Azerbaijani historian devotes book to Dmitri Shostakovich

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Teymur Atayev's book "The last musical piece of Dmitri Shostakovich" has been presented in the Russian House in Baku, Azernews reports.

Historian and publicist Teymur Atayev is a researcher in the fields of geopolitics, religion, literature, and art.

In his book, he analyzes Shostakovich's final works through documentary sources, which convey the thoughts of the composer himself and the testimonies of people who knew him closely.

Speaking at the book presentation, the head of the Russian House in Baku, Irek Zinnurov, said that the event has become another bridge of culture between the two countries.

The presentation of the book was intertwined with a concert program with musical pieces by Dmitri Shostakovich, as well as graduates of his class, outstanding Azerbaijani composers Gara Garayev and Elmira Nazirova.

The concert program was organized by a senior lecturer at Baku Music Academy, Ph.D. in Art History Alena Inyakina, who also performed a number of compositions and spoke about Dmitri Shostakovich's close connection with Azerbaijani music.

Dmitri Shostakovich's role in the development of Azerbaijani composers' work was very once accurately described by one of the students of his class, Azerbaijani composer Jovdat Hajiyev:

"After Uzeyir Hajibayli's death, Shostakovich seemed to take upon himself the burden of responsibility for the state of Azerbaijani music. He was actively interested in the musical activities of Niyazi, Fikrat Amirov, Elmira Nazirova, Sultan Hajibayov, Rauf Hajiyev, and many other composers' works. He came to all the auditions that took place in Moscow, and invariably attended analyses of our new works, which was an invaluable school for all authors. And when he was in Baku, he tried to listen to as many works as possible, sounding at concerts and in recordings, to express his opinion ".

Honored Artist Anton Fershtandt, musician of the State Choir Chapel Kamilla Imanova, member of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater Ruslan Persan, Baku Music Academy teachers, laureates of international competitions Lala Muxtarova, Nargiz Kangarli, Dilara Karimova, students Nariman Masimov, Erol Rzayev, Zarrin Aliyeva, Osman Mustafazade, Humay Hajizade gave listeners an unforgettable music feast.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az and Milli.Az.