Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

January 12 saw a remarkable event in the Azerbaijani music history. 105 years ago, in 1908, the opera "Leyli and Majnun" composed by great Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibayov was performed for the first time and this event laid the genesis of the first opera in the Muslim world.

In the early 20th century, in the atmosphere of socio-economic and cultural growth, Hajibayov laid the foundation of the culture of theater and modern professional music of Azerbaijan by his "Leyli and Majnun" opera.

The performance of the "First Opera of the Muslim East" took place at the Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev theater on a cold and wintry day on January 12, 1908. Uzeyir was 22 at the time of its premiere.

A product of two Azerbaijani greats - composer Uzeyir Hajibayov and classical poet Mahammad Fuzuli - the "Leyli and Majnun" opera, which is based on a love story, was revolutionary for Oriental culture. The masterpiece, which gained wide acclaim, was a contribution to Eastern culture as well as a successful step toward forming a global and unified outlook on culture.

The history of the creation of this opera is very interesting.

Shusha, 1898: a 13-year-old boy watches a dramatization of the story of Majnun at Leyli's Tombstone. He is astonished at the performance of the amateur actors. That boy was Uzeyir Hajibayov. Remembering the occasion, Hajibayov wrote: "That performance affected me so much that when I came to Baku years later, I decided to write something like that." So, "Leyli and Majnun" was born in the heart of 13-year-old Uzeyir in 1898.

The idea gained a more realistic shape in Baku after performances by Russian and Italian groups, Jeyhun Hajibayov, co-author and brother of Hajibayov, wrote in his memoirs. According to him, the works Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, La Traviata and Tosca all have a common theme, the same as Leyli and Majnun, and they made a deep impression upon him and his brother.

"We became more familiar with opera performance in Baku," he wrote. "The vague idea conceived in Shusha [an Azerbaijani town occupied by Armenians] reappeared in Baku and belonged to my brother. He shared ideas with me and asked my opinion about the venture, firstly in general terms, then in more detailed creative terms."

The opera "Leyli and Majnun" became founder of the unique new genre-- mugham-opera-- in musical culture of the world, which synthesizes Oriental and European musical forms, resembling a dialogue of two musical cultures of the East and West.

"Leyli and Majnun" is based on traditional Azerbaijani mughams, which are performed in their original form - meaning unwritten and improvised. Entire segments of the opera feature specific mughams, depending on the emotional effect the composer was trying to convey. The mughams called Mahur-Hindi, Segah, Chahargah, Kurd-Shahnaz, Bayati-Shiraz, Shushtar, Bayati-Kurd, Shabi-Hijran and Gatar are among those featured in this opera.

Another innovation of this work was that it included harmonic choral music, which is not an indigenous characteristic of Azerbaijani music. The chorus was used to move the plot along, comment on events and reflect on the psychological state of the main characters. The chorus was accompanied by a symphonic orchestra - another new feature.

The opera's first director was Huseyn Arablinski and its first conductor was Abdurahim bey Hagverdiyev, a famous Azerbaijani writer.

Hajibayov used to talk about the difficulties - both financial and creative - that they encountered in staging "Leyli and Majnun". Rehearsals took place at the Hotel Islamiyya, the home of the composers and the residence of Imran Gasimov, who was the only one to offer them financial support.

One of the greatest obstacles was that it wasn't easy to find vocalists who could perform the leading roles for the two-hour production. Quite by chance, Hajibayov stumbled upon various individuals and persuaded them to take major roles.

The first was Huseyngulu Sarabski, who worked at a water distribution center not far from Hotel Tabriz, where Hajibayov was living. One day he heard the young man singing as he worked. It wasn't long before he tapped him for the lead role of Majnun.

But the female role of Leyli was much more difficult to fill. Religious tradition did not allow women to perform on stage, and no man wanted to take the part. As the story goes, one day Hajibayov was sitting in a "chaykhana" (tea house) when a tall, good-looking waiter, Abdulrahim Farajov, approached his table bringing tea. Again, he just happened to be singing at his work. But this time, it took a great deal more persuasion to get him to consent to the role. But because of refusal of Farajov, Ahmad Badalbayli (Ahmad Agdamski) played pieces of Leyli by persuasion of his brother Badalbey.

The premiere was not without its last-minute glitches. Two hours before the show, Hajibayov had to rewrite some of the music for the violins, and when the two tar players didn't show up, he himself went down into the orchestra pit to play the violin.

Despite all the difficulties in staging the premiere, Hajibayov viewed the opera as a success. He felt that the public was hungry for dramatic enactments of classic scenes accompanied by folk music. The opera has survived and is dearly loved in Azerbaijan today. It is viewed as one of the most significant contributions of Hajibayov's musical legacy.

For a long time, until the Soviet government was established, Azerbaijani national opera developed thanks to the works of Hajibayov - "Sheikh Sanan" (opera, 1909), "Husband and Wife" (musical comedy, 1909), "Rustam and Zohrab" (opera, 1910), "If not this, then that" (musical comedy, 1911), "Farhad and Shirin" (opera, 1911), etc. In subsequent years, Zulfugar Hajibayov ("Ashiq Garib", 1916), Muslim Magomayev ("Shah Ismail", 1919), Afrasiyab Badalbayli ("Nizami", 1948), Fikrat Amirov ("Sevil", 1955) and other well-known composers contributed to the national opera art.

Hajibayov not only contributed to the development of theatre and opera culture in Azerbaijan but also educated young Azerbaijani composers on the secrets of music art. One of them was Shafiga Akhundova, a prominent Azerbaijani composer, the first professional female opera author ("Galin gayasi"-"Bride's rock") in the East.

The 100th anniversary of Hajibayov's Leyli and Majnun was marked in UNESCO headquarters on June 24, 2008. The event has been held under the order signed by the President on holding anniversaries on significant events and well-known persons related with Azerbaijan in 2008-2009.