Art

Home page

Art

Farhad Badalbayli: I promised to built a music school in Shusha â€“ INTERVIEW â€“ PHOTOSESSION

Farhad Badalbayli: I promised to built a music school in Shusha â€“ <font color=red>INTERVIEW â€“ PHOTOSESSION </font>

25 August 2009 15:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ulkar Gasimova â€“ APA. Rector of Baku Music Academy, Azerbaijani peopleâ€™s artist Farhad Badalbayli interviewed by APA

- You were one of the art figures of the 1st International Music Festival held in Gabala. How do you assess it?

- Gabala festival made great impression on me. Everything was perfect. Of course, Heydar Aliyev Foundation made contribution to it, the foundation was one of the main organizers. Culture and Tourism Ministry helped us much, Azerbaijani Union of Music Figures was very active. I was happy because the local people attended all the concerts held within the framework of the festival in Gabala. People even came from Shamakhy, Ismayilli, Aghdash, Oghuz and Gandja. The main thing was that no one made them attend the festival. Maestro Niyazi used to conduct concerts of classic music in â€œCidir Duzuâ€. Later, classic music lost its position. I am glad that we will hold this festival regularly. A festivalâ€™s influence reduces, when there is a break.

- So, there is more interest in classic music in the regionsâ€¦

- Believe me, there is too much interest. We were asked who would come to the festival. The halls will be empty. But people came, there was no noise in the concerts, you could not hear phone calls. And of course, the organizational issues were perfect. It was raining, when mugham concert was held. 300 umbrellas were immediately brought and the people watched the concert under the umbrella. Outstanding professors came to the concert. Legendary pianist Liu Shih-kun attended the event. He had been imprisoned for six years for performing classic music. He has 6000 music schools in China. 45 million people are pianists in China. Liu Shih-kun said Maestro Niyazi was genius.

- What impression did the festival make on the guests?

- I worked on the Gabala international music festival for a year. It was a very hard work. For example, I was to talk to the orchestra from Israel. Frankly speaking, they feared to come to Azerbaijan. Reports spread on the internet five months ago that Azerbaijan is a very dangerous country, war is taking place there. After Israeli musicians came to Azerbaijan they said: â€˜you live in paradise. In Israel we are as if in prison, every minute we fear that we will undergo bombing.â€™ Actually they did not know that Azerbaijan is a very beautiful country. We traveled to Lahic, they were delighted with Lahic. They said it was a miracle. They said if they had Lahic, they would earn billions from it. They visited Karvansara, Khan Sarayi in Shaki. They drank spring water in Gabala and said it was much more valuable than oil. The main thing is that they will promote Azerbaijan.

- The first international festival of classic music was held in Azerbaijan as a result of painstaking work. Do you think Azerbaijan is ready to hold an international variety festival or contest?

- I think you mean a contest like Eurovision. Variety music is a special genre in every country. I do not see anything interesting in Russian variety. In England variety is quite different. Variety music in France was chanson, music is not so important as text. But it is a pity that Patricia Kaas from France failed to win in Eurovision-2009. I was even surprised why Kaas, who earns millions, participated in that contest. There are political problems, problems related to commercials in this contest. Womenâ€™s clothes and beauty have influence on the results. Performance is not so important in Eurovision. A variety festival, not a contest, may be held in Azerbaijan. Guests should be invited to the festival, we should demonstrate our variety. I do not see any problem here, the most talented persons from Azerbaijan should participate in the event.

- By the way, why didnâ€™t Azerbaijanâ€™s representatives in Eurovision-2008 and 2009 demonstrate something new soon after the contest?

- It requires management structure. Elnur Huseynov and Samir Javadzadeh were very talented. They seem to have parted, I regret it. They had great potential. It would be good if composers had written songs for them and their concerts had been organized. But it is impossible to organize their concert with one song. Once, I was a soloist of â€œGoskonsertâ€. This union promoted my songs all over the world. But after the 90s USSR collapsed, â€œGoskonsertâ€ collapsed, and actually within 10 years Fidan, Khuraman and I did not do anything. These were lost years for us, because then I was younger. I am afraid talented young persons like Elnur, Samir and Aysel will lose time. They need good management. Unfortunately, we do not have such an institute.

- The majority of the young persons participating in the international competitions later leave for foreign countriesâ€¦

- I would be very happy, if they leave for foreign countries. I would not like talented Azerbaijani youth to stay only in Baku. First of all, they should know languages. You can not launch a career in Europe without knowing a foreign language. Dmitry Yablonski knows sox languages. He knows English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian and says he will learn Azeri by the next festival. If you know a language, you will have career and money. I tell the talented young people that I will send them abroad if they learn a foreign language. Friends of Azerbaijani Culture Foundation, personally Mehriban Aliyeva sent IDP from Shusha Fuad Ibrahimov to Cologne, he studied in conservatoire as a conductor. Eyyub Guliyev participates in all festivals. These talented young people should be in Europe. They can not launch career staying in Azerbaijan. There is a special foundation now. We send talented youth abroad at the expenses of this foundation. Why donâ€™t we send musicians? We plan to send Isfar Sarabskiy, who won Montreux Jazz Festival, to either America or London. But he can not speak English. I make him learn English.

- Being the rector of Baku Music Academy how do you assess the new generation musicians?

- Unfortunately, not so highly. There are musicologists who gained 50 points at the entrance exams. They read very little. They are surfing the Internet all day long. Internet is also necessary, but reading is quite another thing. We used to read much, go to the concerts. Internet can not be as useful as a book. We were made learn geography, history, literature. Mathematics, physics and chemistry are difficult subjects, but a musician should at least know his history, read works by Huseyn Javid, Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh. The main cause of this problem is that these subjects are taught poorly at schools.

- What was the minimal point for admission to Baku Music Academy?

- 100 points. Sometimes, a very talented person fails to gain points. But a pianist, composer, musicologist should at least gain 100 points. A musician should be able to give information about his country while visiting foreign countries.

- Once, there was a notion â€œFollower of Karabakh schoolâ€. Donâ€™t you think that the occupation of our territories caused voice problem?

- I could not sleep after I returned from Gabala. There I used to open the windows and fell asleep immediately, as the air was fresh. Air, water of Isa Bulaghi, mountains and forests of Karabakh influence the voice. Here ecological problems deprive children of these opportunities. The only consolation is that we will surely return to Karabakh and the new generation will live there. We can not lose Shusha, there is indeed a secret in Shusha, you see how many genii were born in Shushaâ€¦ Shusha is a holy land. But I reiterate that despite bad ecology, we have talents. Our talents win in all festivals.

- Why did you refuse to visit Nagorno Karabakh together with the intellectuals?

- Polad Bulbuloglu is my friend and I told him about it. This visit is very hard for me. I was shocked during my previous visit, in the house of Bulbulâ€¦ I would like other intellectuals to visit Karabakh, too. I said I would build a music school in Shusha and I keep my word. We have sponsors, we will open school of Uzeyir bey in Shusha. I would like to see a concrete action while visiting Shusha for the second, third time. But similar situation, similar atmosphereâ€¦ I do not see any need to meet with them under these circumstances.

- Why has the interest in classic music reduced?

- This process is observed all over the world, not only in Azerbaijan. I participated in the jubilee of Bella Davidovich in the Netherlands, 95 percent of those who came to her concert were old people. But the problem is that tickets are very expensive there. But we do not have such a problem. We have a contract with Murad Adigozalzadeh, our students do not pay for the concerts in Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society, they stand in the parterre. When I was a student, my father was director of the Philharmonic Society. We used to go to the Philharmonic Society, I stood in the parterre, though I could sit in better places and watch the concerts. But I did not do itâ€¦ We watched all the concerts standing. It is pleasant that a lot of young people come to the Philharmonic Society now. The hall is always full. TV channels are responsible for reduce of interest in classic music. They pay much attention to variety, showbiz. Present-day youth do not know the ballets by Gara Garayev, our first national ballet. In the 50s even a taxi driver distinguished Bulbulâ€™s singing, knew Rashidâ€™s songs. Mugham was sung in the weddings. People listened to mugham in weddings, drank the health of one another, there was an intercourse. Now it is impossible to speak about present weddings.

- So, people create such atmosphere themselves.

- You are right. After the mugham night in Gabala festival, rector of Gandja State University Elmar Mammadov invited us to his house. Mansum and Aygun sang there accompanied by piano. Their performance moved the foreign guests to tears. They said it was a miracle. Mugham is philosophy, it makes you think, grieve. There was a Mexican in the jury, he wanted to invite our singers to Mexico. I said they will go if you pay 100,000 USD. It should be so. In the 90s we performed even when we were not paid. But now the situation has changed. They should pay royalties so that we can promote our music. Alim Gasimov was the first to do it, and we are grateful to him for this. He proved that he is valuable, they should give him a lot of money and a good hall.

- In one of your previous interviews you said there are no wind instrument playersâ€¦

- The problem still remains. There are very good young wind instrument players in America. Just imagine, 400 people playing the French horn apply for Boston Symphony Orchestra. Of course, only one of them gets the job. We want to invite those talented musicians to Azerbaijan. They can play in our symphonic orchestra and teach. Players are invited from Brazil, Argentine to improve our football. The same can be applied in music. If foreigners come to Azerbaijan to work and teach, our musiciansâ€™ language problem will be solved. Our students will be obliged to learn the foreign language in order to understand the foreign musicians. Otherwise, we will not be able to get out of this â€œmarshâ€.

- On the eve of your jubilee, you said you would move to Gandja. Have you changed your mind?

- Yes, I have. I have decided to move to Gabala.

- Has the serious surgery that you underwent last year affected your creative activity?

- Everything is all right. I feel very well.