As part of the 18th Uzeyir Hajibeyli International Music Festival, the Azerbaijan State Academic Musical Theatre presented a production based on the composer’s mugham opera “Leyli and Majnun.” The festival is organised by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture.
The production is directed by Presidential Award laureate Samir Gulamov. The musical director and conductor is Honoured Art Worker Fakhraddin Atayev, with stage design by Vusal Rahim. Honoured Artist Vagif Mastanov serves as chorus master, and People’s Artist Sakina Ismayilova as mugham consultant.
Leading roles were performed by Honoured Artist Nadir Khasiyev, along with Ilaha Rustamova and Orkhan Huseynli, winners of national and international mugham competitions. Members of the theatre company, chorus and ballet also took part.
Based on Muhammad Fuzuli’s poem of the same name, “Leyli and Majnun” premiered in Baku in 1908 and is widely regarded as the first opera of the Muslim East. By blending mugham with the European operatic tradition, the work has remained one of the defining symbols of Azerbaijani musical culture for more than a century.
