Black stripes in the life of the darling of fate Muslim Magomayev: Because of what the singer was not allowed to go abroad, and why he decided to leave the stage

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On August 17, the famous singer could have turned 76 years old Muslim Magomayev, but 10 years ago he passed away. He was one of those who enjoyed incredible popularity both among the people and among the powerful. Most often they write about him as a darling of fate, who was treated kindly by the authorities and had everything one could dream of. The general public is hardly aware that, in fact, he was reluctant to be released on foreign tours, and he considered his last years to be a payback for his former glory and success.

In Muslim Magomayev's family, almost everyone was related to art - his grandfather was a famous Azerbaijani composer, his father was a theater artist, and his mother was a dramatic actress. The boy's musical talent was noticed in childhood, and he studied at the music school at the Baku Conservatory. Muslim's father died in the war, his mother soon remarried, and he grew up in the family of his uncle Jamal. In 1959 Magomayev graduated from the Baku Musical College and began performing on the stage of the House of Culture of Seamen.

His musical career developed rapidly and very successfully. In 1962 he was awarded a gold medal at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Helsinki, in the same year he successfully performed at the Kremlin Palace, and in 1963 the first solo concert of the 21-year-old singer took place in the concert hall. P. Tchaikovsky. Magomayev became a soloist of the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theater, and in 1964 he was sent for a two-year internship at the Italian theater "La Scala". At the age of 31, Muslim Magomayev became the youngest singer in the USSR to receive the title of People's Artist.

Magomayev had many envious people and ill-wishers who blamed him for leaving the opera stage for the stage. They said that, they say, he had no other choice - he felt that he was too weak for the opera, and therefore left. The artist reacted very painfully to such rumors. And after a 10-year hiatus, he again decided to take the stage of the opera house to refute them. Having performed “The Barber of Seville” with triumph, Magomayev left the opera forever: “”.

Its popularity was overwhelming. Fans carried in their arms not only the singer himself, but also the car in which he was - once after the concert they picked it up and carried it to the hotel. It was said that if he performed abroad, he would be no less famous than Frank Sinatra. And the most interesting thing is that Muslim Magomayev had such an opportunity: in the late 1960s. during the artist's tour in Paris, the director of the Olympia concert hall offered him a contract for a year. Unfortunately, he himself could not make a decision, and the Ministry of Culture of the USSR answered this offer with a categorical refusal: they say, the singer is involved in government concerts and cannot leave the country for a long time. Very often, letters with an invitation to perform on foreign stages at the State Concert remained unanswered. Or representatives of the State Concert requested such an amount that foreign colleagues themselves refused to cooperate. Magomayev received copies of such letters, so he knew how many times he missed the opportunity to give a concert abroad.

It was believed that Magomayev was treated kindly by the authorities - he was loved by Brezhnev, he was supported by Furtseva. However, in reality, not everything was so smooth and cloudless. For the first time in 1966, the local authorities did not want to release him on tour to France: "". Only after a call from Furtseva was permission granted. But even then, according to the artist himself, he was released abroad "every other time", and was always very reluctant - they feared that he would become a "defector." The fact is that he had wealthy relatives abroad, and they could well have provided him with an escape from the USSR if he wanted to. But Magomayev never had such plans. He himself explained it this way: "".

One day in the late 1960s. Magomayev was asked to help the Rostov artists: they were in distress, since the concerts of the Rostov Philharmonic did not give fees. And the singer was invited to perform at the stadium for a triple rate - the fees from this concert covered all the losses of the Philharmonic in recent months. And later he was accused of unearned income - as it turned out, the amount of the fee was not agreed with anyone. As a result, Magomayev was banned from giving concerts outside Azerbaijan, his performances on radio and television were canceled, and only six months later, after Andropov's personal intervention, he was given back the right to tour the country. Andropov's interest was simply explained: he wanted Magomayev to perform at a concert dedicated to the anniversary of the KGB. Therefore, the travel ban had to be lifted.

The artist's accusations of greed sounded absurd also because money was never the main incentive for Magomayev to perform. At his wedding, he sang for 2 hours in front of the open windows of the restaurant for fans who gathered at the entrance to congratulate their favorite (after which he lay for 2 months with bronchitis - it was in winter), and on another occasion he performed for several hours on the balcony of a hotel room for those people who could not get tickets for his concert.

The audience really adored him. Robert Rozhdestvensky said: "".

After perestroika, when it was already possible to travel abroad without hindrance, Magomayev still rarely left the country. And he appeared on the stage less and less, and soon decided to stop his concert activity altogether - he did not want the audience to see how he was getting old and losing his voice. At the age of 60, he admitted in an interview: "".

In the last years of his life, the singer was often sick, had heart problems, and he even said that this time was the payback for his former popularity. But he remained loved by the people until the end of his days. On October 25, 2008, his heart stopped beating. Throughout his creative life, Muslim Magomayev sang more than 600 songs, wrote 20 of his own compositions and was able to leave the stage with dignity, once again proving to the public that he deserves the title of a truly people's artist.

Magomayev had millions of fans, but he remained faithful to his only love: The history of relations between Muslim Magomayev and Tamara Sinyavskaya.