A landmark concert by Fidan Hajiyeva Azerbaijani mezzo soprano

The first Azerbaijani woman to gain a professional qualification as a composer. A landmark concert by Fidan Hajiyeva, Azerbaijani mezzo-soprano (People’s Artist of Azerbaijan), accompanied by pianist Saida Taghi-Zade and cellist Aleksey Miltikh (Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan), performing compositions by Adila Huseyn-Zade (1916-2005), the first Azerbaijani woman to gain a professional qualification as a composer. She commenced her studies at the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire in 1942 as a mezzo-soprano in the vocal class of legendary tenor Bulbul. Within a year, she had started to compose and moved to the composition class of Uzeyir Hajibeyli, the father of Azerbaijani classical music and Rector of the Conservatoire. Her voice is preserved for posterity on the soundtrack of the 1945 film version of ‘Arshin mal alan’.

Adila Huseyn-Zade

The extensive oeuvre of Adila Huseyn-Zade includes vocal miniatures, cantatas for choir and orchestra, symphonic poems and string quartets, which have been performed for decades by many of the most renowned musicians and vocalists in Azerbaijan. She set the stanzas of many of the most famous Azerbaijani poets to music, including Nizami and Samad Vurgun, and some of her works incorporate such Azerbaijani national instruments as the tar. She later became an educator, and her students included such legends as Muslim Magomayev and Firangiz Alizadeh.

Fidan Hajiyeva

This outstanding concert of works by Adila Huseyn-Zade will include a set of emotionally-charged romances sung in Azerbaijani and Russian by Fidan Hajiyeva, together with the Sonatina for Piano and Cello, performed by Saida Taghi-Zade and Aleksey Miltikh.

Date: 16 May

Time: 19.30hrs

Venue: King’s Place,

90 York Way,

London N1 9AG

Book tickets via EventBrite at http://bit.ly/fidanhajiyeva