NEWS

For the first time, Sony Music has released a CD with Azerbaijani symphonic music performed by world-famous Liepaja Symphony Orchestra (LSO).

The release of CD is a significant event in the country's cultural life.

The CD features Niyazi's "Rast" and Vasif Adigozalov's "Segah" mughams, an oratorio "Karabakh shikestesi" (Karabakh Tragedy) composed by Vasif Adigozalov (1989) to the words of the poet Teymur Elchin as well as music pieces performed by "Karabakh" trio which includes soloists Mansum Ibrahimov, Elchin Hashimov and Elnur Ahmadov.

The cover of the disc displays the art work by eminent artist Togrul Narimanbayov.

The artist gained worldwide fame for his works in all genres of fine arts. His bright works created in various fields such as landscapes, portraits, monumental paintings, illustrations and theater painting are characterized by genre diversity, aesthetic perfection and a unique style.

UNESCO has invited Honored Artist Asmar Narimanbayova to take part in the International Symposium Perspectives on Art for Cultural Diplomacy. 

During the symposium, Asmar Narimanbayova created art works dedicated to Baku and Ordino (northern district in Andorra). Her colorful paintings aroused great interest among art lovers.

The international symposium was attended by 24 artists from Azerbaijan, Israel, Estonia, Spain, France, Belarus and other countries.

As part of the international event, discussions were held on the role of art in cultural diplomacy.

Asmar Narimanbayova lives and works in two cities - Paris and her native Baku.

The artist grew up in the atmosphere of love to art, music and literature. Her father Togrul Narimanbayov was the world-famous Azerbaijani artist and her mother Elmira Huseynova was a sculptor.

Narimanbayova is distinguished by her bold and unique art works.

The artist thrills art connoisseurs with her vibrant paintings in different styles, including impressionism, post-impressionism, cubism and others.

Narimanbayova's works are displayed at prestigious exhibitions, international festivals and symposiums all over the world.

The Gut Immling International Opera Festival has invited the chief conductor of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev to take part in the large-scale event. 

The Symphony Orchestra of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater will perform at the festival for the 12th time. 

Initiated in 1997 by bass-baritone opera singer Ludwig Baumann, the festival is held in Bavaria.

Every year, newly composed operas along with classic works by Mozart, Puccini or Verdi are presented to the audience as part of the festival.

The 25th Gut Immling Opera Festival will run until August 29.

Ayyub Guliyev will conduct arias and duets from the famous operas like "La Boheme", "Eugene Onegin", "Love Potion", "A Masked Ball" and many others. Moreover, Gut Immling Festival Orchestra will perform the overture from Uzeyir Hajibeyli's "Koroghlu" opera.

The final concerts will take place on August 27, 28 and 29. All these concerts will be conducted by Ayyub Guliyev.

Since 2009, Ayyub Guliyev has been teaching conducting at the Baku Music Academy.

The students of the prominent conductor are now continuing their studies at the Vienna State University of Music and Arts, the Vienna Conservatory and the Moscow State Conservatory.

Ayyub Guliyev is the winner of several competitions, including the International Conducting Competition after B. Lyutoslavckiy in Belostok in 2006 and the International Conducting Competition after D. Mitropoulos in Athens in 2008 and many others. 

The Honored Artist of Azerbaijan successfully collaborated with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (United Kingdom), Hamburg Klassik (Germany), Radio France, Lamoure, Elios (France) orchestras, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Wiener Consilium (Austria), Toscanini Philharmonic (Italy), Kolors Symphony Orchestra (Greece), Sichuan and Kunmin Philharmonic Orchestras (China), Danube Orchestra (Hungary), Russian National Orchestra (RNO), Russian Philharmonic Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra (Croatia) orchestra (Croatia, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra (Croatia), Lithuanian National Orchestra, etc.

In 2018, Ayyub Guliyev was appointed as a chief conductor and music director of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. He is also an associate professor at the Baku Music Academy.

In the summer, Ayyub Guliyev signed a contract with the music agencies in Serbia, Slovakia and Germany.

Several projects have been already implemented as part of this cooperation. In November, the composer signed a contract with the Dutch company TACT.

The company is the global leader in personal artist management of established international artists.

Ramiz Guliyev has successfully performed in Switzerland, Germany, Japan, USA, Canada, Denmark, France, Austria, Israel, England, Turkey, Moldova, Poland, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq and other countries.

The musician collaborated with many well-known orchestras, including the Vienna State Chamber Orchestra, the Wiener Consilium Musicum (Austria), the Parisian Lamure Orchestra (France), the Danube Symphony Orchestra (Hungary), the Bohdan Varhal State Chamber Orchestra ( Slovakia), Ankara State Capella Orchestra (Turkey), Tehran State Orchestra of Folk Instruments (Iran), etc.

Telequlle Restaurant will host the 4th Trend of the Year Awards. The event will take place in accordance with the quarantine rules and with the participation of media  representatives.

Founded by Caspian Events Group, the Trend of the Year is awarded for  annual achievements in the field of culture and art, theater and cinema, pop and folk art, television and radio, business and tourism, medicine and cosmetology, fashion and beauty industry, design and photography, media, etc. The laureates of the award are determined by voting on social networks and media monitoring.

The project manager is Tural Alekberov, executive producer - Ilmirza Agabekov, chief producers - Aydin Huseynov and Javid Nureddinli.

The 12th Gabala International Music Festival is coming back with spectacular concerts. The festival will see some of the most talented musicians from July 31 to August 4.

The large-scale event is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Baku Music Academy.

The 12th Gabala International Music Festival will close with a grand concert program called "Viva Opera" on August 4.

Gabala International Music Festival is an annual open-air festival of classical music held every summer since 2009 in Gabala.

Talented musicians from all over the world, world-known symphonic and philharmonic orchestras take part in the festival.

The festival initially positioned itself as a classical music festival. However, the festival's repertoire has eventually expanded. Now you can hear music of different genres, including jazz and mugham.

In 2018, Gabala Music Festival gathered  incredibly talented musicians from Azerbaijan, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine, Switzerland and other countries.

During the festival, music lovers got the chance to enjoy spectacular concerts of the Baku Music Academy, Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra, the State Chamber Orchestra, Cello Extravaganza ensemble, Oksana Yablonskaya and Friends ensemble, as well as national mugham singers accompanied by ensembles Naz Nazi, Clarte Clarinet quartet and Turkish Miraculum trio.

At the closing ceremony, the audience was presented with a grand concert program called "Viva Opera", accompanied by Virtuosos of the Kiev Symphonic Orchestra.

The State Service of Cultural Heritage Conversation, Development and Rehabilitation under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan implements a project entitled Scientific-archaeological excavations and summer school in Keshikchidagh.

According to Report's Western Center, with the participation of the staff of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of ANAS, archeological excavations are being carried out in 2 mounds in the place called Sariyokhush located in reserve.

Ruslan Anvarli, head of the Cultural Heritage Conversation Department of the State Service, and other employees got acquainted with the project's progress realized in reserve.

Giving information about the project, the director of Keshikchidagh State Historical-Cultural Reserve Musa Mursaguliyev said that mounds in the area and GPS coordinates in archeological rescue and archeological exploration works carried out from December last year to February 2021 were recorded.

Head of the Public Relations Department of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of ANAS, historian-archeologist, Ph.D. Parviz Gasimov informed about the archeological works. He said that two of the numerous mounds in the area had been studied.

During the preliminary excavations, several black polished jugs with patterns, bronze swords, arrowheads made of obsidian and flint, razors, bronze clothing accessories, etc., belonging to the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages and characteristic of the Khojaly-Gadabay archaeological culture, were found in the burial chamber.

One of the mounds also contained a cylindrical seal, widespread in the ancient East, and an altar with the remains of various animals believed to belong to a high-ranking official of the period.

Speaking to the press, Ruslan Anvarli talked about the importance of the project. He noted that after the radiocarbon analysis of the samples taken from the burial mounds, the historical period covered by the burial places would be fully clarified. At the same time, appropriate work will be done to protect the mounds.

Volunteers are closely involved in the project, which starts on June 15, along with the reserve staff.

Active participants of the project were awarded certificates of the Civil Service.

Opera singer Yusif Eyvazov and pop star Jony (Jahid Huseynli) will perform at New Wave International Music Competition for Young Performers 2021.

Founded in 2002 by the Russian composer Igor Krutoy and Latvian pianist and composer Raimonds Pauls, the competition will take place in Sochi on August 19-25.

Jony's performance will take place on August 20 and August 25, the closing day of the competition.

Yusif Eyvazov will perform on August 23 at the anniversary evening of the Russian tenor Nikolay Baskov.

Jony is a Moscow-based performer born in Baku. He became famous in Russia and the CIS countries after the mega-hit "Alley".

In December 2019, he became the winner in the Breakthrough of the Year nomination according to VKontakte and the BOOM music service. In 2020,  Apple Music named his track "Comet" among the popular songs in Russia.

Over the past years, the singer has taken part in multiple music projects, including the Zhara Music Festival.

Jahid Huseynli has recently been named best at the Bravo International Professional Music Awards. His song "Comet" was named "Song of the Year" according to the Bravo Awards.

He also won a prize (Best Artist Award) at New Radio Awards 2021, which brought together Azerbaijani and Russian pop stars.

In June, the singer has been named best in "Best Song" category at  "MUZ-TV 20/21. World Beginning". He won the prize for the song "Comet".

Notably, Jony was nominated in four categories "Best Singer", "Best Male Video", "Best Song" for the song "Comet". The duet song with Emin "Fireplace" was presented in the nomination "Best Collaboration".

Known for his beautiful voice, Yusif Eyvazov is a regular guest at the world’s leading opera houses. His name is included in the book "The Best Tenors of the World".

The unique sound of his voice and his vibrant stage presence allow him to combine an active opera career with numerous concert performances.

The opera singer has appeared on numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon including a complete recording of Puccini’s "Manon Lescaut" live from the Salzburg Festival and with his spouse, soprano Anna Netrebko’s on the cross-over album "Romanza".

In 2017, Yusif Eyvazov was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan-American Music Foundation (AAMF) has released the first American publication of the Azerbaijani composer Tofig Guliyev's piano piece "Gaytagi".

The edition includes an original solo composition, as well as the two-piano, and one piano, four-hand arrangements allowing additional ensemble playing opportunities for pianists wishing to explore this exciting piece.

The chief editor of the publication is jazz pianist Emil Afrasiyab. The publication was originated and co-edited by the head of the Azerbaijan-American Music Foundation Jamila Javadova-Spitzberg.

The edition was released with the assistance of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan-American Music Foundation as well as Lala Guliyeva, daughter of the composer .

Gaytagi is a folk dance of Gaytags (later evolved as Lezgins), a Turkic people living in the Azerbaijan region of the Caucasus. Throughout history, dozens of minorities residing in the Caucasus developed their energetic, fiery dances, such as Gaytagi. These dances are fast-paced, melodically vivid, exciting, and captivating. Gaytagi is danced by men who demonstrate complex and technically challenging leg work filled with rapid movements symbolizing the masculine spirit and energy.

"Tofig Guliyev's Gaytagi is a virtuoso solo piano piece, a nearly direct interpretation of the original dance choreography for the keyboard instrument. It is percussive and, throughout, imitates the sound of nagara, a double-headed drum instrument of Azerbaijan. Guliyev's Gaytagi is permeated with the national flavor and is expressive in content. The fierce temperament of the piece is characteristic of folk dance music. Master of the national song genre, Guliyev created a work that is easily encoded into memory and leaves an enduring impression on listeners," the message said.

Tofig Guliyev (1917-2000) made a significant contribution to Azerbaijani film and theater music and the development of the national jazz music culture.

He was one of the first composers of Azerbaijan, who accomplished note records of mugham.

Guliyev went down in history as the founder of the first Jazz Orchestra in Baku.

He was the author of melodies and songs to many films, including "Meeting" (1955), "Favorite song" (1955), "Stepmother" (1958), "Telephonist girl" (1962), "Nesimi" (1973), "Dervish is blowing up Paris" (1976), "A lion ran away from house" (1977), "Value of happiness" (1976), "Mother-in-law" (1978), etc.

The prominent composer also wrote poems for piano and a lot of songs for dramatic plays.

A virtual meeting has been held as part of the global campaign "Peace4Culture".

The meeting was attended by Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Culture Vasif Eyvazzadeh, founder and head of the Center for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR) Mike Hardy, founder of the Australian Atlas of Cultural Infusion and Diversity Peter Musaferaidis, founder of Hope for Aracely Gonzalez Foundation (HOPE) Javier Gonzalez and others. 

During the meeting, Eyvazzadeh provided insight into global campaign "Peace for Culture", the "Baku Process", the Baku International Humanitarian Forum, the World Intercultural Forum.

He stressed that Azerbaijan focuses on achieving peace at the national and international levels by strengthening peace and security in the region, building a successful dialogue and trust between peoples and cultures, further developing a culture of coexistence and mutual respect.

The work is underway to create all nessesary conditions  for the IDPs who will return to Azerbaijan`s territories liberated from Armenian occupation during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. 

Next, the head of HOPE Foundation  Aracely Gonzalez made a presentation on the mission and responsibilities of the organization.

Gonzalez spoke about a number of important issues and projects on the formation of education and professional skills of migrants and refugees.

Michael Walmsley provided detailed information on the directions of the atlas of global diversity, which includes global issues in the field of religious, cultural and heritage diversity.

Professor Mike Hardy stressed that he has been an advisor to the Azerbaijani side for the last 8 years. He expressed his confidence that the global campaign "Peace4Culture"" and the "Baku Process" will  successfully carry out all the major projects listed above.

An exhibition "Nizami's plots and images" has solemnly opened at the Heydar Aliyev Center.

The exhibition displays over 50 stunning art works inspired by Nizami Ganjavi's legacy. Most of the exhibits are presented to the public for the first time.

The project is co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art to mark the poet's 880th anniversary.

The exhibits present Nizami Ganjavi's illustration tradition. Majestic carpet, canvases and ceramics takes art lovers to a wonderful journey through the poet's literary world. 

In her remarks, the artist-designer of the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art Kyuna Kazakova said that the exhibition was shown in Moscow in March. Now the exhibits presented by four Russian museums have been brought to Baku.

The exhibition features collections from the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art, the State Hermitage Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts as well as the Saratov State Art Museum. 

"We’re very pleased that the exhibition is finally taking place in Baku. Our partner, the Heydar Aliyev Center professionally reacted to the idea. I hope that the cultural workers, guests of Baku and all citizens will enjoy the exhibition that will last until September 26," said Kazakova. 

Azerbaijani poet and thinker  Nizami Ganjavi bequeathed to future generations a collection of poetic works called "Khamsa". It includes five independent poems - "Treasure of Secrets", "Khosrov and Shirin", "Leyli and Majnun", "Seven Beauties" and "Iskendername".

The exhibits biblically reflect Nizami Ganjavi's illustration tradition.

The exhibition offers visitors a great chance to learn more about Nizami's works, who brought a completely new poetic voice and breath to world literature.

These works of art also reflect the boundless influence of Nizami Ganjavi's work on the fine arts.

The plots found in Nizami Ganjavi's poems have become his calling card.

For instance, famous scene in which Shirin bathes in a spring, or depictions of Bahram Gur's lover carrying an ox to the top of a tower.

The 13th century clay pot is the oldest exhibit presented at the exhibition. The pot is depicted with scenes from the poem "Khosrov and Shirin" on it.

The exposition features works by artists from Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran and Uzbekistan. The graphic works of artists Ravil Khalilov, Rashid Ismayilov, Sergey Bigos two opposite tendencies specific for the modern perception of Nizami's work.

On the one hand, the choice of traditional themes leads to the appeal to well-known iconography. At the same time there is an attempt to expand the range of the described plot.

Accordingly, new compositional images appear. In this regard, Nikolai Roerich's work on canvas "Alexander and the Dervish" is of special interest. 

Art lovers have a chance to enjoy the exhibition until September 26.