Esin Afşar

Esin Afşar, born Sinanoğlu, (1936,^[1] Bari - November 14, 2011, İstanbul) was a well-known Turkish singer and stage actress.^[2]

Personal life

She was born in Bari, Italy to Nüzhet Haşim Sinanoğlu, a writer^[3] and consular official of Turkey and his wife Rüveyde, a journalist and writer. Esin was the youngest of five sieblings. Her brother, Oktay Sinanoğlu, became a notable professor of chemistry. Other brothers became professor of Latin, professor of Ancient Greek and Press Chief at European Council in Strasbourg.^[2][4]

She attended TED Ankara Koleji, and then studied piano at the Ankara State Conservatory.^[1] After graduation, she entered Turkish State Opera and Ballet as a pianist. But then her focus shifted to stage.^[5] She married to Kerim Afşar another stage artist. After 12 years of stage she returned to music and began singing in French and Italian. But after collaborating with Ruhi Su, she included Turkish folk music (türkü) to her repertoire. After she got divorce from Kerim Afşar, she was married to Şener Aral in 1975. After the mid 1980s, she was mainly active in foreign tours. She also played parts in drama. In 1999, she was hospitalized and her recovery was very slow.^[1]

Although she briefly returned to concerts and album recordings, Esin Afşar died on 14 November 2011 in a hospital in Istanbul, where she was taken due to leukemia about three weeks ago. She was laid to rest at the Karacaahmet Cemetery. She was survived by her husband Şener Aral, son Doğan Can and daughter Pınar.^[1][4][6][7]

Career

Although her repertoire included a wide collection of various melodies of different tastes, her fame mainly stems from Turkish folklore. In 1969 two of her arranged folklore melodies became hits. These were Bana seni gerek (lyrics by Yunus Emre (1240-1321) and composition by Esin Afşar herself) and Yoh Yoh (by contemporary folklore poet Kul Ahmet). The melody on the reverse side of the Yoh Yoh 45rpm, was Bebek, a well known anonymous Turkmen folklore melody. After the release of Yoh Yoh she was nicknamed Bayan Yoh Yoh (Mrs. Yoh Yoh). The same year she visited France and she joined the concerts of Gilbert Becaud and Josephine Baker. She was sent to Hungary by İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil, the minister of Foreign Affairs as an official representative of Turkish culture. In 1970, she gave a series of concerts in Italy. In 1972, she visited Soviet Union (especially those republics which would soon be called Turkic Republics) and South Korea. In 1973, she was in Israel, Great Britain, Belgium and Tunis and in 1974 in Australia. She also participated in the Turkish under contest to nominate Turkish participant for Eurovision Song Contest 1975. In 1980, in a live TV program, she sang a melody with lyrics from Nazım Hikmet and her melodies were banned by the military rule. In 1985, she gave a concert in Paris. In 1988, she appeared in concerts at Laussane, Switzerland and in 1989 in Mulhouse, France. In 1992, she gave concerts in North America. After concerts in the United States in early 2000s and releasing a CD for kids, she bagan working on Medieval age Turkish mystics such as Mevlana (known as Rumi in the West) and Ahmet Yesevi (in Kazakhstan) in addition to Yunus Emre. After 2005, she concentrated on domestic concerts.

Esin Afşar and Arabesque

Esin Afşar was strictly against a new style of music in Turkey emerged after the 1970s, named Arabesque, which was similar to Arabic music with Turkish lyrics. She protested arabesque by composing melody named Arabeske İnat ("Counter to Arabesque").^[8]

Discography

Albums ^[9]

• Dün ve Bugünün Türk Şiir ve Ezgileri, 1986 (poems)
• Ruhi Su'ya Türkü, 1987
• Yunus Emre, 1991
• Esin Alaturka, 1995
• Atatürk, 1997
• Özlem, 1998
• Pembe Uçurtma, 1998
• Caz Yorumlarıyla Aşık Veysel, 1999
• Nazım Hikmet Şarkıları, 2000
• Yunus Emre & Mevlana Şarkıları, 2002
• Söz Çiğdem Talu, 2006
• Büyük Türk Şairi Nazım Hihmet, 2010
• Esin Afşar Odeon Yılları, 2010

45 rpm singles^[9]

• Allam Allam Seni Yar / Yoh Yoh, 1970
• Niksarın Fidanları / Aliyi Gördüm Aliyi, 1970
• Gurbet Yorganı / Elif, 1970
• Halalay Çocuk / Güzelliğin On Para Etmez, 1970
• Allam Allam Seni Yar / Drama Köprüsü, 1970
• Yoh Yoh / Bebek (Bir Masal Türküsü), 1970
• Kara Toprak / Yunus (Bana Seni gerek Seni), 1970
• Yağan Yağmur / Çatladı Dudaklarım Öpülmeyi Öpülmeyi, 1971
• Diley Diley Yar / Yaprağı, 1971
• Sivastopol / Küçük Kuşum, 1971
• Gel Dosta Gidelim / Sorma, 1971
• Dert Şarkısı / Niye Çattın Kaşlarını, 1974
• Sandığımı Açamadım / Güneşe Giden Gemi, 1974
• Canı Sıkılan Adam / Yiğidin Öyküsü, 1975
• Sanatçının Kaderi / O Pencere, 1975
• Hacer Hanım / Ben Olayım, 1976
• Zühtü / Kaz, 1976

See also

• Oktay Sinanoğlu

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://www.biyografi.net/kisiayrinti.asp?kisiid=335 Biography page
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Maro, Asu (20122-11-16). "Alkışlarla geçiverdi seneler". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2012-12-09.  Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. ↑ http://www.kitapdenizi.com/kitap/Nuzhet-Ha%C5%9Fim%20Sinano%C4%9Flu-kitaplari-yd6423.aspx
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Esin Afşar hayatını kaybetti". CNN Türk (in Turkish). 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2012-12-09. 
5. ↑ Interview with Esin Afşar (Turkish)
6. ↑ Tunca, Hulusi (2011-11-10). "Afşar değil de.. Avşar olsaydı; Ortalığı Ayağa Kaldırmiştinız!". Magazinkolik (in Turkish). Retrieved 2012-12-09. 
7. ↑ "Esin Afşar’ın kızı duygulandırdı". Haber (in Turkish). 2012-11-17. Retrieved 2012-12-09. 
8. ↑ BGST Müzik page (Turkish)
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Discography

External links

• Esin Afsar at the Internet Movie Database

External video

Esin Afşar Sanatçının Kaderi

Esin Afşar Yoh Yoh