With their motto 'East meets West, London ’s first ever celebration of Azerbaijani music', the organizers chose to end the festival with a concert of Azerbajani classical music, conducted by Dmitry Sitkovetsky.
Joan Rodgers sang Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibayov’s Overture and Nigar’s Aria from the opera Koroglu, and Shusha by Farhad Badalbayli, director of the Baku Music Academy .
The programme included Firanghiz Alizadeh’s Homage, Soltan Hajibayov’s Karavan, and the waltz from the ballet The Seven Beauties by Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev.
Israeli violinist Shlomo Mintz joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to perform Azer Rzayev's Violin Concerto
while tenor Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts sang Balash's Aria from Fikret Amirov’s opera Sevil.
The concert began with Fikret Amirov’s Kurd Avshari symphonic mugham, which proved a hit with the audience.
The concert closed with the National Anthem of Azerbaijan by Uzeyir Hajibayov.
Nasib Piriyev, director of the Buta Centre, said that the festival had aimed to raise awareness about Azerbaijani culture and had achieved its goal 'with the support of Londoners and Azeris who live in the UK'.
The Buta Festival of Azerbaijani Art began on 25 November 2009 and included jazz and classical music, photography, poetry, films, art and food.
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