THREE GENERATIONS OF TALENT

Like writers, film directors, and artists, musicians can be divided into categories, too. Those entertaining mass audiences and the general public, and those who perform for connoisseurs of high art, which is not easy for the unprepared listener. Rasim Abdullayev, People's Artist of Azerbaijan, who chose the cello as his instrument closest to the human voice in terms of softness and fullness of sound, has long been an acknowledged maestro. He has taught and inspired new generations of cellists during his tenure at the Uzeyir Hajibeyov Baku Music Academy.

Fortunately, the maestro's daughter, pianist Ulviyya Abdullayeva, and his granddaughter, violinist Anastasia Mishula, continue his work diligently. All three members of the glorious family have recently pleased the music aficionados by performing collectively on stage. Today we talk to Ulviyya ABDULLAEVA, a pianist, a teacher and the daughter of the famous musician, about the concert, music, life outside Azerbaijan and ties with the country.

"The Three Generations concert was held at the International Mugham Centre featuring you, your father, People's Artist of Azerbaijan Rasim Abdullayev, and your daughter Anastasia Mishula. Although you have been living outside Azerbaijan for many years, you often perform in the country. How did you come up with the idea of uniting the three representatives of your musical family in a single concert?"

"There was a desire to team up, because everyone in our family is a musician. My father has always played with my mother, Almas-khanym, who accompanied him on piano. When I became a serious musician, I replaced my mother at the piano. When I left the country, he performed with other pianists, including Farhad Badalbeyli and Murad Adigezalzade... The idea of performing together first came about many years ago, at the Mstislav and Leonid Rostropovich Museum. Then we continued at the Lutheran Church, and in 2019 we played at the International Mugham Centre for the first time. I remember that our first performance was very difficult because Anastasia was very young. We were all very nervous as we were aware of the responsibility for each other. Now, there are no fears, we have played together many times, our daughter has matured, and there is confidence in our abilities."

"Since we started talking about three generations, let us continue with your father and his contribution to performing arts in Azerbaijan."

"Rasim Abdullayev is a renowned Azerbaijani cellist and the People's Artist of Azerbaijan. He studied the cello at the Uzeyir Hajibeyov Conservatoire under Professor Sabir Aliyev. After the graduation, he entered the Moscow Conservatoire's post-graduate course in Mstislav Rostropovich's class.

"He was young when he started his solo career. He performed as a soloist with the country's chamber and symphony orchestras, became the leading soloist of the Azerbaijan State Quartet, including during the tours abroad. My father was also the head of the Arazbary Radio and Television Trio, concertmaster of the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Orchestra, as well as the symphony and chamber orchestras. For many years he has taught cello in Cairo and Damascus, also working as the concertmaster of symphony orchestras in both these cities. Together with my mother, pianist and teacher Almas Mehdiyeva, they have compiled a fundamental collection of recordings for the Azerbaijan radio and television. Rasim Abdullayev was the first performer of works by national composers."

"You grew up and studied piano in Azerbaijan. You have studied and taught in Germany. Do you think your musical experience gained in Azerbaijan is sufficient? Do you think you continue the traditions of the Azerbaijani school of performance?"

"I love visiting Baku. Despite living in Germany for almost 23 years, I feel like an Azerbaijani, and I will remain an Azerbaijani wherever I live. With all the local flavours, with all the good and bad things, with absolutely everything, which I consider part of my own. Even if for various reasons I don't live in the country, mainly because I cannot stay in one place for long, I constantly feel the need to change the scenery. Right now, I'm thinking about moving to another country now. But that doesn't mean I have to move out every year. I had lived in Baku for 28 years before I moved to Germany, where I have been living for more than 20 years now. I already feel that a change is necessary. It increasingly seems to me that my next place of living will be Spain. It has also to do with the Spanish artist Nani Boronat (Bernardino Boronat Más), who loves keeping music and artworks together organically, creating a single creative space. I am a citizen of the world and I love other cultures. And Spain has always been my childhood dream... Still, it is important for me to feel an Azerbaijani, to visit my homeland, to play here and to know that I am part of my people's culture. I am grateful to Germany for my development as a person, for the good and serious school, for my artistic freedom. Being a world citizen, I am also a 100 per cent Azerbaijani. And yes, I bear the traditions of our performing school. This is my foundation."

"There have been times in your life when you gave up on music and changed your life dramatically."

"I was a teenager when it happened the first time. In fact, it is a usual thing for teenagers doing music or sports to sort of explode, willing to drop everything they consider routine. By the way, my mother was my first teacher. So I was quickly brought to my senses, especially when I had a chance to travel with my parents to Syria, where they taught at the Damascus Conservatoire for several years. There I had a chance to study with visiting European teachers, such as Jean-Philippe Audoli, to play piano concertos with the orchestra and to perform as part of an instrumental trio. These were very good opportunities for a young performer. Then I came back to Baku, graduated from the Baku Music Academy, and then there was an oil boom in Azerbaian. I did not know what to do being a musician. I did not want to work as a teacher either. As for concert performances, it was necessary to meet several important conditions, including sponsorship, organising concerts and travelling to competitions. Meanwhile, there was a strange fright of performing on stage growing inside me by then. That happens quite often, by the way. So I landed a job in a foreign company as a manager and an assistant. Luckily I had no problems with English. After a few years, I thought I would never be able to make a successful musical career. But life changed my plans. All of a sudden, I had a chance to visit Germany to study in a music college. So I started studying again, and by the age of 28, I found myself in Munich, in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. I was taught by outstanding teachers Yasuko Matsuda and Vladimir Sukhanov. I then was admitted to the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg where I took lessons from Bernard Endres. That's how my life story went from that moment on. No escape from music."

"What about your repertoire? We know that you readily include in it the works of Azerbaijani composers."

"It includes many works by Azerbaijani composers, including by Gara Garayev, Fikret Amirov, Jovdat Hajiyev, Tofig Guliyev and Gunay Mirzayeva, the granddaughter of our famous composer Musa Mirzayev. Apart from my own piano repertoire, I perform together with my father the pieces of our composers written for cello. I must say that Rasim Abdullayev has always been promoting the music of contemporary Azerbaijani composers, since his youth, and he has a lot of recordings of them. There are also video recordings of his television performances. He was the first to perform many of the musical works by Azerbaijani composers; some composers wrote specially for him. And I was lucky to play the works by Amirov, Zulfugarov, and Rzayev with my dad..."

"Are your joint concerts with maestro Rasim Abdullayev a desire to collaborate on stage or an opportunity to perform music written for the cello?"

"I have known and loved the sound of the cello since childhood. I used to wake up to concerts by Haydn, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky... My father has always been my hero, and I have always tried to match him. Well, I have recently realised that it was impossible (laughs), and I probably don't need to. Such people are not repeated in their children and grandchildren. But I am immensely happy to perform with him, proud to be on stage with such a musician. The most important thing is that he wants to play with me too. Not because I am his daughter... Dad is very scrupulous, demanding and, like all great musicians, has a very complicated character. So it is very difficult to please him.  I have tried very hard, and it's a blessing that we have such a creative union.

"There are not many works written for the cello, but they are brilliant. And thanks to my dad, the very sound of the cello holds a special place in my heart."

"Your daughter Nastya continued your family tradition and chose music. Was this her initial desire, or your parental insistence? What are her artistic accomplishments?"

"My daughter didn't choose anything herself. When she was very young, she wanted to play all the instruments: cello, clarinet, drums. So it was me who chose. The thing is, I've always wanted to play a string instrument, but the piano chose me. And I always thought that string instruments have much more possibilities than the piano. Like vibrato, for example. The sound of string instruments is more sophisticated, I believe. The same is true for the wind instruments. After weighing up the pros and cons, I chose the violin for her. By the way, Nastya has inherited musical genes also from her father, the wonderful saxophonist Stepan Mishula, and his parents. So, she has been playing the violin since the age of 4-5, albeit with occasional resistance. I admit that from my side it was a dictate, no democracy. Moreover, we have been very serious as far as her musical education was concerned, counting on her great success. We understood that she might dislike this daily routine sooner or later. But at the age of eight, she was already playing Haydn's concerto with the orchestra, occasionally taking part in various festivals and competitions. Anastasia's first and only teacher is Kirill Trusov, a remarkable and well-known musician and violinist, winner of international competitions. Nastya has played in duets with her father, her uncle, the famous violinist Anar Ibrahimov, and many times with the orchestra in various venues. By the way, she was eight when she joined an international contest in Fermo, Italy, and won the third prize. And a year later, in Brussels, she ranked the first in a very serious competition. In general, Anastasia has a track record of successful achievements. She is 15 now and a member of two junior orchestras (category A), one in Bavaria and one in Munich. I am very happy as she has a very busy artistic life. She is constantly touring and performing both in Germany and abroad."

"What are your plans for the future? How soon will we be able to see and hear your talented family on the same stage, or in recordings?"

"We really want to do that. We would like to perform in the Baku Philharmonic Hall, and there is even an idea to record the performances, but not everything depends on us. The first condition is my father's health, which can affect our future performances. The main thing is not to let him down. I am studying the works of modern Azerbaijani and foreign composers, which I have never performed before. In my next visit, I am planning to record my solos, duets with my father, the pieces the three of us play on stage, everything we perform at our concerts. The idea is to release a CD with performances from three generations of musicians. It's a dream, and I want to believe that it will come true."