Until the revolution of 1979, Marzieh, who has died aged 86 of cancer, was celebrated as one of Iran's finest classical singers. However, the departure of the Shah and the
Born Ashraf os-Sadat Mortezaie in Tehran, Marzieh was inspired to sing by her mother, who came from a family of musicians. Her father was a mullah who went against religious tradition by encouraging Marzieh to go into formal education. She started performing in the 1940s at Tehran Radio, working with Persian songwriters and lyricists such as Ali Tajvidi, Parviz Yahaghi, Homayun Khorram, Moeini Kermanshahi and Bijan Taraghi. In 1942, as a beautiful 17-year-old, she played Shirin at the Jame Barbud opera house in the Persian operetta Shirin and Farhad.
She had been a last-minute replacement for Maleke Hekmat Shuar, who had walked out. The inexperienced Marzieh had such stage fright that she had to be pushed on to
When Tehran Radio started its Gulha (Love) Programme in 1954, she was its
She sang classical songs, never, unlike many other artists, compromising her work by appearing in nightclubs. Her style was lyrical; Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, of
However, after the revolution not even pre-existing recordings of female singers were broadcast. Khomeini decreed that "Women's voices should not be heard by men other than members of their own