2023-04-27 21:39:11
Chairman of the National Council, professor Jamil Hasanli
Many know maestro Niyazi as a cosmopolitan man. But in fact, he was a nationalist, and non-Azeris working in the field of culture wrote many complaints about him to various Soviet bodies. Back in the late 40s of the last century, when the first symphonic mughams were written, a harsh campaign against them began. In an unsigned letter sent to Nikita Khrushchev in 1954, it was stated that after Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the leadership of Azerbaijani musical culture passed to his relative Niyazi.
The maestro noted in a discussion held in 1955 at the Union of Composers of Azerbaijan that Azerbaijani mughams are different from Iranian mughams. Those who equate them are ignorant of the history of mugham. And to prove his point, he cited an example in his speech: “our language is Turkish, Turkmen, Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis speak that language, but this does not mean that the Azerbaijani language is Uzbek.”
After Niyazi “Rast” and Fikret Amirov wrote “Shur” symphonic mughams, Danil Khristoferovich Danilov, head of the Department of “Music Theory” of the Conservatory, said that Fikret Amirov and Niyazi were very addicted to mughams, and this addiction is leading Azerbaijani music to the abyss. But symphonic mughams written by Azerbaijani composers in the 50s soon went beyond the borders of the USSR.
In a separate anonymous letter sent to Nikita Khrushchev in December 1957, maestro Niyazi was accused of working with “Baghirov methods”. An extensive report was prepared for the Secretariat of the Central Committee in April and October 1959 regarding the complaints written about Niyazi. But the worst crisis occurred in 1959. In May of the same year, the Ten Days of Azerbaijan Culture was to be held in Moscow. As the chief conductor of the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra, Niyazi said that the non-Azerbaijani musicians of the symphony orchestra will not go to the decade, these are days of Azerbaijani culture, and only Azerbaijani musicians should be represented in the orchestra. This caused a great uproar. And they accused him of nationalism.
In the summer of 1959, when Ivan Shikin’s commission on nationalism in the republic arrived from Moscow, they received statements from the performers whom Niyazi had removed from the orchestra. They wrote: “Niyazi is a staunch nationalist and a despot… It seems that now we all have to disperse and leave Baku.” In this case, what can be expected from a person protected by the Central Committee of Azerbaijan. The only thing left is to flee the republic and seek refuge from the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Despite all this, shortly before this inspection commission came to Baku, he was given the title of People’s Artist of the USSR.
On September 9, 1959, in an anonymous letter addressed to Akhundov from the Opera and Ballet Theater, Niyazi was accused of nationalism, anti-Sovietism and anti-party activities. The letter stated that “Azerbaijani Communist Party of Azerbaijan does not hold the false communist Niyazi accountable by pulling aside the MK’s collar, as a result of internal strife, things in the theater have been completely disrupted. Niyazi continues to feel like a cruel king. He is the first nationalist, the first chauvinist, and the second racist after Hitler. Therefore, 7 years ago (in 1952) Niyazi was expelled from the theater.”
On September 20, 1959, in an unsigned letter sent from the Opera and Ballet Theater to Vladimir Semichastny, the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Niyazi was accused of hiring only Azerbaijanis and dismissing “those of a different religion” in the name of redundancy. The author of the anonymous letter wrote: “Dear Comrade Semichastny! I know that you do not know all that has been committed in our republic. I have been working in one of the workshops of the state opera for 25 years. During this time, I have seen many directors and deputies. However, I have never seen what is being done in our country, such nationalism. A year ago, a conductor came to Niyazi. His first task was to expel all good musicians, only Azerbaijanis remained, and he gathered Azerbaijani students for the decade. Now he is gathering elderly Azerbaijanis again.”
They even wrote to Semichastny that Seyid Shushinsky smokes opium in the Opera House when “Mugham Nights” are held, and Niyazi doesn’t turn a blind eye to it either. To personally check the matter, Vladimir Yefimovich even came several times to the “Mugham Nights” at the Opera House.
After all these rumors, Niyazi left Azerbaijan in 1959. He was appointed the chief conductor of the Leningrad Opera Theater named after Kirov. However, his work did not go well here either. A certain unpleasant situation arose in Leningrad regarding Niyazi. Two husband and wife members of the Leningrad ballet, who went on tour to the United States under his leadership, stayed in the United States and asked for asylum from the American government. As the leader of the collective, this event caused unwanted anxiety for him. However, before the issue was discussed in the Leningrad city party committee, Nazim Hajiyev, the secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan on ideological issues, contacted Ivan Spiridonov, the first secretary of the Leningrad city party committee, and asked to send Niyazi to Baku.
At that time, such an anecdote was spread in the USSR: What does Small (Maly) Theater mean? In their answer, they said that the Small Theater means the Big (Bolshoi) Theater, which has returned from a foreign tour. That is, most of the artists stayed abroad.
At the request of the Azerbaijani leadership, Niyazi was released from his position at the Leningrad theater and in October 1961 he was appointed the director of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. Nazim Hajiyev, the secretary of the Central Committee for Ideological Affairs in the team of Vali Akhundov, who came to the leadership in July 1959, closely assisted him in this work, and this appointment made the non-Azerbaijanis working in the Opera theater furious. This time, along with the Soviet leadership, they began to send mass complaints to media outlets such as Pravda and Izvestia. Valentina Nikolayevna Sharoyeva, the first director of the central studio of Soviet television, was sent to Baku in January-February 1962 to check these complaints on the spot…
There is a back
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