EACH VOICE IS INDIVIDUAL, JUST LIKE A FINGERPRINT

Rigoletto and La Traviata, Cinderella and Cırtdan, A Masked Ball and The Servant Turned Mistress, The Barber of Seville, La Boheme, Intizar and others... The repertoire of Inara Babayeva, the leading soloist of the State Opera and Ballet Theatre includes 28 different roles. She is a holder of presidential scholarship and is the only coloratura soprano of the theater. The Honored Art Worker of Azerbaijan likes to not only transform in different plays but also direct her own productions. Like The Servant Turned Mistress, which caused a storm of delight in Baku. In an interview with R+, Inara Babayeva has told about herself, her family and favorite job.

 - How did you study music?

- I was ten years old when I first heard opera on the stage of our theater. It was Eugene Onegin. I was deeply impressed, and since then, I had been dreaming of singing in the opera. I grew up in a non-musical family, but my mum introduced me to the world of arts taking me to children's choir and other hobby groups. I think that is why I have finished the piano school in seven years. I was preparing to get into the then Institute of Oil and Chemistry, but the Fate had other plans for me. The conservatory had organized a contest of young performers, which I took part in and became the winner. Therefore, the rector Farhad Badalbeyli had advised me to study at the conservatory. I graduated the vocal class coached by the Honored Art Worker of Azerbaijan, Professor Rumiyya Karimova. During my postgraduate education, I was lucky enough to study under the famous teacher and a fellow of the Italian school of music Huseyn Aliyev. In practice, almost all staff of our theater is his graduates.

- You are one of the most popular stars of Azerbaijan. You are taking part in concerts, touring in other countries, etc. You must be satisfied, aren’t you?

- Well, I like playing different roles, but I also like having my own touches as a director. That is why I am taking stage-directing lessons by one of the prominent theatrical gurus of Azerbaijan Azerpasha Neymatov. Now, I am thinking of staging A Masked Ball after its recent premiere as a concert performance at the Uzeyir Hajibeyov Festival.

- Which genres of opera do you prefer: tragedies or comedies, theater or concert performances?

- I am more about comic operas full with cheerfulness and joy. They help to get away from rubs of worries of life. As we both know, a tragedy ends in death of one or more characters of the play, leaving the audience in a sad mood and sometimes bringing tears to their eyes. Theatrical performances look more spectacular, as the action takes place in costumes around vivid decorations, and they are not static. On the contrary, during a concert performance, all actors are sitting on the stage and stand only to perform individual acts. The chorus stands in the last row, while the actors occupy the first row.

- You are a young but famous singer with a track record of vocal performances, including Gulchohra in Arshin mal alan, Susanna in The Wedding of Figaro, Gulnaz in O, olmasın, bu olsun, a boy in Cırtdan, Dilbar in Sevil, Despina in Thus Do They All, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Micaela in Carmen and others. But even more performances are still unsung. Which of them would you like to sing?

- Each voice is individual, just like a fingerprint. I am more about operas in Baroque style (or Buffo). My best choice is, of course, The Barber of Seville, which I preformed to graduate the conservatory. I usually go with Gilda, Rosina or Violetta as an encore. I like Violetta because no sane woman would ever want to feel the same. All women want love, children... I also would like to try myself as Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly.

- How do you spend your day?

- In the morning, we usually walk along the boulevard toward the rising sun instead of jogging. Then, we send our 12-year-old daughter to school, and continue walking with our month-old son in a stroller. Then, I sing for about 20 minutes, rehearse in the theater and go to the National Conservatory and the University of Arts and Culture, where I am couching the vocal class. I have some good results. I discover lots of new things in music while I am teaching. In general, I always try to learn something new. We have a friendly musical family. My husband, Emin Hasanov, is a pianist. He works as a concertmaster at the Theatre of Musical Comedy and teaches at the National Conservatory. We both are working at one of the departments at the University of Culture and Arts. It is like my hobby, something I do for fun.

And if there is an invitation, we take tours together. My daughter Farah is learning to play the guitar, while our youngest is listening her performance carefully. Maybe he will also become a musician. The evenings are usually devoted to the works of my daughter. She feels very happy dancing, singing, playing. Our family is a striking example of a union through profession.

- You had played at various international competitions and festivals in many countries, including Turkey, Japan, Belgium, Russia, Malta, Georgia, China, and Macedonia. Which of these tours do you like the most?

- I was awarded at the competition of opera singers held in the French city of Toulouse in 2008. I also received a diploma at the competition in Yalta. For a bright performance of Musette in La Boheme staged in Belarus, I was invited to play in several productions. Finally, I was awarded the title of the Honored Art Worker of Azerbaijan for the role of Humay in F. Alizade’s Intizar.

- Do you think theatre’s administration will assist you if you wish to stage another work as a director?

- Certainly. After all, when we were staging The Servant Turned Mistress, our director Akif Melikov attended the rehearsals, made valuable comments, gave advices, did not limit the number of rehearsals, and even allowed me to play in the suit, which I made myself.

- We wish you good luck and creative successes!