Roza Baglanova

Roza Urbiybi Tazhibaykyzy Baglanova (Roza Täjıbaiqyzy Bağlanova; January 1, 1922 – February 8, 2011) was a Soviet and Kazakh soprano opera and pop music singer.

Famine in the Kazakh steppe began in 1932.

It worsened the situation when combined with the death of the head of the family.

When the winter started, Roza had no warm clothes to wear.

There were no roads but only a steppe with impenetrable snowdrifts.

As a child, Roza was muffled into blankets from head to foot, and wearing a head woollen scarf and homemade boots from the large felt mat.

She walked 6 kilometers to school in the blizzards every day.

Baglanova studied at the Kyzylorda Pedagogical Institute from 1939 to 1941.

She dropped out from studying in the university in her third year since the material situation of her family had worsened.

Baglanova moved her relatives in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and enrolled in the textile institute.

In Tashkent she had a chance meeting with the soloist of the Tashkent Opera House and the director of the Uzbek philharmonic Mukhitdin Kari-Yakubov.

He liked her singing and suggested she audition for the Uzbek Philharmonic.

She was accepted there and performed as a soloist from 1941 to 1947.

At one of her concerts, her singing impressed the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, Usman Yusupov.

He provided Baglanova with a five-room apartment in the centre of the city and arranged to bring her remaining relatives to Tashkent.

In the summer of 1941, on the coast of the reservoir in the village Kattakurgan, there was the second concert by Roza within the ensemble.

Usman Yusupov attended and after the concert, he came to the singer and gave her 1000 roubles with a ticket to studying at the Moscow Conservatory.

After the outbreak of the Eastern Front of the Second World War (known as the Great Patriotic War), Baglanova and her choir went to the frontline to lift the spirit of the Soviet Army soldiers.

She continued this activity for the next four years.

The young star sang about 15 hours a day without a break despite the bad weather, blood, and flying bullets.

Thanks to this military period in her career, her collection of songs was filled with many military and folk compositions.

The most popular song was “Ah, Samara-gorodok” from the repertoire of Lidia Ruslanova.

Ruslanova liked how Baglanova performed the song and "gave" it to her.

Baglanova sang in 20 various languages.

It included all the languages that were spoken by soldiers from all the Soviet countries.

She was honoured with many awards throughout her career, including the People's Artist of the USSR (1967) and the Order of Lenin.

She was also deemed a Hero of Kazakhstan.

Baglanova was born in Kazalinsk, in Kyzylorda Region.

The Baglanov family consisted of grandmother Kundey, father Tazhibay, mother Akkurush, Tazhibai's second wife the Tatar Maryam, and older brother Idris.

Roza spent her whole childhood on the left coast of the river Syr Darya.

From the earliest years of her life, she dreamed of being a great singer.

Her grandmother Kundey was a talented woman and she was the person who taught the child to sing.

Her grandfather also loved singing, and together with his wife they used to perform at feasts.

Her two mothers liked singing and playing the accordion, surrounding Baglanova with a love of art.

Later Roza became an active member of the art club in the local theatre.

During her school years, Baglanova participated in many school, district, region, and republican concerts, including competitions in Kyzylorda, Almaty, Orenburg.

With the help of her sonorous childish voice, Roza was the darling of the people and often won prizes.

When her father Tazhibay Baglanov passed away while performing service duty, the family was left without the only breadwinner.

Grandmother Kundey owned rich property, and exchanged jewellery, dishes, trays, spoons, belts, and bracelets for bread, tea, flour.

Baglonova's grandmother and mothers sewed clothes and sold them to feed the children.