2024-04-10 10:38:05
As part of the “Music in the Museum” project, carried out jointly by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan National Museum of Arts, the concert program “Pearls of Romance” was presented, dedicated to the 180th anniversary of the great Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The cozy museum hall, located in one of the architectural masterpieces of the capital of Azerbaijan, was crowded that evening with music connoisseurs, among whom were representatives of the diplomatic corps and the creative intelligentsia.
According to Day.Az, the curator of the concert was Agdes Bagirzade, a famous photographer, participant in the 59th Venice Biennale, winner of numerous competitions, who held her personal exhibitions in different countries of the world, member of the jury of International competitions in the UK, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, etc. Her “arsenal” includes special music education in piano. Having completed a special training course at Kansas City University and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, she is a curator of many international musical and visual projects, and was the creative director of jazz festivals.
In a conversation with an AZERTAC correspondent, Agdes Hanim noted: “This year the entire musical community is celebrating the 180th anniversary of the famous Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, whose anniversary was in March. His music is heard on many world stages, and a number of events were also held in Azerbaijan, where his symphonic works were performed. We decided to pay tribute to the work of the great composer with an evening of chamber music, which became the first such event in this direction. In its program, we decided not to limit ourselves to the works of Nikolai Andreevich himself, but to supplement it with compositions by his students. Thus, Leaving the work of Rimsky-Korsakov itself as a running “red thread,” we introduced listeners to the works of Igor Stravinsky, Anton Arensky and Anatoly Lyadov.”
The vocal cycle of romances was presented by the Honored Artist of the Republic of Azerbaijan, soloist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater Farida Mamedova.
“I discovered some masterpieces of composers whose works were included in our program,” shared Farida Khanim. “We tried to structure it so that not only well-known romances were heard. “Not the wind, blowing from above…”, “Don’t sing “Beauty”, “Octave” are already textbooks. They are pearls that are studied in schools and are often performed by soloists. But we were interested in turning to the vocal cycles of Rimsky-Korsakov, which, to my memory, have not been performed in such volume in Azerbaijan.”
As the soloist noted with her accompanist, pianist Yulia Kerimova, they worked for a very long time both stylistically and on the nature of the presentation of the musical material.
Yulia Kerimova noted that the idea of the concert belonged to the curator Agdes Bagirzade, who approached them with a proposal to implement a musical project in the museum. To which both performers responded immediately.
“The music of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov itself, so rarely performed in Baku, touches us endlessly,” shared Yulia Khanim. “Plus, the very venue of the Italian hall of the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art intrigued us and with enthusiasm we rushed to prepare the program. The hall itself and the music of Rimsky-Korsakov “They fit together better than anyone else. In principle, I think the atmosphere of the concert showed this.”
The name of the program “Pearls of Romance” is not accidental. The cycle of works is like grains of pearls that are strung one after another on a “thread”, giving birth to an amazing musical necklace. Presenting the composer’s work in a fairly diverse form. The music followed the poetry of Alexei K. Tolstoy, Apollo Maykov and Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, changing interpretation depending on the word.
In addition to the romances, listeners were able to get acquainted with opus 11 – three rarely performed pieces for piano by Rimsky-Korsakov, played by Yulia Kerimova and a waltz-joke for piano by Anatoly Lyadov “The Musical Snuffbox,” which is also a masterpiece. It must be said that the presentation of musical works by both Rimsky-Korsakov himself and his students in a single “bundle” emphasized how worthily they carried the name of their mentor.
“And this is worth a lot, confirming that Rimsky-Korsakov is not only a wonderful composer, but also an amazing teacher. A man who did a lot for world culture,” noted Yulia Khanim. “Rimsky-Korsakov is the Mozart of Russian music. He is the pillar on which the musical culture of many nations is based. There is a certain peculiarity in his creative heritage. It is extremely difficult to fall into the style. Subtle, intelligent, very openwork, I would say. He is characterized by thoughtfulness in small things, in nuances, sometimes very small… And “All this is actually reflected in the music. Some people may not have the scale of Sergei Rachmaninov’s fullness, but any romance by Rimsky-Korsakov is a work of art.”
“I am grateful to the organizers of the concert in the person of Shirin Khanim Melikova, the Azerbaijan National Museum of Arts for supporting our evening and for the wonderful idea to resume, even more restore the tradition of holding concerts in the museum,” noted Farida Mamedova. “Because in my memory I performed there in the early youth. I was 20-25 years old, when the museum, then named after Rustam Mustafayev, was one of the prominent music salons of our city and chamber music evenings were constantly held there and I, while still a pianist, played in them, and my first serious vocal concerts took place within its walls. Then for many years this practice was interrupted. And today I take this opportunity to thank the management of the museum that music has returned to the museum space.
I also express my sincere gratitude to Agdes Bagirzade, who herself, also being a pianist, gave concerts in the same hall, and with whom Yulia and I have a long-term collaboration and this is the third joint project in which she acted as a curator. It is a great pleasure for us to work with her, because we understand each other perfectly: this is a fusion of tastes, this is a great love for music, for art, which helps us realize this kind of plans. I am sure that this business will live, develop and bring only positive “dividends” in the development of the cultural life of our country, for our society.”
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