Azernews.Az

Thursday March 28 2024

Golden hits of Magomayev to reach new horizons

26 October 2017 14:38 (UTC+04:00)
Golden hits of Magomayev to reach new horizons

By Aygul Salmanova

Talents of the World, an international concert organization, is doing a tribute to the legendary Azerbaijani singer, Muslim Magomayev, a concert tour through the U.S.

This year, which marks Muslim Magomayev's 75th anniversary, is the first time that Talents of the World is bringing the tribute to the U.S. on a 10-city concert tour, featuring the soloists of Bolshoi Theater.

The soloists possess the same voice type as Muslim Magomayev - they are three baritones, who will perform all the greatest hits of Magomayev: from opera favorites (Figaro's aria, Toreador's aria), to Neapolitan songs, to the Soviet pop hits and, of course, to the American hits (Frank Sinatra's "My Way", "Moon River", as well as "Sunrise, Sunset", "Where do I begin" from the movie "Love Story", and others).

How many Americans have heard of Muslym Magomaev? Probably not many, but he was a true legend, an iconic figure, a Russian "Frank Sinatra", the only one who was allowed to perform in English during the Soviet times.

At the age of 19, Magomayev performed at an international youth festival in Helsinki, and was noted by the Soviet Ministry of Culture. And, at the age 20, he became an overnight sensation after his stunning performance at the Kremlin's gala concert.

He traveled to Italy to be a visiting artist at La Scala, which would explain his perfect Italian diction and style for the Italian roles that he performed - Figaro in The Barber of Seville by Rossini Rigoletto, Scarpia, and others.

Upon his return, however, just like his favorite artist Mario Lanza was "kidnapped" by Hollywood, so was Magomayev drawn into the world of pop music. His golden voice, great control and artistry took the world of pop culture by storm, and he became unparalleled in this genre: he quickly became a cult figure and gave three concerts a day, filling huge arenas all across the Soviet Union, while his albums sold millions.

Having received several offers from foreign agents, he wished to have a truly international career, but the Soviet Ministry would not allow him to have too much freedom. Still, Muslim's presence was felt all over the world: 1969 brought Magomayev a victory in the Song Contest in Sopot, Poland and also brought him the First "Golden Disc" in the Cannes Festival as 4.5 million of his records were sold (ahead of The Beatles and Tom Jones, among others).

By the age of 30, Muslim was awarded the highest honor - "People's Artist of the USSR".

Magomayev was also the first artist from the Soviet Concert organization to visit the U.S. and he continued his visits there, gave concerts, and did some research for his book about Mario Lanza. Magomayev's only child - daughter Marina, and his grandson, little Muslim, still live in the U.S. today.

His trips to the U.S. became the Soviet people's rare opportunity to have a peak behind the Iron Curtain, to hear American greatest hits, which Magomayev happily performed, when he returned home.

He became known as "Russian Frank Sinatra", for Magomayev enjoyed very much performing Sinatra's repertoire and other American hits. His interpretation of "Where do I begin" from the movie "Love Story" is one of the best in the world.

The legendary artist left this world, when he was just 66 years old. Talents of the World, an international concert organization, was the first organization to produce an evening, commemorating Magomayev's artistry and life, just two months after his death.

Magomayev's wife, opera Prima Donna Tamara Sinyavskaya, gave the permission to David Gvinianidze, the President of Talents of the World, to hold such an event. Since then, it became Talents of the World's tradition to do yearly tributes to the beloved artist.

Loading...
Latest See more