Gulkhar Ibrahim qizi Hasanova ( az, Gülxar Həsənova; 10 December 1918 – 30 March 2005) was an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

mugham Mugham ( az, Muğam) or Mughamat ( az, Muğamat) is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific ...

opera singer. Gulkhar Hasanova (née Sultanova) was born in Bayramli. Originally she wanted to pursue a career in medicine and entered the Baku Medical College. While in college, she became an active member of the amateur drama club and revealed a passion for acting and singing. In 1936, she began acting at the Azerbaijan State Theatre of Young Spectators, while receiving education in acting at the Baku Theatre School. Her musical gift was discovered during one of the performances attended by composer

Uzeyir Hajibeyov Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn oghlu Hajibeyov ( az, Üzeyir bəy Əbdülhüseyn oğlu Hacıbəyov; russian: Узеир Абдул-Гусейн оглы Гаджибеков, translit=Uzeir Abdul-Guseyn ogly Gadzhibekov; September 18, 1885November 23, 19 ...

, who offered Hasanova a job as an soloist at the

Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre The Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (Azeri: ''Axundov adına Azərbaycan Dövlət Akademik Opera və Balet Teatrı''), formerly known as the Mailov Theatre

. She continued working at that theatre for the rest of her career. Hasanova performed mainly in mugham operas, a synthetic genre uniting European belcanto with Azeri folk music. She received the most positive reviews for her roles as Leyli in ''

Leyli and Majnun ''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla ...

'' and Arabzangi in ''Shah Ismayil''.Gulkhar Hasanova
Kapaz TV. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012. Hasanova also greatly contributed to the training of young opera singers as a music instructor. Throughout her life, she occasionally appeared in minor and mostly uncredited roles in a number of feature films. In 1982 she was awarded the title of the

People's Artist People's Artist is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Union republics, in some other Eastern bloc states (and communist states in general), as well as in a number of post-Soviet states, modeled after the title of the People's Artist of the U ...

of Azerbaijan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasanova, Gulkhar Ibrahim qizi 1918 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Azerbaijani women opera singers People's Artists of Azerbaijan Soviet Azerbaijani people Soviet women opera singers Burials at II Alley of Honor