Marking 64 years without Bülbül Walk down memory lane of Azerbaijan’s cherished singer

This year's September 26 marks 64 years since the passing of one of Azerbaijan's most beloved musical talents, Murtuza Mammadov who is better known under his stage name Bülbül. This unusual name, which translates as nightingale in the Azerbaijani language, was given to him in his childhood for his rare vocal talent.

Remembered for his countless unforgettable stage performances, he gave the audiences the gift of diving into characters such such as Karim in the "Koroghlu" opera, Asgar from Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s operetta "Arshin Mal Alan", Garib from Glière’s opera "Shahsenem", and Mario from Giacomo Puccini’s "Tosca".

Bülbül was also a unique performer of romantic ballades such as “Bez Tebya” and “Sevgili Janan” by Uzeyir Hajibeyli, Asef Zeynalli's “Moya Strana” but also folk songs including “Süsen Syunbül,” “Cherniye Glaza,” “Chal-Oyna,” “Khumar Oldum,” and the mugham "Segah." His performances, preserved in the golden fund of Azerbaijani music, are still cherished by millions today.

The outstanding khanende passed away on September 26, 1961, in Baku. He is buried in the Alley of Honour but his memory lives on in Azerbaijan and beyond. The tangible reminders of him are in the form of a famed music school at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory and one of the main avenues in Baku bearing his name.

Another musically gifted offspring of Shusha

Mammadov was born on June 22, 1897, in the city of Shusha, which is rightly called the “temple of Azerbaijani music.” He began his stage career in 1916, and in 1920 performed as a singer at the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1927, he graduated from the Baku Conservatory before continuing his studied in Milan on a state scholarship. From 1927 to 1931, the singer trained at the renowned La Scala under G. Anselmi and R. Grani. Upon returning to his home country, he began teaching at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory.

Bülbül received wide praise even during his life, being awarded the title of People’s Artist of the USSR in 1938 and the USSR State Prize in 1950, as well as being the recipient of two Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Glory, as well as the Italian Order of Garibaldi.

His childhood home in Shusha was turned into a museum in 1982. It displayed photographs capturing Bülbül’s childhood including some of his personal belongings. Several thousand documents reflecting his studies, research and creative endeavours have been collected. Additionally, the museum presented materials on Bülbül’s long and fruitful work in creating a new vocal school in Azerbaijan, as well as promoting and studying folk music.

In the course of the First Karabakh War the house-museum fell victim to vandalization by Armenian forces in 1992. All traces of life would abandon the home in the decades of military occupation that was lovingly looked after until the liberation of the city of Shusha by the Azerbaijani army in November 2020. The Azerbaijani people broke out in joy when the first footages of the partially destroyed house-museum were released.

His son, Polad Murtuza oghlu Mammadov, better known as Polad Bülbüloghlu (translated as "son of Bülbül") who followed in his father's musical footsteps before eventually entering a diplomatic career, was one of the first people to visit the house following the end of the Second Karabakh War. Restoration work on the property began in 2021, with the presidential couple Ilham and Mehriban Aliyeva participating in its inaugural re-opening on August 29, 2021.

Prior to the occupation of Shusha, a bust monument stood in the museum's courtyard in honour of Bülbül, however it was equally vandalized following the fall of the city. Together with the busts of two other giants of Azerbaijan's culture, poet Khurshidbanu Natavan and composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli the vandalized monument had been transferred to Armenia following the occupation of Azerbaijan's territories. Under the initiative of Bülbüloghlu, who served as the Minister of Culture at the time, the government spent financial means to bring them Baku, where they were stored in the backyard of the Baku Museum of Art for years. While a new bust of Bülbül was installed in the museum's courtyard after its reopening, the vandalized original one has been preserved to document Armenian atrocities and is displayed right next to it.

By Nazrin Sadigova