Wonderful Azerbaijan Musical Evening in Cannes

On the evening of Saturday, July 6, the Symphony Orchestra of Azerbaijan gave a private concert in the Palais des Festivals Debussy Theatre, in the presence of Mehriban Aliyeva, First Lady of Azerbaijan, the official delegation and Deputy Mayor of Cannes Bernard Brochand. The concert was followed by a buffet of traditional Azerbaijani cuisine and a jazz concert at the Ambassadeurs Hall.

The Symphony Orchestra of Azerbaijan was founded in July 1920 by Uzeyir Hajibeyli, becoming one of the leading orchestras in the Soviet Union. During its history, the orchestra was led by great composers such as Rhené-Baton and Otto Klemperer.
Now run by Fakhraddin Kerimov, the Symphony Orchestra of Azerbaijan now travels the world, from the United States to Germany, to Egypt, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom, to have discover the Azerbaijani musical culture. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan. Emeritus Artist of Azerbaijan and winner of the Presidential Azerbaijan Prize, Fakhraddin Karimov studied violin at the National Conservatory of Moscow Tchaïkovski and the National Academy of St. Petersburg. From 1991 to 2005, he has been conducteding the Istanbul Symphony Orchestra and the National Opera of Izmir.
During the concert of an exceptional quality, soloists of the highest levels performed such as Elvin Ganiyev. Born on November 25, 1997, Elvin Ganiyev is a student at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Born in a musicians family, between a mother pianist and a father cellist, he began playing the violin at 5 years and joined at 6 years the School of Music of the Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. In 2006, then 9 years old, he played the first part of Vivaldi’s Concert for Two Violins on the stage of the Albert Long Hall in Istanbul, accompanied by an orchestra of which his grandfather, Sarvar Ganiyev, was part of. He won two special prizes at the Tchaikovsky International Contest of Young Musicians which was held in September 2012 in Switzerland.
Another soloist, Alihan Samedov was born in Azerbaijan in a family of musicians. A graduate of the University of Education of Azerbaijan State in 1990, this virtuoso can play several wind instruments such as balaban, clarinet, tutek, horn, oboe, saxophone and many other Azerbaijani folk instruments.
Pianist Murad Adigezalzade was born in 1973 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Graduated from the State Academy of Music in Baku, he was elected in 1996 Best Pianist of the Year and Best Musician of the Year in Azerbaijan. In May 2002, he played with the Symphony Orchestra of Baku, and in June 2002 he took part in the 12th International Tchaikovsky Competition. Since 2004, he is the soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Academic. Today, in addition to its activity as an international concertist, he is professor of piano at the Academy of Music in Baku and Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Azerbaijan.

On July 7 took place the screening of Azerbaijani film “Arshin Mal Alan” (1945) at the Palais des Festival Debussy Theatre. The show “Natig Ritm Group”, together with the National Dance Company of Azerbaijan took placeon the court of the palais des Festivals in front of a crowd of onlookers came to discover among the many cultural pearl of Caucasus, the Naghara, an Azerbaijani folk drum composed of a double head and played on one side with bare hands. The Natig Ritm Group is the Naghara group, known worldwide, perform worldwide. They notably won the international percussion festival in South Korea in 2010.

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