In Moscow, at the corner of Voznesensky and Eliseevsky lanes, next to the building of the Azerbaijani embassy, there is a monument to Muslim Magomayev. One of the minor planets of the solar system is named after him. During his performances in Italy, France and the USA, the halls did not accommodate those who wanted to hear his surprisingly clear and emotional voice. He sang complex opera arias and pop songs with extraordinary ease. Despite the fact that the peak of his popularity fell on the 60s - 70s of the last century, and today he remains the idol of many music lovers.
Childhood and the beginning of a musical career
Muslim Magometovich Magomayev was born on August 17, 1942 into a Baku artistic family. His father Mohammed was a theater artist. A month after the birth of his son, he went to the front and died in Berlin a few days before the end of the war. Aishet, the mother of Muslim Magomayev, was a theater artist. After the war, she left for Russia, and her son stayed in Baku with his uncle Jamal, who replaced him both father and grandfather.
Muslim studied at a ten-year school at the Baku Conservatory, where they soon noticed his clear and strong voice. The boy became interested in classical vocal art after watching the film "Young Caruso". Muslim listened to records, of which his uncle had a lot, watched films, took notes and sang everything. He was so carried away by singing that he moved from a music school, which did not have a vocal class, to the Baku Music School.
In 1961, the young singer began working in the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Baku Military District. He performed arias from operas and pop songs. A year later, he was sent to Helsinki, to the VIII World Festival of Youth and Students. Returning from Finland, Muslim Magomayev learned that an article about him was published in the Ogonyok magazine: "A young man from Baku conquers the world." Soon he was invited to speak on central television, and a year later Muslim Magomayev took part in the Decade of Azerbaijan Culture and Art held in Moscow. At the final concert, he performs Figaro's cavatina from Rossini's The Barber of Seville. After the performance, the audience burst into applause. In the box of the concert hall sat the Minister of Culture of the USSR E. A. Furtseva and the famous tenor Ivan Semenovich Kozlovsky, who together with everyone enthusiastically applauded the young Azerbaijani. The next day, all the newspapers in the country wrote about the talent of the singer from Baku.
All-Union fame and world fame
In 1963, his first solo concert took place in the Concert Hall. Tchaikovsky Moscow Philharmonic. In the same year, Muslim Magomayev became a soloist of the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1964 the young opera singer went on a one-year internship at the famous Italian theater "La Scala".
In 1966, Muslim Magomayev performed for the first time on the stage of the legendary Parisian concert hall "Olympia". His second performance at Olympia took place three years later. After these tours with the Leningrad Music Hall, the director of Olympia offered Muslim Magomayev a contract. Permission for this contract had to be obtained from the USSR Ministry of Culture. Ekaterina Furtseva responded with a categorical refusal to a request from France, and Magomayev himself, upon his return to the USSR, was banned from performing at important concerts. The ban was lifted when Yu. V. Andropov, who was then the Chairman of the KGB, wanted to hear Muslim Magomayev at a concert on the occasion of the anniversary of the Cheka / KGB.
Muslim Magomayev received his higher musical education after he became an Honored Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR. In 1968, such a number of listeners came to his graduation concert at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory that all the windows and doors in the hall had to be opened.
The versatility of creativity
From the very beginning of his career, Muslim Magomayev performed pop songs along with opera arias. In the late 1960s, he performed twice at the Cannes International Festival of Recordings and Music Publications, and both times received the Golden Disc for several million sold records of his recordings.
In 1969, Muslim Magomayev performed at the International Pop Song Festival in the Polish city of Sopot and received the main prize in two nominations, which contradicts the rules of the festival. For the Azerbaijani singer, the organizers of the famous festival made an exception and for the only time in their history presented two main prizes to the same artist.
There were many famous and influential people among the admirers of Muslim Magomayev's work. For example, Leonid Brezhnev was very fond of listening to the Italian song "Bella Chao" performed by Magomayev.
Muslim Magomayev's repertoire included several hundred arias and more than 100 pop songs, many of which, such as "The Queen of Beauty" and "The Best City of the Earth", thanks to his performance, remain popular in the 2000s. As a composer, he has composed scores for 32 songs and 6 films. For 14 years (until 1989) Muslim Magomayev was the artistic director of the Azerbaijan State Pop Symphony Orchestra.
Muslim Magomayev was awarded the titles "People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR" and "People's Artist of the USSR". In 2002 he was awarded the Order of Honor for his great contribution to the development of musical art.
Personal life and family
In the last years of his life, the great artist stopped performing, believing that each voice had its own time. Muslim Magomayev died in Moscow on October 25, 2008 and was buried in Baku.
Muslim Magomayev was married twice. With his first wife, Ophelia, he met at the conservatory, where they both studied. Muslim and Ophelia had a daughter, Marina. After graduation, Marina left to live in the United States, but until the last days of her father she maintained a very warm relationship with him.
In 1974, opera singer Tamara Sinyavskaya became Muslim Magomayev's wife. She was with him until his last breath. Muslim Magometovich once said that he could not marry another, that he and Tamara Ilinichna have true love, common interests and one thing.
