"EACH ONE IS TRYING TO PULL AWAY"

When Safiqa Eyvazova was cast loose into the world of music her father and mother probably never dreamed that their daughter would eventually become one of the leading exponents of the kamanca in Azerbaijan. "I was only 10 years of age and knew hardly anything about the kamanca. My father once took me to the philharmonic's summer concert hall. Rahila Hasanova, Sara Qadimova and Sovkat Alakbarova were performing and Hafiz Mirzaliyev was accompanying them on the kamanca. That was when my father showed me this instrument and expressed the wish that I learned to play it," Safiqa Eyvazova says, recalling the first time she saw this instrument which later became her faithful companion throughout her stage career.

Having acquired a secondary school education, Safiqa then joined the conservatoire where she was taught by Tarlan Qaziyev. She completed her musical education in 1957 and a year later began to appear on Azerbaijani State Television. The people's artiste spoke about her later career in an interview for our magazine.

- How are you feeling now, Safiqa?

- As you know, I had a heart operation last year. However, despite this, I am very well. Thanks to God, the worst is over.  Now I'm OK and I can carry on with my teaching. I have felt particularly well these last few days. Thanks to the state's concern and at the instigation of Mehriban Aliyeva, the president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, I have got a new apartment. I am grateful to her for her high appraisal of my 49 years on the stage and for presenting me with such a gift. I am the first female instrumentalist to have received such an award.

- Congratulations!

- Thank you. I hope everyone who needs it will get such a gift.

- You have recovered, but still we don't often see you on the air. Why is that?

- There are many reasons, but they are mainly because of my health problems. It is true, I have had invitations from television channels but there are reasons why I have had to turn them down. Lately I had been taking part in a project on one of the channels. They invited me and I was happy to agree. And in the future, if my health allows me, I would like, if possible, to accept all offers. After all, there are two occasions in life when one has plenty of energy and drive - when one is young and later in one's declining years. If one still has the energy and the drive one can learn and teach until one's days are done. I played the kamanca for many years in Said Rustamov's orchestra and I played with the same commitment and zeal at rehearsals as I did at concerts. I put my heart and soul into this art and never slackened.

- Some people say that playing the kamanca is a man thing rather than a woman's. What do you think, is it true women can't play this instrument?

- I, too, have spoken about this. But look, I mean in certain circumstances and in a certain context. Women and men play quite differently. Of course, it's a question of the manner of playing an instrument. But the mugam is the same for everyone. It's the same for men and women. A cradle song is played on the mugam, but it is played by a woman. How, then, can you say that men play the mugam better? Because a woman is more sensitive, I think she can play it better. However, I also have to say that most women at the moment don't have the gracefulness of say, Rasid Behbutov. I mean, you can't set boundaries and say there is a difference between women and men. It all depends on a person's capabilities. I would also like to make the point that in the past, when Oqtay Racabov asked Bahram Mansurov about my method of playing, the latter said Safiqa plays all mughams well. And when they asked our venerable tar player Vamiq Mammadaliyev the same thing, he said Safiqa plays the kamanca like a man. When playing technical mugams on the kamanca there are times when the instrument should not emit dismal, wailing sounds. It should be played in a masculine style. But there are times when a woman's gracefulness is required. If I, a woman, had played the kamanca badly I would not have played under the maestro Niyazi in over 60 countries, from Japan to Russia and Ukraine. I would not have played musical accompaniment to 20-year old xanandas at the Mugham-68 competition. I would not have accompanied Bahram Mansurov and Habib Bayramov in Moscow in 1987, and I would not have taken part in the fourth International Mugam Symposium in Samarkand that same year.

- As we know, your daughter has followed in her parents' footsteps in the arts. Most people who have had to travel a difficult path in the arts don't want their children to follow them. Did you give your daughter such advice?

- My daughter has had a love of music since she was a child. We decided she should have piano lessons. But then she insisted we bought her a kamanca, and that's the path she followed. Her first tutor was Almaz Karimova, and at home she passed her father's examination. I am a classical performer and I stay within my limits. My daughter has a more creative approach, she doesn't like to fix boundaries but likes introducing new things.

- It's strange that although you and your husband play the kamanca it was Almaz who was your daughter's first tutor…

- You know, school is something else. School means ABC. At home you can get music lessons from professionals, but you need a musical education. For example, Ilhama Quliyeva [singer] was also raised by Tukazban and Habib. But if she had worked in Rasid Behbutov's theatre and not sung Fikrat Amirov's songs would she be the Ilhama we know today?

- In one interview you said that in today's mugam trios little time is allotted to the xananda. What do you base this argument on?

- You see, the xananda is the soloist in the trio. The tar and the kamanca are the accompanists. In the past the accompanying role of the tar and the kamanca was greater than it is now. Today, the accompanists are trying to prove they are on a par with the xananda. We have become used to this. Each one is trying to pull away. I'm not saying I don't accept this unequivocally. They, too, can be allotted a certain place, so long as the solo is not drawn out too much. I think that's wrong. Even the seating arrangements of the performers in the trio have changed. Before, they were seated in such a way that the soloist and the accompanists could see each other. Now they sit facing the audience. They can't even glance at one another.

- You mentioned you have visited a lot of countries. Both then and later many of our performers have appeared abroad. Do you think we have done enough to acquaint music lovers abroad with such Azerbaijani folk instruments as the tar and the kamanca? Or should we be doing more in this direction?

- As you know, thanks to Mehriban Aliyeva's efforts, our tar has been included in UNESCO's historical heritage list. Only the kamanca remains and steps are being taken in this direction. People from the Cultural Ministry who are responsible for this arrived recently. We prepared a film about the kamanca, which I was invited to take part in. We'll probably have the results soon. For example, there was a case where after a concert in Portugal a well known violinist came up to me and asked me what kind of instrument the kamanca was. I showed it to him and explained how it is played and told him it was an Azerbaijani national musical instrument. He was unable to hide his fascination with this instrument. If he gets the chance to see the kamanca again he will remember Azerbaijan. Our apologies-for-neighbours, the Armenians, who are tying to "nationalize" the kamanca, know perfectly well that this is an Azerbaijani musical instrument.  But what can you do if you have nothing of your own? You have to try and get your hands on someone else's. But they ought to know that we will not give them anything that is ours, not just the kamanca, anything.

- In one interview you drew attention to the fact that most young musicians can't read music…

- Yes. Not all, many. But to vindicate this they say they will play mugams but not from music. Playing the notes trains the hands to perform the mughams.  In their attitude to the mughams our young people look at the notes through their fingers. That's not the right approach.  An ability to read music shows education. Could Arif Asadullayev have transferred the mugam to music without being able to read it? It is true, it is impossible to transfer the mugam completely to music but preserving the bones of it for the future is the right thing to do. And I can see that the young people are trying to lead the way here, too.