The popular Azerbaijani and Soviet singer, composer and actor Polad Mamedov (according to his passport) is from Baku, where he was born on February 4, 1945. Polad’s parents were directly related to culture: his father, Murtaza Mamedov, was a singer, People’s Artist of the USSR, and his mother, Adelaida Mamedova, was a museum director.
Since his childhood, Polad was familiar with music, and he appeared on the stage for the first time in 1960 as an accompanist for his father. Two years after the stage debut, Polad showed himself to be a true pop composer, composing the well-known songs “From the First Date”, “Good Morning”, “Song of Moscow” and “Song of Sumgayit”.
From 1963 to 1968, Polad Bulbul oglu studied with composer Kara Karayev in the composition class of the Azerbaijan State Conservatory named after Uzeyir Hajibeyov. A beginner singer and composer excelled so much in his work that he was accepted into the USSR Union of Composers in 1969 and became a member of the USSR Union of Cinematographers. Since the time of study at the conservatory, Polad is seriously interested in native folklore, and this has repeatedly affected his variety and academic work.
The singer’s beautiful clear voice and hit melodies quickly made the performer popular in all the Union republics. Together with the Azerbaijani pop ensemble, which he led in the seventies of the last century, Polad Bulbul-oglu traveled throughout the Soviet Union and visited many foreign countries. The artist's popularity peaked in the early eighties. By this time, Polad had already become a movie star, largely thanks to his filming in the film “Don’t be afraid, I’m with you!”, which was shown with stunning success in the country’s cinemas in 1981.
The artist’s musical creativity of those years was no less successful: as a serious composer, Polad distinguished himself in symphonic and chamber instrumental music, composing the sonatas “Rhythms of Absheron”, “Variations” for piano and “Poem” for orchestra, which became popular. Polad Bulbul-ogly enriched the Soviet stage with his creativity, introducing into it a whole new direction - the synthesis of Azerbaijani national music “mugam” with modern arrangement techniques, which became an example to follow for subsequent generations of musicians. Pop stars of the seventies gladly took the composer’s songs into their repertoire, which immediately became hits: “Call”, “Razdolie”, “Illuminated World”, “Azerbaijan” and others - they became popular among people performed by Joseph Kobzon, Lev Leshchenko, Lyudmila Senchina , Muslim Magomayeva, Roxana Babayan...
The composer created the almost impossible. It seemed that the entire musical world was obsessed with the music of Polad Bulbul-ogly: in addition to pop hits, vocal cycles, musicals, music for films and dramatic performances, and major symphonic works by the composer were released in the seventies and eighties of the last century. At the same time, there was parallel work as artistic director, and then director of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic, and from 1988 - Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan.
In 1982, Polad Bulbul-ogly was awarded the title of People's Artist of Azerbaijan. There are simply countless honorary positions and awards for the outstanding son of the Azerbaijani people. He is a Doctor of Art History at the National Creative Academy of the Azerbaijan Republic, an honorary professor at the Azerbaijan University of Culture and Art, a full member of the Europe-Asia International Humanitarian Academy, and Chairman of the Board of the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States (IFHC).
Polad Bulbul-ogly received the Russian Order of Friendship for his great contribution to the strengthening and development of Russian-Azerbaijani cultural ties in 2005, state. Peace and Progress Prize - in 2010, Stars of the Commonwealth Award - in 2011. But how many of them there were even before that!
Today, Bul-Bul Ogly continues to engage in social activities and music. New albums of the musician are released: “Sang Bulbul ... Sings Polad Bulbul-ogly”, consisting of Azerbaijani folk songs, under his leadership serious and large-scale work is being done to research and preserve the monuments of the Turkic culture. Polad Bulbul-ogly’s contribution to the development of cultural ties between Russia and Azerbaijan is also invaluable.
Photo: https://ruskino.ru
