A PRINCE, MAESTRO AND LOYAL FRIEND

The Azerbaijani Opera Company, which was led by the composer Zulfuqar Hacibayov, often visited Tbilisi. He loved this city and on one magical day in 1911 Zulfuqar-bay decided to move there with his family.

On 20 August 1912 the Hacibayovs had a son whom they called Niyazi. Seeing his nephew for the first time, his uncle, the celebrated Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hacibayov, gazed closely at the child and unconsciously whispered the word "prince". Since then the family has always called him that.

Later they returned to Baku, where they were often visited by Muslim Magomayev (the composer and grandfather of the celebrated Azerbaijani singer Muslim Magomayev); the outstanding playwright, novelist and critic Abdurrahim-bay Axverdiyev; the outstanding exponent of Azerbaijani romanticism Abdulla Saiq; the great satirist, playwright and founder of the "Molla Nasraddin" magazine, which is celebrated throughout the Near East and in Russia, China, Afghanistan and Egypt, Calil Mammadquluzada; the great Azerbaijani poet and playwright of the beginning of the 20th century, Huseyn Cavid; actors and founders of the Azerbaijani theatre Huseyn Arablinskiy, Abbas Mirza Sarifzada and Sidgi Ruhulla, as well as other eminent exponents of literature and the arts. The friends had intellectual conversations and listened to seductive singing by Cabbar Garyadga, Sayid Susinski and Huseyn Sarabski and the unique playing of the tar by Qurban Pirimov.

This was the environment in which Niyazi spent his childhood. He was engulfed by a love for music. When he was a child he taught himself the violin. But his first dream was to become a soldier. Then he dreamt of being an athlete. In tournaments at the Dinamo club he became an Azerbaijani record-breaker in weight-lifting. But music triumphed in the end. Later he would say: "All my toughness started when I was a child, when I was a soldier, but the gentle side of my nature began with my violin lessons from Schefferling when I was 12 or 13."

In 1926, on the advice of his father and his uncle, Niyazi set off for Moscow where he joined the composer class of the celebrated Mikhail Gnessin. The operas and symphonic and chamber music concerts he visited in the capital had a huge influence on him. In order to study the finer points of the art of the conductor, in 1929-30 he attended sessions given by G. Popov and P. Ryazanov in Leningrad.

At the end of 1931 he broke off his lessons for health reasons, left Leningrad and went to Yerevan where, after taking examinations at the State Conservatoire, he joined Stepanyan's composers' class. But he very soon had to interrupt his studies because he was appointed head of the department of science, literature and the arts of the People's Commissariat of Education of the Dagestani ASSR.

After returning to Baku in 1932 he set to work on his music. At the age of 23 he was elected a member of the Azerbaijani Composers Union. He worked for the theatre and the cinema. Together with his father he wrote the score for Azerbaijan's first sound picture, "Almas".

In 1937 he was invited to be conductor of the Azerbaijani Theatre of Opera and Ballet. During the Ten Days of Azerbaijani Arts in Moscow in 1938 he conducted the opera "Nargiz" by Muslim Magomayev.

Niyazi's achievements in the development of the national school of conducting are inestimable. He was one of the first authors of symphonic works in Azerbaijan. In 1935 he synthesized the mugams "Rast" and "Shur", in 1934 he wrote the "Zakat-al suite", in 1942 the opera "Khosrov and Shirin", in 1944 the symphony "Qehramanliq" ("Heroism") in two parts and the symphonic work "Concert Waltz".

In 1951-52 Niyazi was a conductor at the Theatre of Opera and Ballet. In 1959 he was awarded the title People's Artiste of the USSR, and in 1961 was appointed leading conductor of the Leningrad Theatre of Opera and Ballet where he prepared the direction of Melikov's ballet "The Legend of Love". Of all the invitations he received from abroad to work on contract he chose Turkey. He became the first director of Chaykovskiy's ballets "Yevgeniy Onegin" and "Queen of Spades", Guiseppe Verdi's "Aida" on the stage of the Opera and Ballet Theatre in Ankara and the ballet "Koroglu" by the Turkish composer Ahmed Saygun at the Istanbul Opera Theatre.

After returning to Azerbaijan Niyazi was appointed artistic manager and chief conductor of the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. He then worked as artistic director and conductor of the Azerbaijani State Symphony Orchestra. He conducted the operas "Koroglu" by Uz. Hacibayov, "Vatan" by Q. Qarayev and J. Haciyev, "Sevil" by F. Amirov, "Prince Igor" by A. Borodin, "Carmen" by G. Bizet, "La Boheme" by G. Puccini, "The Bartered Bride" by B. Smetana, the ballets "Seven Beauties" and "Path of Thunder" by Q. Qarayev and "Gulsan" by S. Hacibayov. He wrote the songs "Tabrizim", "Daglar gyzy" and "Vatan haqqinda mahhni" ("Song of the Motherland"). He arranged for symphonic orchestra the popular songs "Humar Oldum", "Qaragila", "Ay Bari Bax", "Kucalara su sapmisam" and others. He wrote the music for productions of the plays "Dagilan tifag" by A. Axverdiyev, "Almas" by C. Cabbarli, "Vaqif" by S. Vurgun, "The Steel Eagle" by A. Korneychuk and for the films "Kandlilar", "Fatali khan", and others. He was also the author of a number of articles on problems of acting and performance.

He was awarded the J. Nehru Prize in 1974 for the ballet "Chitra" in the production of the same name by R. Tagor.

In 1979 Niyazi was appointed director of the Azerbaijani State Philharmonic. In 1982 he received the title Hero of Socialist Labour. He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, Orders of the October Revolution, Labour Red Banner, Badge of Honour, the Bulgarian Order of Cyril and Methodius and the Hungarian B.Bartok Medal. 

As he took up his baton the Maestro would say: "This is what I live for." But there was also another rock in his life - his boundless love for Hacar. Fate brought them together in Dagestan in 1931. One day his mother Beyuk-hanum went with her sons to visit members of the Iranian embassy Aliiskander and Rashid. That was where Niyazi met Hacar. Since that day he began visiting this house frequently where he was first received cordially, but later coolly - the girl's brothers understood the reason for the frequent visits. The young people corresponded secretly. Once, when Hacar wrote that because of the brothers' work their family was moving to Iran, Niyazi decided to sneak the girl away and secretly marry her. But there were many obstacles in the way. The brothers followed their sister's every move. What's more, there was nowhere for the young people to hide. Niyazi had already told the girl how poor he was, but nothing could change their minds. On 31 July 1932 they were married.

It was too crowded in Zulfuqar-bay's two-room apartment in Baku and for a while the young couple had to stay somewhere else. Later, in her memoirs about Niyazi, Hacar-hanum wrote: "Our circumstances were hard. Niyazi's grant at the conservatoire was 70 roubles, of which 15 went on the rent. Friends helped me by giving me dresses which they hid from my brothers, but, naturally, we had no money for clothes for Niyazi. His only suit was altered to go with the time of year. The lining was so worn it had to be patched up every day. We had to stuff newspapers in his shoes to stop them leaking…But despite all this we were happy. After all, we were young, we had a room to shelter us and we had our future to look forward to." In this future Hacar-hanum could see Niyazi's bright talent: "Every morning he would go off to his lessons or rehearsals. I remember how once one of the conservatoire teachers, a German professor Strasser asked me: "Madam, please try and persuade your husband to come to my conductors' class. He has unusual hands, and if he makes the effort he could become very, very famous." When I told Niyazi about this conversation he burst out laughing and said: "Strasser exaggerates." But after that conversation I started to watch my husband closely. But then I was going through an extremely tough time - why must someone who is always in need of something always be in the grip of poverty?

Hacar was with Niyazi when the back-breaking work, fatigue and endless worry brought on his tuberculosis. She shared his pain. She did so much to rebuild Niyazi's cool relations with his friends and comrades in the arts world, Qara Qarayev and Fikrat Amirov.

From Hacar-hanim's memoirs: "Uzeyir-bay had no children of his own and he devoted all his love to Niyazi. Because he believed in his talent Uzeyir-bay guided Niyazi's path in the arts. But some of their colleagues tried to spoil the relationship between them. Fortunately, this didn't last for long. For example, Niyazi made a few alterations to "Arshin mal alan" so that the work sounded better from the screen. Ill-wishers immediately rushed to Uzeyir claiming that shouldn't be allowed, that this would be shameful. They tried to say that Niyazi was trying to distort "Arshin mal alan". This caused some alienation between Uzeyir-bay and Niyazi, who took it very badly. Sometimes he would even ask me like a boy who had been told off: "Why don't they want to understand what I know and what I am doing?" Niyazi even refused to attend the public showing of "Arshin mal alan", saying that if they wanted to discuss the music for the film he wouldn't be able to restrain himself. She was barely able to persuade him.

But after the showing Uzeyir-bay embraced Niyazi. He was so happy he couldn't speak. All he could say was: "You're a good lad. Thank goodness, everything turned out fine." It was as if Niyazi had been given the whole world.

Later they got hold of a five-room apartment where the house-museum now stands. This apartment, where they would receive visitors every evening, became a real centre of the arts. The doors of the Maestro's apartment were always open to talented young people.

Niyazi had a strong sense of humour. Hacar-hanim recalls: "Funny stories about Niyazi and me used to get into the Turkish press. We once attended a supper at some embassy or other. A waiter came up to me and said: 'Madam, would you like some whiskey?' When I said no, he offered me brandy, vodka or wine. When I again refused Niyazi said in a loud voice for all to hear: 'My wife drinks only my blood.' Everyone burst out laughing…"

Niyazi was an intolerant and jealous man. Hacar-hanim writes: "When he fell ill Niyazi became very nervous and would say: 'Hacar, if you thought I was dead, and you married someone else, I would go mad!' I remember that when he became ill with chronic tuberculosis he became quite fretful, and sometimes he would even ask me if I hated him or not. He suddenly asked to try some dish or other and passed me his spoon. I didn't refuse. At that moment Niyazi's eyes were filled with happiness and gratitude."

Despite his tough nature, Niyazi was not unforgiving. Everyone loved him. The Maestro passed away on 2 August 1984. But Niyazi left Azerbaijani music with works that will live for ever and endless stories about the great Maestro.