Baku treated to rare concert of Azerbaijani and Italian musicians

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

The Azerbaijan State Philharmonic after Muslim Magomayev was the venue for an impressive concert that joined Azerbaijani and Italian musicians in Baku on September 25.

Dedicated to the Italian city of Naples and entitled "Baku Sings Napoli," the event was held as part of the Uzeyir Hajibeyli International Music Festival. It attracted a diverse audience of artists, embassy representatives, and music lovers from all walks of life.

The concert was so popular among city residents that there were no empty seats left at the hall.

The concert presented popular Neapolitan songs, popular pieces by Italian composers, along with compositions by Francesco Maggio and Gunay Mirzoyeva.

The musical performances commenced with the magnificent “Italian style overture” by Fabrizio Festa, accompanied by the Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli.

Brilliant vocalists, including Azerbaijani People's Artist tenor Samir Jafarov, soprano Tiziana Scandaletti, musicians such as honored artist Sirus Mammadov on trumpet, and Riccardo Piacentini on piano, mesmerized the audience.

The duo of Tiziana Skandalettik and Riccardo Piacentini brilliantly performed a novel and modern rendition of the famous “Canzoni Napoletane” by Gaetano Donizetti.

It is necessary to highlight the excellent performance by Samir Jafarov and Tiziana Scandaletti. The audience was not willing to let the performers go, and they had to come back to the stage several times on account of the audience’s cheers for more.

The concert also saw an amazing performance of "Between Two Seas" by Gunay Mirzayeva, dedicated to the sister cities Baku and Naples, which established their cultural ties in 1972.

After the concert, Italian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Giampaolo Kutillo stated that it was a big honor for Italian musicians to take part in the festival and perform on stage at the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic.

He said the concert, organized by Francesko Maggio and conducted by maestro Fabrizio Festa, was absolutely stunning. The ambassador highlighted the performances of Riccardo Piacentini, Tiziana Skandalettik, and Samir Jafarov, who he said gave the audience an unforgettable feeling.

None who attended left without having been moved by the performances and the audience was fascinated by the execution of pieces.

The concert was organized by the Italian Embassy in conjunction with the Azerbaijani Culture and Tourism Ministry and Maestro Francesco Maggio, and sponsored by Sinteks, Yapicredi Bank, Ital Caspian, ICOG, Cluster, and Azernews.