UNIQUE AND EVERLASTING

Muslim Maqomayev used to say: "An opera act lasts 40 minutes at the most, but I want to carry on singing. The limits of the opera constrained the singer who became a legend in his own lifetime. He sang arias and pop songs, Neapolitan and Russian ballads. It is now five years since Muslim Maqomayev passed away.

Much is known of Maqomayev's work in pop music: a quarter of a billion people are familiar with his songs. A Russian TV channel recently showed a series, the backdrop of which was his great voice singing "Queen of Beauty", "The Best City in the World", "Wedding" and "Wheel of the Devil", songs which everyone knows. As is often the case, his private life, in which his wife Tamara Sinyavskaya, the well-known opera singer, played a big part, has been widely covered in the press. Unfortunately, the fame of a pop singer and the media's demands on his private life probably overshadowed Maqomayev's main talent, which was his huge ability as an opera singer.

Maqomayev became known nationwide after his performance at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses at the concluding concert of the Azerbaijani arts festival in 1962. He had his first solo concert on 10 November 1963 at the Petr Chaykovskiy Concert Hall. That same year Maqomayev became the soloist at the Azerbaijani Axundov Opera and Ballet Theatre, while continuing to perform in the variety theatre. In 1964 the state provided the young, gifted Maqomayev with the opportunity to perform at La Scala Theatre in Milan, where he spent two years. On his return, he began to appear in major cities of the Soviet Union in "Tosca" and "The Barber of Seville". Among his partners was the already well-known Maria Biesu, the outstanding Moldovan Soviet opera singer. However, he declined to accept an offer to move to the Moscow Bolshoy Theatre troupe as he did not wish to restrict himself to opera, and even then he began to devote more time to the variety theatre.

Of the international successes of those times one can recall his highly successful 1966 and 1969 tours at the famous "Olympia" theatre in Paris. "Olympia's" director, Bruno Coquatrix, offered Maqomayev a year's contract, promising to make him an international star. The singer gave the offer serious thought but the USSR Ministry of Culture would not allow him to accept the offer, arguing that Maqomayev should perform at government concerts. In 1969, Maqomayev was awarded the prestigious "Golden Disc" at Cannes for the multi-million sales of his records. The following year at Cannes he again achieved record sales and was again awarded this prize.

"You can't compare Muslim with anyone" 

In an interview with “R+” Azerbaijani People's Artiste, the well-known opera singer Xuraman Qasimova spoke very warmly and sincerely about Muslim Maqomayev, and with great regret at his going: "He was the true voice of opera. He had truly great potential and he was able to combine opera and the world of popular music without damaging his reputation. The world of opera lost a great deal when he moved to variety. It was his choice, but to me, as an opera singer, it was a great pity."

"He was able to bring a great many characters to the stage and many fine parts were written for his beautiful baritone voice. He gave a magnificent performance as Scarpia in Giuseppe Verdi's "Tosca" and as Figaro," Xuraman says. "Unfortunately, I never got to be his partner in opera because I was too young at the time, although I did play Tosca later on. But we toured a lot together and were partners on stage."

Like many others who knew him, Xuraman Qasimova speaks of Muslim as a very amiable and genial man. "We saw each other regularly and he had a lot of friends. Muslim Maqomayev was a very approachable person, a kind, good friend, but at the same time he was a man of high principles," she says. "Young singers would often approach him asking him to listen to them and even travelled to Moscow to see him. He would send them here, saying: "Go and see Xuraman and Fidan Qasimova - they may be able to give a proper assessment of your voice."

Much came natural to Muslim, and perhaps that was his secret. As Xuraman recalls, Muslim, as well as having a rich voice, also had unique skill as an actor. One can still recall his popular rendering of the aria in "The Barber of Seville", which is always being played on the net, and his brilliant stage parodies of Polad Bulbuloglu and Rasid Behbutov.

"He put a great deal into his short life on the stage, short because 36 years on stage for such a person is not that much," Xuraman says. "Performers like that simply have to be on stage because they educate the public and their tastes. After all, we take spirituality from the stage."

And today Xuraman is convinced that Muslim Maqomayev has no equal to this day. "It is true, there are many singers now with decent voices, they become popular, but you can't compare anyone with Muslim Maqomayev. There are many opportunities now to go abroad. At that time nobody did. Only Muslim Maqomayev could do so because there was no-one else who could sing like him. He was the only one to sing abroad in Soviet times."

 We shall always remember him, and we are proud to have spent some time together. One cannot help but recall the words of the singer and composer himself: "Perhaps love and memory are a time machine nullifying the distance between the past, present and future?" We shall never forget you!