In Moscow, on Sunday, October 29, in one of the wonderful halls of the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery on Prechistenka, the opening of the International Music Festival dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the outstanding Turkmen composer, People’s Artist of Turkmenistan, laureate of the USSR State Prize, the State Prize of Turkmenistan named after Magtymguly Nury Halmamedov took place.

Evgeny Kirillovich Volkov, a Russian conductor, choirmaster and theater teacher, made a bright opening speech. He talked about the work of Nury Halmamedov so skillfully and at the same time simply and intelligibly (apparently, he took into account that there were many young listeners in the hall) that it seemed as if he had been friends with the great composer since childhood.

This, of course, was explained by his brilliant education and rich experience of communicating with fans of serious music. He graduated with honors from the Conducting and Choral Faculty of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory in 2000, and in 2002 he completed postgraduate studies in the class of Professor B.G.Tevlin. He studied opera and symphony conducting with Professor I.A. Dronov. He has worked with outstanding domestic and foreign choral and orchestral groups. Since 2021, he has been teaching at the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory. Laureate and member of the jury of All-Russian and international competitions, author of articles on the history and theory of musical performance, works of fiction.

Nury Halmamedov is one of the brightest talents among Turkmen musicians who have managed to raise the national musical art to the heights of world culture with their creativity. His remarkable work combines the centuries-old national traditions of the Turkmen people and the highest achievements of Russian and world music classics in harmonious harmony.

He lost his parents early. He was brought up in an orphanage in the city of Bayram Ali. He received his primary education from the teacher Olga Alekseevna Krivchenko. After completing a course of seven years of study in four years, he entered the Ashgabat Music College. Among the gifted students, he was recommended to the Moscow Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1963 with a degree in composition in the class of Anatoly Nikolaevich Alexandrov. Nury’s thesis – symphonic paintings “Turkmenistan” was performed by the Grand Symphony Orchestra of the All-Union Radio and Television.

When I listen to the symphonic or piano works of Nury Halmamedov, their magical sounds, filled with some special national flavor, give me a feeling and feelings close to those that arise at concerts where Tchaikovsky’s symphonies are performed. Who knows if the reason for my aesthetic associations is that the teacher of N. Halmamedov’s composition at the Moscow Conservatory was Professor A.N.Alexandrov, who studied with the famous Russian composer S.P. Taneyev, who took lessons from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky?

The extraordinary musical gift of Halmamedov, which absorbed all the polyphony of his native land, polished by the brilliant teachers of the Moscow Conservatory and fertilized by the highest achievements of the Russian school of composition, enriched the treasury of Turkmen musical art. His symphonic paintings “Turkmenistan”, vocal cycles based on poems by Magtymguly and Mollanepes, music for the films “Competition” and “The Decisive Step”, romances based on poems by Heine, vocal cycles “Memory of Heroes of the Great Patriotic War” based on poems by K. Ezizov represent an organic fusion of Turkmen, Russian and world musical culture.

A kind of tuning fork of the concert, which gave the festive evening a solemn sound, was the performance by the mixed choir of the studio at the Academic Ensemble “Songs and Dances of the Troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation” (children’s ensemble), conductor Valeria Lvovna Goryunova, concertmaster Elisha Babanov of “Songs about Russia” by Nury Halmamedov to the poems of Hadji Kakaliev.

As soon as the hot applause stopped, the piano sounded powerfully, at which the main organizer of this festival, Mamed Huseynov, performed a piano piece by Nury Halmamedov “Sounds of Dutar”. The blooming gardens of the Turkmen land, its Kopetdag mountains pointing to the sky, spread out before my inner eye. Or suddenly there were gentle sounds of birds singing, or the murmur of a river in the picturesque Firyuza. I remember all this from the time when, by the will of fate, I had the opportunity to fulfill the mission of the Russian ambassador to Turkmenistan for almost five years at the turn of the century.

It was then, in the year of the bicentennial anniversary of Alexander Pushkin, that I met a graduate of the Turkmen school, Mamed Gusenov. The anniversary of our national genius has become a real Year of Russian culture in this young CIS state. In Turkmenistan, they loved and love Pushkin’s poetry. The Turkmen poet Ata Atajanov once spoke about this in a heartfelt way:

And somewhere nearby unchanged
A supporter of bold changes
Pushkin was walking, close to all Turkmens,
A poet, beloved by the Turkmens.

In June 2001, our Embassy organized an art exhibition “Turkmenistan in the works of Russian artists” at the National Historical Museum of Turkmenistan. At the opening, the piano piece “Attack” by the 16-year-old talented composer Mamed Huseynov was performed, written under the impression of the epic canvas by the artist V.V. Mazurovsky. Foreign ambassadors, the entire color of Turkmen society, and school students were invited to the exhibition. I remember that Mamed was then awarded the anniversary collection of poems by A.S. Pushkin.

That’s the power of art! Today, Mamed Huseynov is a composer, pianist, teacher, music and public figure, a graduate of the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music, a laureate of all–Russian and international competitions. As a composer, he works in various genres. A special place in his work is occupied by chamber vocal compositions, including vocal cycles on poems by S.Yesenin, M. Lermontov, S. Baudelaire, W. Shakespeare, Turkmen poets K.Ezizov, H.Kakalieva, V.Gocha, as well as a monopera dedicated to the classic of Turkmen literature “The Monologues of Magtymguly Pyragy ” translated by Arseny Tarkovsky.

With his creativity, the composer embodies the interconnection of various national arts, reveals the inner connections of music and painting. Mamed Huseynov is an active concert performer, performing in Asia, Europe and America. He is the founder and art director of the annual Moscow International Art Festival “Sounds of Dutar” named after Nury Halmamedov. He conducts extensive public education activities as chairman of the Turkmen regional branch of the Union of Composers of Eurasia, a member of the Union of Composers of Russia and other musical organizations.

...The sounds of the piano stopped. Evgeny Volkov emotionally told about three romances by Nury Halmamedov to the words of Heinrich Heine “Dream” (“I cried bitterly in my sleep”), “Serenade of the Moor” and “Human hearts are torn”.

The performer Daria Huseynova came on stage and her charming soprano sounded to the accompaniment of her husband Mamed Huseynov. The charm of her voice rivaled her outward beauty. Involuntarily, Pushkin’s words came to my mind:

Everything in it is harmony, everything is wonderful,
Everything is above the world and passions;
She rests shyly
In its solemn glory…

Daria was born in Leningrad. In 2010 she graduated from the vocal department of the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Music College, and in 2013 – from the Herzen State Pedagogical University, the Institute of Music, Theater and Choreography and a number of other musical and art history educational institutions. She took part in master classes of world-famous opera singers: Elena Obraztsova, Marina Meshcheryakova, Alexander Antonenko.

Her vocal art has won awards from many prestigious international competitions, won over listeners and viewers from various cities of the Russian Federation and foreign countries (Germany, Holland, Israel, Spain, Canada, Portugal, Turkmenistan, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, etc.). Since 2015, Daria Huseynova has been an artist of the Moscow Musical Theater “Helikon–Opera”. For almost a decade, she has been presenting the musical compositions of Nury Halmamedov to the public, invariably causing delight and gratitude of listeners.

Minor romances were played in a magnificent, heartfelt performance by the singer, subtly interpreting the combination of Western poetry in Russian translation and the Turkmen national melodic tradition.

The violin compositions of Nury Halmamedov: “Sonata”, “Variations on the Turkmen folk melody “Pomegranate Tree”, “Lullaby-fantasy” and fantasy on the theme of music "On the River Bank" for the Turkmen film “The Decisive Step” were performed by the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Leonora Dmiterko. The piano part was performed by Tatiana Murashkevich.

Then, Daria Huseynova performed the vocal cycle of Nury Halmamedov “The Un-listened songs of the children of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” on poems by Japanese poets translated into Russian by V. Markova. Mamed Huseynov accompanied them. The audience felt a huge emotional intensity of the composer’s creativity and performers who managed to convey a complex synthesis of Turkmen musical culture and Japanese poetry. This work by Nury Halmamedov contains a figurative metaphor for all the anti-human horrors of war. In modern conditions, when dozens, hundreds, thousands of children are burning in the heat of military conflicts in various regions of the world, this work sounds especially relevant.

When the emotional strings of the listeners were strained to the limit, calming followed. N.Halmamedov's song "Lullaby" to the words of Zh. Smelyanskaya from the popular Turkmen movie "The Decisive Step" performed by Yana Kolomiets– a graduate of GITIS. Accompanied by Evgeny Volkov. Yana has been studying music since a young age. Already in the first grades of the school at the KMTI named after G.P. Vishnevskaya, she soloed in children's operas and concerts. During her studies at GITIS, she took part in the competitions "And Russia shines in the heart" (winner of the 3rd degree), "Biennale of Theatrical Art. Directing lessons" (finalist). Participated in the graduation performances of the workshop: V.I.Rebikov "The Christmas Tree", B.Bartok "The Castle of Duke Bluebeard".

The artist Zhanna Smelyanskaya was the performer of the main role of the girl Aina, who rocked her son, singing a "Lullaby" in anticipation of her husband's return. What was the pleasant surprise for those present at the concert when Mammad Huseynov introduced Zhanna Leonidovna Smelyanskaya, Honored Artist of the Turkmen SSR, winner of the State Prize of the Turkmen SSR named after Magtymguly for her role in the above-mentioned film.

The bright final chord of the concert was the romance of the great composer "Charmed by you" to the words of the classic of Turkmen literature Mollanepes performed by Daria Huseynova. Mamed Huseynov accompanied them.

The long-standing applause expressed sincere gratitude to all those present at this unforgettable concert.

The works performed that evening were included in the collection "Selected vocal Compositions for soprano and Piano" by Nury Halmamedov in the performing edition of Daria Gusenova. The presented collection included not only the musical and performing and scientific and pedagogical work of the author, but also her pictorial illustrations. The originality and value of the collection is also contained in visual images that are understandable to the viewer's perception, reflecting the deep meanings of Halmamedov's music and poems by Japanese poets. The collection, published with high design art, will adorn the musician's library. The works included in it, as indicated in the annotation, belong to the pinnacle of the composer's vocal creativity.

On behalf of the organizers of this International Festival, Mamed Huseynov announced that the final concert with the summing up of the competition will be held on November 4 at the RAH Museum and Exhibition Complex (Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery) on Prechistenka.

Anatoly SHCHELKUNOV, Russian Ambassador to Turkmenistan (1997 – 2002), member of the Union of Writers of Russia