History of the birth of Azerbaijani opera. The beginning of the twentieth century

Abstract

The article discusses the history of the formation of the Azerbaijani national opera by the young Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov. The Azerbaijani opera Layla and Majnun composed by him in 1908 had a huge success not only in northern Azerbaijan, but also in the Caucasus and in the Muslim world in general. The author describes how the opera was created, the musical innovations which had been introduced into the fabric of this first mugam opera, the formation of the first string orchestra in setting of the play “Layla and Majnun”, using national musical instruments. The article presents the names of the first conductors, directors, singers and Azerbaijani tar players, as well as the performance of the first Azerbaijani opera woman singer. The author considers the fact that men played female parts and explains that it was caused by the difficulties and the risk of their lives they had to face playing female roles. This is the first opera which gave rise to the emergence of subsequent operas and musical comedies, including the famous comedy Arshin Mal Alan, known throughout the world and adapted for screen more than once. Even today these immortal works by U. Hajibekov are still widely performed. Traditions established by U. Hajibeyov in the early 20th century found its continuation in the works of Muslim Magomayev and Zulfugar Hajibeyov, as well as in the works of other Azerbaijani composers of the Soviet era.

Keywords:

Northern Azerbaijan, mugham, theater, opera and operetta, musical comedy, staged performances, choir, opera singer