A prominent Azerbaijani opera and pop singer Muslum Magomayev
Muslum Mahammad oglu Magomayev - famous Azerbaijani baritone and pop singer was born in Baku on August 17, 1942. Muslum Magomayev represented one of the most respected artistic dynasties in Azerbaijan. His grandfather Muslum Magomayev (1885-1937), was a friend and contemporary of the prominent Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov, and was one of the founders of the Azerbaijani-composed music. Magomayev's father, Mahammad Magomayev, who died during World War II, was a gifted painter, and his mother was an actress. Muslum learned to play a piano as a child, and began to take lessons from teachers of voice at the age of 14. He graduated from the music school in piano and composition at the Baku Conservatory, after which he graduated from the vocal class of the same conservatory. As a teenager he became interested in Italian songs, American jazz and other styles of popular music. In 1962, at the age of 20, Magomayev first appeared in Moscow where he performed within the frameworks of the Days of the Azerbaijani Culture. He sang two musical pieces in a gala-concert on the main stage of the USSR, the Kremlin State Palace of Congresses, and became a celebrity on a spur of the moment. A year later he gave his first solo concert in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Concert Hall to a full house and became a soloist of the Azerbaijani State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. Muslum earned fame in the USSR as an opera singer with Rossini's "Barber of Seville". He also became known for his arias from Puccini's "Tosca", Hajibeyov's "Koroghlu" and "Shah Ismayil", which was composed by his grandfather. In 1964 – 1965 Muslum was on probation in the La Scala theatre in Milan, but turned down the invitation to sing in Moscow, in the Bolshoi Theater upon his return. Instead, the singer turned to popular music, becoming a pop idol for the several generations of the music lovers in the Soviet Union. Muslum Magomayev's popularity in the USSR was overwhelming. He quickly became a cult figure and gave three concerts a day filling out huge arenas all across the Soviet Union, while his albums sold millions.
In 1966 and 1969 Magomayev performed in Paris Olympia with great success. The director of Olympia Bruno Coquatrix offered him a contract, and Magomayev was seriously considering an opportunity to pursue international career, but Ekaterina Furtseva refused to grant the permission for the Ministry of Culture, claiming that it needed Magomayev to perform at the governmental concerts. In 1969 he received a Gold Disc at the MIDEM International Awards (Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale) in Cannes for the album sales of over 4, 5 million units. In 1973, at the very young age of 31, Muslum was awarded the highest artistic title of the Soviet Union: People's Artist of the USSR. Magomayev is also known as a composer, he wrote songs and film soundtracks. In addition, Magomayev played in films and acted as a host in television and radio broadcasts devoted to the prominent musicians of the 20th century. Magomayev has been living and working in Moscow since the early 1970s. In 1997, in recognition of Magomayev's professional successes, a Russian astronomical society named two planetoids of the solar system in honor of him and his wife, Tamara Sinyavskaya, a prominent Russian opera singer who was also awarded as a People's Artist of the USSR and worked as a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. Muslum Magomayev was awarded by the many orders and medals. He passed away in Moscow on October 25, 2008. His body was brought to Baku and buried in the first Alley of Honor.
Recommended literature:
- Bəhmənli, Vaqif. Maqomayev planeti = The planet of Magomayev = Планета Магомаева / V. Bəhmənli ; red. N. Məmmədli ; Azərbaycan Respublikası Mədəniyyət və Turizm Nazirliyi. - Bakı : Elm və təhsil, 2012. - 119 s.
- Rəhmanzadə, Fazil Şamil oğlu. Bu isimdə bir can... : Azərbaycanın XX yüzildəki intibahı ilə bağlı tarixi-nəzəri, bədii-sənədli, publisistik qeydlər / F. Ş. Rəhmanzadə ; red. heyəti: R. B. Hüseynov [et al.] ; baş red. R. B. Hüseynov ; red. Ş. F. Rəhmanzadə. II kitab. - Bakı : Apostrof, 2015. - 552 s.
- Maqomayev, Müslüm Məhəmməd oğlu. Dahi Lanza / M. M. Maqomayev ; rus dilindən tərc. N. F. Məmmədli ; red. N. Məmmədli ; Azərbaycan Respublikası Mədəniyyət və Turizm Nazirliyi. - Bakı : İrfan, 2012. - 392 s.