Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

One Thousand and One Nights ballet by legendary Azerbaijani composer Fikrat Amirov was staged at the Belarusian State Academic Musical Theatre on February 14-16.

The ballet was conducted by laureate of international contests Eyyub Guliyev. The ballet`s choreographer was People's Artist of Azerbaijan Madina Aliyeva, while artistic director was Inara Aslanova.

Leading roles were performed by the soloists of the Belarusian State Musical Theater Sergei Glukh as Shahriyar, Irina Voytekunas as Shahrizad, Polina Garunovic as Zibeyda, Igor Goncharik as Seafarer Sindbad, Dmitry Lazovik as Aladdin, Mika Suzuki as Princess Budur, Vitaliy Borovnev as Jinn, Mayk Partush as head of pirates, Aleksandra Krasnoglazova as Marjana and Nikolai Umerenkov as Alibaba.

All tickets for the performances were sold out within three days. Ballet performances were accompanied by thunderous applause.

The event was organized by Azerbaijan's Culture and Tourism Ministry in cooperation with Azerbaijan's State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

Azerbaijan's Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Sevda Mammadaliyeva, representatives of the Belarusian Culture Ministry and Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Belarus Isfandiyar Vahabzade attended the event.

Fikrat Amirov, a prominent Azerbaijani composer of the Soviet period, grew up in an atmosphere of Azerbaijani folk music.

His father, Mashadi Jamil Amirov, was a famous mugham singer ("khanende") from Azerbaijan's Shusha city.

During his childhood and early adolescence, Fikrat began composing pieces for the piano. Upon his graduation from the Ganja Music College, Amirov entered the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire, now known as the Baku Music Academy. He was a student of Boris Zeidman and Uzeyir Hajibeyov at the academy.

Amirov's music was strongly influenced by Azeri folk melodies. He created a new genre of music, called symphonic mugham, which was based on classical folk pieces and was performed by many renowned symphony orchestras across the world, such as the Houston Symphony Orchestra led by Leopold Stokowski.

His most famous pieces include symphonic works such as "Shur" (1946), "Kurd Ovshari" (1949), "Azerbaijan Capriccio" (1961), "Gulustan Bayati-Shiraz" (1968), "The Legend of Nasimi" (1977), "To the Memory of the Heroes of the Great National War" (1944) and "Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra" (1948).

His ballets include "Nizami" (1947) and "One Thousand and One Nights" (sometimes referred to as "The Arabian Nights") which was premiered in 1979. Amirov wrote his "Sevil" opera in 1953.

He also wrote a number of pieces for the piano including "Ballad," "Ashug's Song," "Nocturne," "Humoreska," "Lyrical Dance," "Waltz," "Lullaby" and "Toccata."