Uzeyir Hajibayli’s musical comedy to be staged in Baku

Uzeyir Hajibayli’s musical comedy “If Not That One, Then This One” will be shown at Baku Music Academy’s Opera Studio on March 6.

Leading soloists of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, including People’s Artists Azer Zeynalov (Mashadi Ibad), Akram Poladov (Rustam bay), Honoured Artists Ramil Gasimov (Sarvar), Jahangir Gurbanov (Gochu Askar), Gulustan Aliyeva ( Senem), Tural Aghasiyev (Rza bay), Alakbar Aliyev (Hasangulu bay), soloists Gunel Hajiyeva (Gulnaz), Fahmin Ahmadli (Hasan bay, Khalig Bekirov (hambal) and many others will perform in the operetta, Azernews reports.

Directed by Honored Artist Hafiz Guliyev, the musical comedy will be conducted by Honored Artist Sevil Hajiyeva.

“If Not That One,Then This One” is a 1910 operetta in four acts that reflects social and everyday life relations in pre-revolutionary Azerbaijan. It is the composer’s second work written in this genre.

Through this comedy, Uzeyir Hajibayli reveals the social and everyday prejudices widespread in society at the beginning of the 20th century and uses laughter and satire for this. He chose such an original path to put forward his ideas in those years. And the psychotypes of characters were so skillfully described that the comedy is relevant at all times, as it reveals human vices – greed, hypocrisy, lies, cowardice, etc.

Hajibayli used the Azerbaijani mugham in some of the music and incorporated extracts from Fuzuli’s ghazals in the libretto.

The musical comedy has been shown for many years by various directors, not only in Azerbaijan but also in many theatres around the world.