The legendary voice of the Soviet Union - Muslim Magomayev: biography, career, facts ...

Muslim Magomayev is a legendary icon of the Soviet stage and the opera house, an outstanding composer, a talented actor and just an idol of millions of listeners... During his lifetime, this man collected thousands of halls, and his records were scattered in millions of copies...

It is not for nothing that streets and parks, as well as ... a star, were solemnly christened with the name of this person! Today we have to look into its amazing history ...

Childhood

The musician was born in 1942 in Baku, the sunny capital of Azerbaijan! The boy's father was tragically killed at the front, not living up to the great victory for about two weeks... In his lifetime, he was a theater artist, which largely explains his marriage to Aishet Magomayeva: two bright creative personalities instantly fell in love with each other! His mother performed under the pseudonym Kinzhalova, and his grandfather - Abdul-Muslim. Musician - was famous throughout Azerbaijan as a talented composer! So, the musical career of our hero was destined from the very beginning of his life path...

When the war ended, Aishet went with little Muslim to Vyshny Volochek. There he enrolled in a music school and managed to make friends, with whom he created a puppet theater! But a year later Aishet sent her son to Baku. The woman was sure that it was there that he could get the best education.

He was brought up in Baku in the family of his uncle Jamal. It is worth noting that the boy's mother was right: here, in his hometown, he immersed himself in music... He was greatly influenced by the opera masters of the Italian stage, such as Enrico Caruso, Mattia Battistini, Titta Ruffo...

As it happens, the family of the famous Azerbaijani singer Byulbyul lived next door to my uncle Jamal! So... every morning I listened to the opera star sing, not without pleasure...

Musical education

Soon he was sent to the music school at the Baku Conservatory. And if the boy got only A's in piano, solfeggio and choral singing, then the more exact science was clearly "lame"... Although it was music that turned out to be his lucky ticket to the Olympus of fame! But about this momentous formation a little later...

As a result, his talent was noticed by his conservatory professor, Vladimir Anshelevich. It was he who taught the boy to filate his voice, which helped him a lot in the future!

The musician continued to improve his vocals at the Baku School of Music, and in the late 1950s he received his degree in music education.

Getting started…

The first performance of the future star was held at the House of Culture of the Baku Sailors. However, fame fell on our hero only after a speech at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses in 1962. From now on, the history of his solo performances began ...

Soon a talented guy was chosen as a soloist of the Azerbaijan Theater! At the same time, the singer did not abandon the stage.

In 1964, the musician trained at the prestigious La Scala Theater in Milan, and a little later he toured the city of love, Paris, staging chic concerts at the Olympia... By the way: the manager of the theater was fascinated by the talent of the Soviet artist and even offered him a one-year contract! But... the Soviet Ministry of Culture did not share his prospects of becoming an international star. In their opinion, Muslim should have performed exclusively in his homeland.

Problems with law…

Toward the end of the 1960s a criminal case was brought against the musician... In general - there were no good reasons for this. The thing is that after the performance in Rostov the singer received 606 rubles instead of the allowed 202 for the two hours spent on stage. Because of this incident he was for some time forbidden to tour outside his native Azerbaijan... Fortunately everything was soon sorted out, and by the beginning of the 1970s Magomayev was at the top of Olympus...

International success!

Apart from the stage, Magometovich managed to make a name for himself in the cinema! He starred in a number of films, including Muslim Magomayev Sings. The musician also wrote music for films and theatrical productions, and later published his own book!

During the same period the artist received his first "Golden Record" in Cannes! At the age of 31, Mahometovich was recognized as People's Artist of the Soviet Union and the Azerbaijan SSR.

Personal details...

The musician became a husband at the age of 18. At that time he was madly in love with a beauty of Azerbaijani origin named Ophelia...

But when he declared his intentions to marry the girl, his family, to put it mildly, was not thrilled... Moreover: knowing the ardent temper of her grandson, his grandmother even hid his passport from him! But... with the help of cunning, he did manage to win back his document! As a result, Muslim and Ofelia got married, but behind the back of their hearts and minds. Later, when Magomayev's family heard about it, his uncle grumbled... He was sure that such an early marriage would not lead to anything good. And he was right... In spite of the fact that Muslim and Ophelia had a daughter, the couple got divorced in 1963...

The musician's personal life was full of passions... For some time the singer lived in a common-law marriage with Lyudmila Kareva, a music editor. Subsequently, they had a child out of wedlock. The actor was also attributed an affair with actresses Natalia Kustinskaya and Natalia Fateeva! He also paid attention to the singers Natavan Sheikhova and Svetlana Rezanova... As Magomayev himself admitted:

"I couldn't belong to just one woman..."

But the only woman he really loved was the beautiful Tamara Sinyavskaya... The musician fell head over heels in love with her from their first meeting, which, by the way, took place in 1972 in Baku, during the Folk Art Festival...

For Muslim's sake Tamara left her husband, and very soon they were engaged... Later the singer said:

“Only with this woman did I feel truly alive and happy!”

Muslim and Tamara were the most famous pop couple of the USSR! They often performed on the same stage, arranged creative evenings ... Together they lived in perfect harmony for more than 30 years! And they would have lived even longer if in 2008 the phenomenal baritone of the 20th century had not died ...

Last years of life

Health problems made themselves felt as early as 2003. At that time, the musician was painfully experiencing the death of his close friend Heydar Aliyev... For him, the death of his friend was a personal tragedy. Because of the love for cigarettes, which he carried with him throughout his life, his lung problems worsened... As a result, doctors diagnosed him with heart ischemia.

As if sensing that he had not long to live, in 2007 the musician wrote a heartfelt "Goodbye, Baku"...

In his last interview, the artist said:

“Each voice, exactly like every talent, has a certain time allotted. And we have no right to step over it ... "

The great artist died in October 2008. Having learned about the death of an idol, thousands of people went to the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in an endless stream. They all wanted to say goodbye to their favorite artist, a bright phenomenon of the folk scene and just a fantastically talented person...

In 2009, an incredible monument was erected on the musician's grave: a full-length monument made of expensive snow-white marble, brought from the Urals...