FROM A DYNASTY OF MUSICIANS

Honored Art Worker of Azerbaijan, conductor Elshad Bagirov has lived in Istanbul for 31 years and worked at the Opera House. During these years, he has staged more than 30 performances. The son of the late composer, Professor Zakir Bagirov, he initially studied violin and graduated from the conservatoire in violin. He always loved the orchestra. At 14, he performed the violin concert of the Spanish composer Lalo with the orchestra. At 16, he became a qualified member of the orchestra. We interviewed the conductor during his last visit to Baku. Maestro told us about his career in the Istanbul and his family.

Maestro, where did you study after the graduation in Baku?

I went to Moscow and met with the students of the conductor's department, who impressed me with their stories. Then I had a goal to become a conductor. In fact, I liked conducting anyway, because I played under the management of the greatest conductor Niyazi, who impressed everyone with magic and hypnosis of his art. Then I was admitted to the Faculty of Opera and Symphony Conducting of the then Leningrad Conservatory led by the famous Soviet conductor and violinist, People's Artist of the USSR Arvid Jansons. It was a great school. After that period, I found myself in Moscow and has worked at the Bolshoi Theatre for four years. At that time, I conducted performances and concerts in the Palace of Congresses, and combined this work with conducting in the orchestra of cinematography. I have composed many pieces for the films.

And then Istanbul?

I was dispatched to Turkey by the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, where I am still working. I have a very busy schedule. During a season, we stage three or four new works. From the Azerbaijani plays, we have staged The Path of Thunder and The Legend of Love. By the way, we first listen to the records of new works and only then we start learning the composition on notes.

After listening to the music of the ballet The Path of Thunder, a new libretto was offered. We had to change the order of musical numbers in accordance with the new content of the ballet in the course of staging.

Can you tell us about your family, which perhaps can be called a stellar cast of musicians?...

My wife is a pianist Zuleikha Garaeva, the daughter of the great composer Gara Garayev. She is the head of the piano department of the Center for Culture and Art of the State Conservatory of Turkish Classical Music Ispirtoxane of the Istanbul Technical University. Well, she continues the most valuable national and world musical and cultural traditions, and is an inspired and tireless promoter of Azerbaijani music, enlightener and ascetic. We have one son, who has graduated from the Conservatory in Istanbul, entered the Berkeley Jazz School, studied for three years and afterwards awarded with a prize. He then studied at the New York University and currently lives in Washington, teaches jazz, is married to an Azerbaijani who is a diplomat.

And your son, Professor Zulfugar Bagirov, also promotes Azerbaijani music...

Yes. Recently, he released his CD Garabagh in the U.S. with the music of the great Uzeyir Hajibeyov, Gara Garaev, my father Zakir Bagirov in the jazz interpretation. It is very pleasant to recognize this and I am very proud that despite living, studying, and then working outside of Azerbaijan, he absorbed national culture and traditions, and tries to promote them, so that as many people as possible can learn about them.

Is your sister also a musician?"

She taught music theory in the conservatory. Leila-khanim does not work now, she brings up her grandchildren. Her son is an artist, like his father, Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Arif Abdulrahmanov.

Tell us about your famous father...

My father, Zakir Bagirov, was a teacher at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory in the early 50's of the last century. Since 1970, he has been the head of the department of music theory. Growing up in a musical environment and not becoming a musician afterwards - this happens rarely. Music surrounded me everywhere. It is not surprising. Zakir Bagirov is the author of the opera Aygun and Old Man Khottabych, operettas The Song of Our Village and Mother-in-law, a suite for the orchestra of folk instruments, concert for piano and orchestra, improvisation for organ and fugue, chamber instrumental works and romances. He wrote music to many dramatic works and movies. Based on Uzeyir Hajibeyov's operas Leili and Majnun and Asli and Kerem, as well as mugham Chahargah wrote a solo piece for the harp. Father was an outstanding man.

By the way, you look very similar to him...

(smiles) I am very glad to hear that. 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like cars very much, we like traveling, we have traveled all the picturesque corners of Turkey.

Why do you think modern conductors do not wear tailcoats but frocks?

For ease of management of the orchestra, especially in the summer, the western conductors wear shirts. So it is something rooted in the past of conductorship I guess.

What music do you like to perform?

Different authors. You have to love what you do, otherwise it will not be a revelation.

And yet, what kind of profession is this, about which so little is known, and in what is the power of conducting?

The peculiarity of conducting is the creation of a single instrument from the many voices of the orchestra, where each of them performs its task. At the same time, it is the ability to combine the emotional state of each orchestra artist.

Do you remember your first concert as a conductor?

Of course, I do. I will never forget it. This was my first public concert in the hall of the Leningrad Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where I conducted Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov. At that exciting moment, I realized that I had acquired a new profession and that I was discovering completely new prospects for the performance of musical works.

What needs to be done to popularize classical music? Maybe it's the current misconception that classical music is less in demand today?

I think there is no need to popularize the classical music. However, it is necessary to continue to perform it just as it has been performed for more than three hundred years...

How do you work in Turkey?

There are seven opera houses in Turkey, and as many state symphony orchestras. There are also many municipal orchestras based on sponsorship grants. Only in Istanbul, there are three state conservatories, as in all major cities.

The Turkish audience shows great interest in Western and Russian music and, of course, attaches great importance to the achievements of Azerbaijani culture. Living in such a musical atmosphere, it is very difficult for a creative person to remain indifferent and one wants to create, create and create. In April, I conducted the cello concert of the great Sergei Prokofiev, the music of the Hungarian composer Bela Victor Bartók and the jazz composition of the American composer Leonard Bernstein in Baku. Then in July, I conducted the unforgettable Sergei Rachmaninoff. And so, it will always be the same in Turkey and Azerbaijan - new music, new impressions and other listeners.

How often do you visit Baku?

I come to Baku several times a year at the invitation of the Baku State Philharmonic. Here at home, I try to make the concert program so that the Baku audience listens to the music that rarely sounds in Baku.

What do you feel every time when you come to your homeland?

I will answer the question with a question. What can a person feel when he comes to his home?

Good luck to you!