recipient
of all the love letters I ever received."
Unhappy love, the pain of parting and of longing - these are the three emotional
pillars of real the tango... Özgür drew inspiration from his unrequited
love for an Indian princess. In later years he never ceased to think about returning
to her. On the day before he died Özgür said: "I'm 49 years old.
Two thirds of my life are over. As a musician I am in my 30th. year. A long
time ago I gave a concert in Southern Asia. Ah, how I'd love to go abroad!"
In his country house near Istanbul where he kept horses, dogs, birds and even
a bear, Özgür died of a heart attack. It was the evening of 11th.
February 1959.
His voice however remains immortal.
RIENCD23
