It is a wonderful tradition — on the eve of the opening in Moscow of the next International Art Festival "Sounds of Dutar" named after Nury Halmamedov to hold a concert of classical music with the participation of laureates of past forums. Before the eyes of numerous fans of the festival, young musicians are maturing, their repertoire is deepening, and their performing skills are growing. The meeting place remains unchanged — the Small Concert Hall of the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery, located under the arches of the former house church of the restored 18th-century manor, formerly owned by the Dolgorukov family.

This time there was a surprise waiting for those present. Welcoming the participants and guests of the concert, the Gallery administration congratulated Mammed Huseynov – composer, pianist, founder and art director of the Sounds of Dutar festival - on his birthday and presented him with a gift from Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli - a graphic work of the famous artist.

The Russian Academy of Arts, headed by Tsereteli, hospitably hosted The Sounds of Dutar in 2015 as a cultural event to popularize the best traditions of national compositional creativity of various countries and support gifted youth. The concert that has now taken place, announcing the 7th festival in a row, is evidence of the creative growth of both the creators and participants of the cultural forum, within the framework of which there is a musical competition of performers, a gala concert, a scientific and practical conference on topical issues of art theory and an exhibition of works by Turkmen artists.

A feature of the festival's concert programs is the inclusion of sacred music performers in the repertoire. The current concert, which took place on September 17, opened with the Chant of the Resurrection Monastery "Virgin Mary" performed by the choir of the Children's Music School No. 64. The music and the Word of the Chant, addressed to the human soul, to the moral foundations of being, became a tuning fork for creating a truly creative atmosphere in the hall.

It was nice to hear the choral sound of the Turkmen folk song "Bibijan" in two languages (soloist Maria Tarakanova), followed by the mischievous and lyrical "Winged Swing" by Evgeny Krylatov (soloists Darius Huseynov and Maria Tarakanova).

Pure voices, soulful faces, white dresses of girls, strict dark suits of boys - everything inspired and pleased.

Presenting the participants of the concert, Mammed Huseynov proudly listed the famous music schools and universities where they entered after school, famous teachers from whom they study, various venues in the country and abroad, in whose concert activities they participate, receiving well-deserved awards - undoubtedly, these are talents with a great professional perspective.

A real sensation was caused by the violin ensemble "Arpeggio" of the Mytishchi DMSH, when the Fantasy "On the River Bank" by Nura Halmamedov (based on the famous film "The Decisive Step") was played next to the "Little Vienna March" by Fritz Kreiser.

The youngest participants of the concert, Darius Huseynov and Maria Tarakanova, received a cheerful revival and ovation from the audience, artistically, vividly performing Gioacchino Rossini's "Cat Duet". The program featured piano (Yelisey Babanov, Roman Bylkov), violin (Maria Romanovskaya), clarinet (Nikolai Larin), cello (Anna Bobrova), saxophone (Stanislav Gerasimovich), soprano (Isabella Shingur). The students performed together with the members of the jury of the festival – and this gave the concert a special professional persuasiveness.

In the final, the compilers of the program made the numbers, which became an opening for the hall. Conductor, choirmaster, theater teacher, jury member, laureate of All-Russian and international competitions Yevgeny Volkov spoke about his work at the university on little-known works of sacred music and, sitting down at the piano, presented the works of Kirill Volkov "Whatever awaits you in life, children" to the poems of the nun of the Novodevichy Monastery and the romance of Nikolai Myaskovsky "Will I Forget you" performed by the winner of the All-Russian competition Yana Kolomiets (soprano).

Mammed Huseynov, talking about the upcoming celebration of the 300th anniversary of the great poet and thinker of the East Magtymguly Pyragy in 2024, introduced the audience to two monologues "The Call" and "The Beginning" from his monopera "Monologues of Magtymguly Pyragy", translated by Arseny Tarkovsky. Performed by the Helikon Opera artist Daria Huseynova (soprano), Anna Bobrova (cello), piano (author).

The listeners presented flowers, applause and words of gratitude sounded, they did not disperse for a long time – they talked about their impressions, about the future festival, about children for whom the music forum became a school, a reward, a ticket to professional life.

Already on the sidelines, the news became known: students of the Vocal Art Department of Southwestern State University, having obtained the score, began to work on the first part (the second part has not yet been completed) of Mammed Huseynov's opera "Solomon and the Queen of Sheba". The young composer's birthday was clearly a success - the gifts of fate multiplied.

And we are waiting for new meetings at the festival. Good luck, "Sounds of Dutar"!

Laura Stepanskaya, screenwriter, director, Honored Artist of Turkmenistan.