Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

International Mugham Center in Baku hosted a premiere of a musical project of Azerbaijani singer Gunay Mirzayeva and Italian composer Francesco Maggio last Friday, AzerTag state news agency reports.

The project was implemented in cooperation with the International Mugham Center and Italian ensemble Contempoarte with the support of the Italian Embassy in Azerbaijan.

In the frame of the project, Azerbaijani visual concert "Il Fiore del Fuoco" held in the Mugham Center presented a synthesis of Azerbaijani and Italian music - two new compositions by young composers Francesco Maggio and Gunay Mirzayeva performed by Contempoarte together with a Mugham trio.

Azerbaijani mugham (folk music) was performed by Miralam Miralamov.

Maggio's composition "Ateshgah" is based on Azerbaijani Cahargah mugham, while Mirzayeva's "Alovun sesi" ("Sound of a flame") is based on Azerbaijani Shur mugham.

The concert featured a visual demonstration of Azerbaijani sights including Yanardag and Ateshgah, and landmark Azerbaijani monuments, which show the concert's idea of fire, an Azerbaijani symbol.

Italian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mario Giorgio Stefano Baldi said in his remarks that this event plays an important role in the development of cultural relations between the two countries. Francesco Maggio and Gunay Mirzayeva present a synthesis of Azerbaijani and Italian music performed by musicians of the two countries. It is not accidental that music is dedicated to fire. Fire appears in the genesis of both Italians and Azerbaijanis. Moreover, on February 4 the same concert will take place in Florence at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

The concert was a great success, and the synthesis of Azerbaijani mugham and Italian music left a lasting impression upon the viewers.

Francesco and Gunay also plan to hold a number of music festivals and hope that soon they will be able to implement another project - to hold the biggest festival of Azerbaijani music in Italy.

A concert under this project is expected to be held in Florence in February. It will familiarize Italians with ancient Azerbaijani music.

The project became possible after Mirzayeva won a grant from the Youth Foundation and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, which are the main sponsors of the Il Fiore del Fuoco project in Baku.

It is sponsored by the municipality of the region of Tuscany, a province of Florence, Italy's Ministry of Culture, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Italy and Made Group Florence Consortium.

Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Intigam Babayev noted in his speech the role of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the promotion of Azerbaijani culture abroad. According to him, this concert will help promote the country's culture in Italy.

Deputy Education Minister Gulu Novruzov emphasized that in 2007 the National Curriculum of Azerbaijani students studying abroad was approved. Under this program Mirzayeva was able to continue her education in Europe.

Gunay Mirzayeva, a graduate of the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, now is continuing her education in the National Academy of St Cecilia in Rome as well as in Germany in the class of world-famous composer, professor Wolfgang Rihm.

Her "Alovun sesi" can be considered great success in the beginning of a composer's creative efforts.

Francesco Maggio graduated from the composer class in St Cecilia and got acquainted with Azerbaijani music and its genres through Gunay.

Maggio, a composer, organizer and art director of the Brinkhall Summer Concerts festival in Finland and art director of the Italian "Massenzio art festival", has already been to Azerbaijan several times to hear Azerbaijani music in which he fell in love and to work on musical projects.

It is beyond doubt that Azerbaijani and Italian music has a grand and glorious history. This project may become a new landmark in the two countries' cultural lives, as an Italian composer interpreted Azerbaijani music for the first time.

The Azerbaijani-Italian cultural relations were given an incentive since the Italian city of Naples and Azerbaijani capital Baku were declared as sister cities in 1972. However, the relations between the two countries actually have a long history, which can be traced back to travelers visiting Azerbaijan in the Middle Ages, including Marco Polo.

Different paintings of well-known Italian artists are available in the museums of Azerbaijan, and a lot of carpets and jewelry items made in Azerbaijan are held in numerous museums and private collections in Italy.

Some legendary singers of Azerbaijan such as Bulbul and Muslim Magomayev mastered the basics of opera art in Italy. Many cultural events have been held in both Italy and Azerbaijan.