MUGAM LIGHTS THE STARS

Ahead of the Novruz holiday, Baku hosted the 3rd International World of Mugam Festival. Our city became the world capital of beautiful and ancient music for a week. Mugam is a kind of "visit card" for Azerbaijan, the national heritage of the people. This eternal music is really appreciated worldwide. The inclusion of Azerbaijani mugam on the World Intangible Cultural Heritage list of UNESCO clearly showed that mugam is the cultural heritage not only of the Azerbaijani people, but of all mankind.

One of the innovations at the festival was the concert venue chosen for the opening ceremony. The third International "World of the Mugam" festival opened on 9 March at the Heydar Aliyev Centre which, according to Mehriban xanim Aliyeva, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO and ISESCO goodwill ambassador and president of the international festival, who spoke at the opening ceremony, "like music, awakens different feelings and images in people". Opening the event, Azerbaijan's First Lady noted that interest in the mugam is growing. "We can see this in the increase in the number of countries taking part in the festival. 

"This is the third time that the ancient art of the mugam has brought together performers, masters, personalities of the arts world, scientists and music scholars from various countries, and the beautiful music which breaks no boundaries will over ten days bring us together and bestow us with happy moments."

The country's First Lady stressed that "this year's festival is noted for a number of innovations. The first one is that the mugam competition is being held not only among xanandas (folk music singers), but it will also embrace the art of the instrumental mugam. A second innovation is that the students of music schools in all parts of our country will be taking part in this festival. They will be performing together with celebrated xanandas and guests arriving in our country which, of course, will be essential experience for these young talents.

The biggest property of any people and any nation is its cultural heritage. Azerbaijan is a country with an ancient and rich history and culture. Throughout the centuries our cultural heritage, language, literature, poetry and music have protected us as a nation. And the mugam is a real jewel of art. It is not by chance that the Azerbaijani mugam has been included in UNESCO's List of masterpieces of the cultural heritage of humanity, and it is very gratifying that the Azerbaijani tar and the art of tar playing is already on this list. This is an indication of the attention, concern for and preservation of our cultural heritage that is being shown on a world scale."

It is known that the full performance of mugam (dastgah) requires the highest professionalism. The full versions of mugams at the festival were presented by masters such as Zabit Nabizada and Miralam Miralamov (Rast), Mansum Ibrahimov and Tayyar Bayramov (Sur), Arif Babayev and Babak Niftaliyev (Zabul Segah), Firuz Saxavat and Arzu Aliyeva (Cargah), Alim Qasimov and Farqana Qasimova (Bayati Shiraz), etc.

Along with the performances of Azerbaijani singers, the listeners were given a great opportunity to get to know the art of foreign performers who demonstrated national characteristics traditional genres of the East related to mugam. This is Uighur mukam (China), Uzbek shashmaqom, Indian ragu, etc. During the mugam festival, the music of different nations from China to Morocco was played.

The geography of world famous groups invited to the festival is impressive - Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, USA, France, Canada, UK, Libya, Brazil, Spain, Italy, etc. Among them is the group Beautiful Girls (China), Hussein Al Adhami (Iraq), Lotfi Bouchenaki (Tunisia), Munojat Yolchiyeva (Uzbekistan), and Mohammed Bajeddoub and the group Chabab Al Andalous (Morocco), and a number of other artists.

Along with the concerts of foreign artists, there were also performances by prominent Azerbaijani mugam masters and talented young performers - Arzu Aliyeva, Babak Niftaliyev, Ilkin Ahmadov, Ravan Arabov, Sabina Arabli and others. At the opening ceremony, a grand concert was presented, during which the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra, the Azerbaijan State Orchestra of Folk Instruments, the Azerbaijan State Choir, the Azerbaijan State Dance Ensemble and the Ensemble of Ancient Musical Instruments performed.

This year, festival concerts took place not only in the capital but also in Naxcivan, Ganja, Lankaran, Qabala, Samaxi, Sirvan, other cities and regions of our country. For example, Samaxi hosted a concert of music groups attended by more than 300 spectators. With the participation of local artists, the famous mugams Bayati Shiraz and Zabul Segah were played. The Lankaran State Drama Theatre hosted a concert performance of Uzeyir Hacibayov's opera "Layla and Majnun". The performances of the Qara Qarayev Azerbaijan State Chamber Orchestra conducted by Teymur Goycayev, the Azerbaijani Choir, soloists and folk artists Mansum Ibrahimov and Aygun Bayramova, honoured artists Elcin Hasimov and Elnur Ahmadov were greeted with applause.

In Baku, one of the first concerts of the festival was the performance of Fikrat Amirov's ballet "Thousand and One Nights" at the Opera and Ballet Theatre. On 11 March, the International Mugam Centre hosted an evening of mugam. The musical group Beautiful Girls of the National Orchestra Ozhal Mukami of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Iraqi musical group Iraqi Maqam performed national songs. Azerbaijani mugam masters performed the programme "from master to apprentice".

The head of the Iraqi musical group Iraqi Maqam, Hussein al Adhami, said that "the organization of the festival creates a great opportunity to meet people who are engaged in mugam, learn and sing it".

World famous Egyptian singer Aicha Redouane won not only the Baku audience who had come together for her performance, but many professionals - participants and guests - with her voice and style of performance. The singer expressed her sincere gratitude to the organizers of this festival for their invitation to such a great highly professional cultural event which brought together in Azerbaijan the most venerable professionals who dedicated their scientific and performing activities to such a unique phenomenon as mugam. "I am infinitely happy to be among you. I believe that music is able to bring peoples and countries together," Aicha Redouane confessed to R+.

The mugam festival in Baku was attended by Lotfi Bouchenaki - a grand star in the Arab music world, a performer of classical verses in the old Arabic dialect (maluf), composer and musician. He has been a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations for many years. Lotfi Bouchenaki gained special popularity with fans of classical Arabic singing with the skilful performance of Syrian-Andalusian and Turkish vocal and instrumental methods, as well as the so-called "mystical singing". The unique voice of the singer is emphasized by his special style of music improvisation.

According to Lotfi Bouchenaki, "mugam can unite people". "This is music that comes from the heart. This is sincere music that brings love and peace," the distinguished guests said in a conversation with us. During the festival, there was a symposium whose main theme was defined as "the role of musical instruments in Azerbaijani mugams and related traditional genres of the East". The direction of scientific presentations was identified with problems of traditional instruments. They considered the peculiarities of timbral abilities and their comparisons, sources and ways of further self-development (technological evolution), which led European instruments on the path of accumulating virtuosity and dynamics, and eastern ones on the path of enriching the colourful timbre and its approach to solo intonation. The symposium was attended by experts from around the world - Canada, Tunisia, Russia, China, Iran and Japan.

The participation in the festival of the famous dancer Joaquin Cortes and his ensemble Dizen De Mi, whose work displays the rich world of flamenco - an ancient art that emerged under Arab rule, caused a great interest. The amazing skill of performers, beautiful costumes, music combining rhythms of Romany and Spanish dances - all this was a worthy culmination of the festival.

The final chord of the grand musical action was celebrations at the National Seafront Park and a gala concert in the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall with a ceremony to award winners of the 3rd international mugam singers' competition. The World of Mugam Festival was organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Union of Composers of Azerbaijan.