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On August
17, it was 60 years since the birth of Muslim
Magomayev, a legendary variety show singer, the idol
of several generations and millions upon millions of
people residing in the post-Soviet space.
Muslim Magomayev became a celebrity on a spur of the
moment; and his fame is undying to the present day. In
1962 Magomayev first appeared in Moscow where he
performed in the framework of the Days of Azerbaijanian
Culture. He sang two musical pieces in a gala-concert
given on the country's main stage, the Kremlin Palace,
and the news of a superb 20-year-old singer from Baku
began spreading all over the country. His name was on
the lips of ordinary music fans, soloists of the Bolshoi
Theatre and even the Minister of Culture. In a year in
the Moscow Tchaikovsky Concert Hall he gave his first
solo concert; the house was full. On the programme there
were 16 excerpts from operas, yet he had sung 23; and in
the third part of the concert that was not planned he
sang Neapolitan folk songs and pop songs. The singer
remembers that unusual concert, this is what he says:
"High-ranking officials and their families left, the
lights went down, the piano was moved away. Yet flows of
music fans from balconies still approached the
proscenium. They stood applauding. And I decided on
giving a third part of the concert. The piano was
returned to its place, there came the time for variety
music." When a child Muslim Magomayev had a clear bent
for music. He was brought up by the family with deep
musical and artistic traditions. His grandfather was a
famous composer, his mother--an actress, his father--an
artist. Muslim was taught to play piano. At the age of
14 he began to take lessons from teachers of voice.
Still earlier he became interested in Italian songs,
American jazz and everything that is usually called
variety music. And this appears to be his calling,
though his voice is strong enough for opera singing.
Upon graduating from the Baku conservatoire he sang on
the stage of the Azrbaijanian opera theatre for several
years and was even invited to the Moscow Bolshoi after
two years of his work on probation in the La Scala
theatre in Milan. His baritone is deep-sounding with a
characteristic metallic note to it. He has full command
of his voice and is a brilliant actor. |
