The 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Azerbaijani composer Fikret Amirov was celebrated at the UNESCO Headquarters

The 100^th anniversary of the birth of the great Azerbaijani composer Fikret Amirov was solemnly celebrated in Paris, at the UNESCO Headquarters. The event was organized jointly by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Permanent Delegation to UNESCO.

As part of the UNESCO anniversary program for 2022-2023, a concert was dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the birth of the world-famous Azerbaijani composer F. Amirov.

The concert was preceded by the Permanent Delegate of Azerbaijan to UNESCO Elman Abdullayev, who thanked the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and UNESCO for their contribution to the organization of the evening within the biennium 2022-2023. He gave information about the life and work of Fikrat Amirov, the outstanding and beloved composer of the Azerbaijani people. He said that symphonic mugham occupies a special place in the wide range of the composer's work. In 2008, mugham, the main genre of classical folk music of Azerbaijan, included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, had a strong influence on the work of F. Amirov. His symphonic mughams were performed in the largest concert halls in Europe and the USA under the guidance of the world's most famous conductors. Information was provided on Fikret Amirov's symphonic mughams, operas, ballets, chamber-instrumental works, vocal works, musical comedies.

Firmin Edouard Matoko, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations, welcomed the participants of the event on behalf of the Director-General of the Organization. He touched upon the relations between our country and UNESCO. He noted that today's event reflects the spirit of cultural heritage, dialogue and cultural diversity. He noted that since 1956, UNESCO has been involved in commemorative events held by Member States and Associate Members to commemorate historical events and outstanding personalities.

The celebration of outstanding personalities, works and events that contributed to the mutual enrichment of cultures contributes to interethnic understanding, rapprochement and peace between peoples. With his works, F. Amirov also contributed to the promotion of the UNESCO values.

Then, Babek Niftaliyev (singer), Sabina Asadova (mezzo-soprano), Seljan Nasibli (soprano), Orkhan Jalilov (tenor) performed the works of F. Amirov under the conductorship of People's Artist of Azerbaijan Fakhreddin Karimov, accompanied by the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli. Rector of the Baku Music Academy, People's Artist of Azerbaijan Farhad Badalbeyli (piano) also performed at the concert. The performances of Azerbaijani musicians were met with continuous applause.

It should be noted that in 2021 in Paris, within the framework of the 41^st session of the General Conference of UNESCO, the anniversaries of the birth of two historical personalities of Azerbaijan –200^th anniversary of the philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev (1823-1924) and 100^th anniversary of the composer Fikrat Amirov (1922-1984) – were added to the Anniversaries List of UNESCO for 2022-2023 biennium in order to celebrate them on an international scale at the UNESCO level.