Bulbul (singer)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Bulbul


Img_size = 144
Img_capt = Bulbul
Birth_name = Murtuza Mammadov
Background = solo_singer
Born = birth date|1897|6|22|df=y
Khanbagi (Shusha suburb), present-day Azerbaijan
Died = death date and age|1961|9|26|1897|6|22|df=y
Baku, Azerbaijan
Genre = Opera
Folk
Years_active = 1916 – 1961

Bulbul, born Murtuza Rza oglu Mammadov (22 June 1897, Khanbagi – 26 September 1961, Baku), was a famous Azerbaijani opera (tenor) and folk music performer and one of the founders of vocal arts and national musical theatre in Azerbaijan.

Bulbul was born in 1897 in the village of Khanbagi, located near Shusha. He was known for his musical talent since his childhood, which is why people nicknamed him Bulbul ("nightingale" in Azeri). He chose it as a stage name, when he became involved in professional music. While still a young khananda, he was invited to Baku in 1920 to act out the role of Karam in Uzeyir Hajibeyov's opera "Asli and Karam". There he was first introduced to a European-style opera and decided to excel in this genre. He later studied music and vocal arts in the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire (now known as the Baku Academy of Music), where he was admitted in 1921, as well as in the La Scala Theatre in Milan, Italy.

In his songs, Bulbul was able to blend national manners of performance with traditions of Italian vocal school. He was also first to play the lead role of Koroglu in Uzeyir Hajibeyov's opera of the same name in 1938. [ [http://azworld.org/mp3s/bulbul/bulbul.htm Bulbul] . "Azworld.org"] Throughout his life, Bulbul was the vocal performer and the co-author of a number of songs and romances.

Bulbul was also known for his music-related publications and teaching vocal arts at his "alma mater", the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire between 1932 and 1961. He acquired a Ph.D. degree in music in 1940. His monographs nowadays serve as an important source for those studying Azeri music. Bulbul was the first musician to publish study guides and manuals used in teaching students how to play the tar, kamancheh and balaban, the traditional musical instruments of Azerbaijan.

Bulbul was awarded the highest order of the Soviet Union – the USSR State Prize, as well as the "Stella di Garibaldi" order in Italy. [ru icon [http://www.azeri.ws/culture/music.shtml Azerbaijani Music] . "Azeri.ws"]

His son Polad Bulbul oglu is also an accomplished singer and actor, and currently holds the office of Minister of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Several years ago Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan purchased the once erected in Shusha bronze busts of Bulbul and several other famous Karabakh Azeris at a black market in Georgia. Following the Armenian occupation of Shusha in 1992, these monuments were machine-gunned, removed from their original place and intended to be sold as scrap metal. Nowadays these monuments are preserved in the courtyard of the Azerbaijani Museum of Arts in Baku. [Thomas De Waal, "Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War", NYU Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8147-1945-7. Chapter 12. Shusha: The Last Citadel.]

References

External links

* [http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/music/AudioPages/Bulbul/Bulbul.html Listen to Bulbul] , Music Section of Azerbaijan International