Yusif Eyvazov: 'Developing opera in Azerbaijan is my duty' - VIDEO

Director of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater Yusif Eyvazov gave an interview to the YouTube project LifeStreamFM.

'In my family, there were never any musicians; everyone was either a doctor or a teacher. They all looked at me strangely when I shared my desire to sing. My mother would say to me: "Okay, let's say you want to sing, but how will you earn money?" Because in our mentality, it is generally believed that a singer can only make money by performing at weddings or something else—but not through operatic art, not through serious art. I wanted to develop in this direction, and in 1997, I decided to go to Italy. I went to Italy and that’s when I realized that if you want to seriously engage in operatic art, you need to approach it with true dedication,' says People's Artist Yusif Eyvazov, noting that he received his professional education in Italy, where he lived for 17 years, and calling Italy his second homeland and second home.

'Currently, I also collaborate and work with many foreign theaters. All the dreams of my childhood and youth have come true—even more than I could have imagined,' the singer emphasizes.

Responding to a question about which of the world’s opera stages feels like home to him, the People's Artist notes: 'There is no such place. Because we, as opera artists, often change countries and theaters. If you ask me to say, "This is my favorite theater," that wouldn’t be entirely accurate either. Every opera house has its own rules, its own unique audience, its own style of work. The system, for example, is the same everywhere.'

'Watching performances of Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and other opera singers on video cassettes in Baku, I could never have imagined that 25-30 years later, I would be performing on the same stage with Plácido Domingo in the capital of Azerbaijan. Such a thing didn’t even cross my mind in my dreams. All my dreams have come true, even those that seemed impossible to me. There is nothing impossible; life is full of surprises. You need to dream of 100 to achieve at least 95. Now, my main goal, my biggest and most challenging task, is to maintain this level. You can reach the peak, but staying there is a completely different matter. And it’s much harder. Many times harder. Because every time you step onto the stage, you have to prove that you are worthy of this name. I will never allow anyone to say about me: "Well, it used to be like this, but now some time has passed—and he’s losing ground." No, that’s not acceptable. So, you have to work. Of course, the body ages, of course, the singer ages, and from a technical point of view, opera is a very complex, live performance from beginning to end. If you see that some aspects are no longer at the same level, you need to adjust your repertoire, choose such roles, and maintain a level so that the bar doesn’t drop. This is my main task now,' says Yusif Eyvazov, emphasizing that 'form is temporary, but class is permanent.'

Responding to a question about how to attract audiences to the opera theater, Y. Eyvazov highlights the following: 'Recently, interest in opera has noticeably increased, which makes me very happy. As a director, I see this in the statistics and ticket sales—believe me, the dynamics are truly impressive, the growth is evident. And the most important question, the most crucial task, is to provide the audience with a quality product. That’s exactly what we are working on. With the support of the Ministry of Culture—and a special thank you to them for that: we have a wonderful minister, Adil Karimli, who supports us and helps us move forward, toward development. Because if tomorrow I present a quality performance at the opera theater, believe me, interest will appear, demand will be there, and young people will come. But if a person comes to the theater and sees old decorations, broken chairs, poor acoustics, a weak orchestra—of course, what’s the point of inviting anyone there? Even if I bring someone, they’ll say afterward: "Don’t invite me here again."'

But if you present something like 'Aida' at a worthy level—in a good theater, with a strong orchestra, beautiful staging, effects, and talented artists—then people will come on their own. And not just come, but the second time, they’ll suggest going themselves. I’m one hundred percent sure of that.'

Y. Eyvazov considers it his duty to develop opera in Azerbaijan: 'Because this is my country, this is our theater, I am a citizen of this country, and as an opera singer of world stature, I would like Azerbaijan to also have such an opera theater, and it will definitely reach that level—that’s what we are working on. The process is not quick; it’s not something that will be realized soon, but I have already started working on it. And there are already good, impressive results.'

'What would I like to say to the audience? Do everything with love. In my opinion, if you take on any task or work in any profession, you must love that profession. Because if a person doesn’t love their job, their profession, their responsibilities, and doesn’t approach them with care and attention, there will be no progress. We see with our own eyes our wonderful President. Look at how he approaches his work. We have a role model before us, and that’s exactly why we achieve such results as a country, as a state.'