On Saturday evening, the Turkmenistan Cinema and Concert Hall played host to an event that continued a series of musical performances to mark Ashgabat’s 140th anniversary.
Famous singer Vera Bazarova, who has a wonderful velvety soprano voice, sang songs and romances in Armenian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Moldovan, Russian and Turkmen. But let me relate everything in due order…
Stella Faramazova, a brilliant pianist and winner of international competitions, was accompanying the singer on the piano. Looking at this elegant keyboard instrument, one would naturally envision soft, beautiful musical sounds, and contrasting passages.
Vera Bazarova, the well-known opera singer in our country, opened the festive concert by singing extracts from opera arias: Olga’s song from the opera ‘The Mermaid’, Giorgio Germont’s aria from the romantic tragedy ‘La Traviata’, and an aria from Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘A Masked Ball’.
The classical part of the program also included Frédéric Chopin’s Ballade No.1 and Nury Khalmamedov’s ‘The Sounds of the Dutar’ performed by Merjen Amanova, a talented student of the Maya Kulieva Turkmen National Conservatory.
The classical pieces segued into delightful folk tunes. A Russian folk song ‘The Volga River’, a Ukrainian song ‘Rain’, and a Tatar folk song ‘Ay Bilbilim’, the soundtrack to the series ‘Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes’, filled the Hall.
Much to the great delight of the concert goers, Vera Bazarova performed an Uzbek folk song ‘Namangan Apples’, compelling some of them to sing along and sway in their seats to the rhythm of the music. By the way, the singer had learned lyrics of the songs in original languages for the concert.
The Kazakh Waltz, a Georgian song about Tbilisi, and ‘Hayrana Galar’ by Nury Khalmamedov touched every listener’s heart. Applause echoed around the hall and children kept walking on stage to present bouquets of flowers to the vocalist.
The concert also saw the premiere of a song with lyrics by Roza Kanygina. Vera Bazarova dedicated it to her daughter Ella (who was in attendance at the event) and her many mentees. The heart-melting song brought some listeners to tears.
– When I was reading the poem written by my childhood friend it brought out positive emotions in me, and I got a melody in my head. I sat at the piano to play it and write down the score, Vera Bazarova told. – I am delighted that the premiere was a success.
When asked about the future, the singer shared that she and her mentees were planning to organize a musical program featuring duets from operettas.
Svetlana CHIRTSOVA
Photo: Yuri SHKURIN
