National musical culture conquers Brazil [PHOTO]

By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

A gala concert, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the diplomatic service of Azerbaijan, has been held at the magnificent Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Brazil organized the evening with the support of the National Commission of Azerbaijan for UNESCO.

Such masters of world vocals as Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Jesse Norman, Kiri Te Kanawa performed on the stage of one of the most prestigious theaters in Latin America, which is a masterpiece of architecture of the beginning of the last century.

The Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the People's Artist of Azerbaijan Yalchin Adigozalov, successfully performed at the evening.

This was the third visit of the Azerbaijani conductor to the largest state in South America. Successful collaboration with Brazilian orchestras began in 2013 in the capital Brasilia, and then continued with two concerts in 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, in Cidade das Artes, the largest concert hall in South America, and in the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro.

The concert program included works by Gara Garayev, Fikret Amirov, Asaf Zeynalli, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Heitor Villa-Lobos. The soloist was Seljan Nasibli, a graduate of the London Royal Academy of Music.

He pleased the audience with the rarely performed "Scheherazade" by Maurice Ravel and the romance "Olkem" by Asaf Zeynalli. The audience awarded the Azerbaijani soprano with enthusiastic applause. The evening ended with a performance of “7th Brazilian Bachian” by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

As many as 2,000 spectators, including the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Brazil Elkhan Polukhov, city hall and the National Congress of Brazil representatives, professors and students of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, enjoyed the performance.

Clovis Pereira Filho, the first concertmaster of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, said that “Don Quixote Symphonic Engravings“ by Gara Garayev amazed the audience, adding that the depth and expression of the interpretation of maestro Adigozalov made an indelible impression.

In turn, member of the artistic council of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, accompanist Nikola Boyadzhiev said that “Nasimi” by Fikret Amirov is the greatest music score of the 20th century.

"Azerbaijan gave the world outstanding composers. The concert program was one of the most interesting for the last decade. This was the deserved, resounding success of Azerbaijani culture in Brazil," he added.

The event aroused great interest in the concert life of Rio de Janeiro and was widely covered by local media.