Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

"A young man from Baku conquers the world," reads the caption of a photo displayed Ogonek, a famous magazine of the time. The 19-year old Muslim Magomayev could hardly believe then that this successful performance at the Youth Festival in Helsinki, Finland, would become the start of a long glory that accompanied him until the end of his life.

With a pure, ageless, and beautiful baritone voice, he distinguished this talent among his peers and mesmerized millions. Combined with a brilliant technique, his voice was a treasure that continued a path laid out by his famed grandfather, Abdul Muslim, also a musician.

Magomayev had an incomparable voice, blending melody into his epic style that trembled any venue where he performed. Every song that he performed was a sample of high art. The singer not only had a divinely beautiful voice at every performance, but he also put a part of his soul into each song.

While he never attempted to be fashionable or flirt with the audience, his talent and his unique charisma conquered millions of hearts with astonishing force.

He accomplished the impossible in the USSR. At age 31, Muslim became the youngest art figure who was awarded with the title of USSR People's Artist. He became the first to bring classical arias and songs to the Soviet stage, and remained adored by millions for the next four decades.

Many people flocked to Magomayev’s concerts, and often his most ardent fans nearly demolished doors in the vestibules to see this graven image. Thanks to the large number of his fans, Magomayev’s performances were usually in stadiums, an unusual venue for the time.

People love him not only because of his impressive talent, but also for his charisma. Indeed, Magomayev was a very handsome man and had a wonderful charm. Thanks to his attractive appearance, the famous Azerbaijani filmmaker Eldar Guliyev invited Magomayev to play the role of the national poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi in his film in 1980s.

Magomayev fit the role of Nizami so well that his own image would be used in later drawings and descriptions of the famed poet.

A very important stage in mastering his vocals skills even further was his training in the "La Scala" Opera Theater in Milan. Muslim's stay in Italy – a country of innumerable art treasures and the home of belcanto – in the 1960s was not only beneficial for his singing, but also affected his inner world.

In 1969, Magomayev won the International Song Competition in Sopot, Poland and also won the First Golden Disc at the Cannes Music Festival with 4.5 million records sold that year.

His discography includes more than 45 gramophone records and 15 CDs, containing a musical repertoire of more than 600 pieces.

Magomayev was also an excellent pianist and talented composer, who both perfectly mastered the language of the instrument and created music masterpieces.

An interesting fact is that one of the dwarf planets of the solar system known to astronomers as 1974 SP1 was named "4980 Magomayev" after the prominent singer in 1997.

Magomayev died in 2008 in his 67th year of life, leaving behind a great heritage and glory for his country.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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