YOU CAN'T ESCAPE DESTINY

When he was a child he used to carry a gun around with him, a toy one of course. He had made it himself from wood. He dreamt of standing guard over the law and combating crime. And that dream did come true. Tayyar Bayramov graduated from the Faculty of Law and spent some time working in the judiciary. But all that time, he exercised his other talent, his splendid ability to perform Azerbaijani mugams.

It is quite common in Azerbaijan for someone who hails from

Nagornyy Karabakh to have a good voice. Tayyar Bayramov was born and grew up in the town of Agdam which is currently occupied by Armenia. Several generations of mugam performers have come from Agdam. Although Tayyar did not initially intend to follow in their footsteps, his fate took a different turn.

- We came to know you at the first Azerbaijani mugam competition. Before that competition you were not known to have another profession. What made you enter the world of mugam?

- I shall note straightaway that almost everybody in Nagornyy Karabakh has a good voice and an ear for music. I could sing well when I was a child too, and I always sang for my own enjoyment. My father was also interested in mugam and music. He sent me to tar [Azerbaijani folk instrument] classes. I spent some time studying at a music school, but then I understood that I was not interested in playing the tar. This is why I gave it up, something I regret now. I needed to learn to play the tar, since a xananda [Azerbaijani mugam singer] who can play an instrument is always a step ahead of the rest. If I had learnt it, it would be easier for me to compose and perform new music now. I first started to sing at school concerts and events.

I was self-taught and only sang what I had heard. The teachers and people who knew about music told my parents that I had a good voice. Sometime later, we moved to Baku. But afterwards I didn't think any more about becoming a professional mugam performer, a xananda. I just sang for my own pleasure at get-togethers with friends and relatives. Sometimes I performed at events at the university. Just like the teachers at school, the lecturers at university said that I had a good voice and would make a good xananda. But I was too shy. I thought that I didn't have the right disposition to become a professional singer. I used to do sport and only dreamt of being a good defender of the law.

One day my Mum and my uncle met People's Artiste of Azerbaijan Mansum Ibrahimov and told him about me. On my mother's insistence, I went to see Mansum muallim [Azerbaijani term of respect when speaking of men] and he listened to me singing. He said that I really did have a good voice. Incidentally, before I went to see Mansum muallim, one of my acquaintances had put me in contact with another xananda. But that one asked for a certain amount of money to help me pursue that path. I had grown up without a father, so I thought it would be better to spend that money on my family. This is why I did not take up music professionally at that time. But Mansum Ibrahim created such an atmosphere that, once I had come to my senses, I could see myself as a student at the Asaf Zeynalli Music School. That is when I started my travels on the ocean of mugam.

Mansum Ibrahimov first got me into performing on television. That was in September, immediately after I had started at the college. After that, I managed to perform at an event where I was heard by the management of the Theatre of Opera and Ballet. They offered me the part of Ibn Salam in the opera "Leyla and Macnun".

Then I heard that there would be a mugam competition on the television. I submitted my documents and for the first time I was included in the 20 best performers. I only realised what was happening when I won the competition.

- In 2005 you won the competition. And in 2006 you sang the main role in the opera "Shah Ismail". How did you manage to get that job and how did the xananda elders react to your performance?

- Of course, no-one is entrusted with a main part immediately. To begin with, they checked me out; as I have already mentioned, they took me on for a trial period. You see, in the opera it is not just a matter of voice, but acting skill is also important. But right from the start they said that this performer had a good voice for the role of Shah Ismail. Sometime later I did sing that role. Right up until now I am the only one to sing that role, although my friend Sabuhi Ibayev played it twice.

As far as the reaction of the venerable mugam performers is concerned, I only heard positive reviews from them. I don't know whether it was the supreme nature of mugam or something else, but I have always met with support and encouragement.

I think that, because the state had taken care of the merited masters, in their turn, they took care of us. They had undergone many trials and tribulations in their careers and had overcome many difficulties. Thanks to the care of the state and the personal attention of the head of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, we are not experiencing so many difficulties in our careers. Since such good conditions have been created for us, we should continue to follow that path.

- Since we have talked about opera, did you never want to play Macnun?

- You know, this is not simply a table of commitments, requiring that you play this or that role. I would not be permitted to play Macnun firstly because of my build. Macnun has to be a slim man. Nor does my voice suit that role. It is precisely in the role of Shah Ismail that I see myself. It might happen sometime in the future. But I am a good judge of the situation. A performer cannot play all the roles that he wants to. His voice has to be right for the part.

- I believe that in subsequent years your pupils have taken part in the television mugam competition. What was the first main piece of advice that you gave them as their tutor who had already followed that path?

- I started teaching in 2005. My students already took part in the 2006 competition. I advised them primarily to try hard, to put every effort into their performance. A xananda has to keep on learning, overcoming difficulties. He has to take an interest in what he does not know and search for it. There are students whose bass range is greater than what they have heard sung. It is easy to work with students like that. But there are students who need all the nitty gritty explained to them. That is much more difficult. No matter what you teach them, it is all foreign to them. There are students who only start to study after the third class. I tell them that they need to value the bit of opportunity that has come their way. You see, I teach them what my tutor taught me. There are students with whom I have psychologically-related discussions, I advise them to keep on searching for what they need, to work on themselves and be able to appraise their own voice. Many are hopeful. The main thing is to have a purpose in life.

-There was talk for some time about People's Artiste Alim Qasimov interfering in your performance at the opening ceremony of Azerbaijan's Conservatory. What did you yourself think about that?

- Alim Qasimov is a great maestro, who has made Azerbaijani mugam famous throughout the world. He is a maestro of the soul. I performed the "Dilkesh" section, but when I went over to the "Shahnaz" section, Alim Qasimov was also inspired and joined me. For me that was a great compliment. Then he himself said that he had enjoyed my performance and felt like singing himself.

- Did you talk to Alim muallim about it?

-No, we didn't talk about it. There was no need to. I sang, and the maestro expressed his heartfelt feelings with mugam. At the end, he even joked: "Go over to tasnifs, sonny". Naturally, some people voiced their own thoughts on this. Some said that Tayyar Bayramov was in poor form, others that I was pretending and so forth. But mugam performers, who know what they are listening to, testified to the fact that there was nothing wrong with my voice. Simply, at that event the performance did not need to be too long, so the maestro's timely intervention helped me to cut it short. I thought that was necessary and that is how I acted.

- I would like to return to the conversation about your career. Xananda used to compose many songs in folk style. At the present time, there are not many songs like that. Are you thinking of composing some?

- You are quite right. It has to be admitted that hardly any songs like that have been written of late, but I do have several in the pipeline. I am going to work them up, and my mugam pals Tabriz Usubov and Rasad Ibrahimov and I are going to present them. We also have folk songs that we have produced in a new style, and I have performed them. Judging from the response, they have not turned out too badly.

I re-iterate that, if I had learnt to play the tar in the club into which my father had enrolled me, today I would be composing tasnifs. Our outstanding maestros, Alibaba Mammadov, Qulu Askarov, and Bahram Nasirov, for example, have composed splendid songs thanks to their ability to play the tar. True, we do have composers who don't play any instrument.

- If you weigh the profession of lawyer against that of a mugam performer, which has greater weight?

-You know, when a lawyer makes a single mistake, that can destroy the life of a person and those close to him. A singer may spoil the mood of thousands of people, even millions. So, for me both professions are of equal weight. But I strove to be a lawyer right from childhood.

- Are you thinking of ever giving a solo concert?

- To be frank, the idea has never crossed my mind. Not because I am experiencing difficulties or will not be able to sing. "Shah Ismail", which lasts for three hours, is equivalent to three concerts. But I don't have any time for giving concerts, for getting involved in organised events. I know what happens when they are getting ready for a concert. They hire a hall and start to distribute tickets. I would rather write a few mugams than pay to hire a hall, and the mugams will last for ever.

At the same time, I am planning to give a concert this summer at one of the most remote military units in Agdam. Perhaps I'll take a few of my students there with me. Generally speaking, I think that it is better to spend money on making new recordings and new songs rather than on a concert. You see, we don't earn that much to waste it pulling wool over people's eyes by organising a concert. That's my view. This is my understanding of it, so it's not up to other people.