Uzeyir Hajibeyli Int’l Music Festival comes to end

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

A closing ceremony of the 10th Uzeyir Hajibeyli International Music Festival was held at Heydar Aliyev Center on September 26.

The festival, co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture was held in Azerbaijan on September 18-26.

World-famous musicians and ensembles from Azerbaijan, Russia, the U.S., Turkey, Italy and Slovakia mesmerized the audience with their unique style of performing.  

The closing ceremony was attended by scientists, artists and art figures.

People's Artist of Russia, the State Prize laureate, violoncellist Sergei Roldugin, the laureate of international competitions, the famous violinist Pavel Milyukov and the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli under the direction of the Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, Eyyub Guliyev performed at the concert.

The musicians presented rarely performed symphonic and instrumental works - S. Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto, J. Brahms's Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, K. Sen-Sans's 1st Cello Concerto and orchestral works by A. Borodin.

The concert was astonishingly performed within an atmosphere that could not have been improved.

The international music festival dedicated to Uzeyir Hajibeyli, the founder of the Azerbaijani professional music has been held in Azerbaijan since 2009. Famous musicians, art collectives, soloists and conductors from different countries perform at the festival.

It should be noted that the tradition of celebrating the birthday of the prominent composer as a musical holiday was set by great Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev.

The birthday of legendary composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli (September 18) is celebrated as National Music Day in Azerbaijan since 1995.

The great composer has left an indelible mark in the history of the Azerbaijani people.

Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s outstanding musical talent started a revolution in the Azerbaijani musical timeline. He was the very musician to introduce an extraordinary innovation in the nation's music culture, to constantly refresh it, and adjust to modern tastes. He was a founder of an opera genre not only in Azerbaijan, but the East and created the first Muslim opera in the Islamic world.

His unique synthesis of Oriental and Western music significantly promoted the classical music traditions in the East and opened a page of classical music patterns.

History recognizes Hajibeyli as an innovator as well as the first to establish a professional music school and Orchestra for Traditional Folk Instruments, to compose the Muslim world’s first opera and operetta, to introduce a woman on stage, to write the country’s national anthem (which is the official anthem of Azerbaijan today), to be awarded the highest artistic title of the Soviet Union.

Through his music as well as work as a journalist, teacher, and translator, Hajibeyli played a vital role in the fight against illiteracy and helped usher in a cultural shift, launching a period of enlightenment that transcended Azerbaijan’s borders and reached many others in the Eurasia region.