Rubaba Khalil qizi Muradova () (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Rubaba Ishragi; 21 March 1930 – 28 August 1983), was an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

i opera (

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

) and folk singer. She graduated from the Zeynalli College of Music in Baku and worked at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theatre, where she started in 1954. In 1971, Muradova became the

People's Artiste of the Azerbaijan SSR The People's Artiste of the Azerbaijan SSR () was an honorary title awarded from 1931 to 1991 (and active from 1928 to 1991), it was granted to artistes of the Azerbaijan SSR for their contributions to the development of Azerbaijani culture in th ...

Early life

Rubaba Muradova was born to a family of cleric in the

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian city of

Ardabil Ardabil (, ) is a city in northwestern Iran. It is in the Central District (Ardabil County), Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Ardabil province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The ...

. In 1943, she moved to the Soviet Azerbaijan, and settled in the city of Ali Bayramli. Since age 17, she acted in various roles at the local theaters.

Career

In 1950, a troupe from Baku was touring the region. During the tour, an actress for one of the main roles got sick, and the head trouper agreed to replace her with Muradova for one night. Despite poor performance (according to Muradova herself), she was successful mostly due to her vocal improvisation of the role. She then was invited to move to Baku to pursue a degree in professional singing. In 1953, she graduated from the Zeynalli College of Music in Baku, where she was taught by prominent

khananda A khananda ( ; ; alternative spellings in English: khanende, khanande, khanandeh) is a name generally given to singers of mugham, an Culture of Azerbaijan, Azeri folk music genre. The word is of Persian origin and means "singer". When performin ...

Seyid Shushinski. She started working at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theatre in 1954. Her most famous role was that of Leyli in

Uzeyir Hajibeyov Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn bey oghlu Hajibeyov (18 September 188523 November 1948) was an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani composer, musicologist and teacher. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music. He composed the music of the Az� ...

's ''Leyli and Majnun'' (1908). Muradova's melodic improvisations are remembered for their emotional qualities that often bring the audience to tears. Her colleagues explained this emotional singing by the difficulties Muradova experienced in her personal life, particularly her being homesick for

and not being able to visit it because of the closed Soviet-Iranian border.Craving for Bilberries
by Sadig Garayev. ''Dövlət Gömrük Komitəsinin qəzeti''. 6 May 2006. Retrieved 28 July 2007

Awards

In 1971, Muradova became the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muradova, Rubaba 1930 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Azerbaijani women singers Iranian opera singers People from Ardabil People's Artistes of the Azerbaijan SSR Iranian emigrants to the Soviet Union Soviet Azerbaijani people Mugham singers Iranian Azerbaijanis