Niiazi

(pseudonym of Niiazi Zul’fugarovich Tagizade-Gadzhibekov). Born Aug. 7 (20), 1912, in Tbilisi. Soviet composer, conductor, and public figure. People’s Artist of the USSR (1959). Member of the CPSU since 1942. Son of the composer Z. Gadzhibekov.

From 1925 to 1931, Niiazi, studied composition with M. F. Gnesin, A. L. Stepanian, and G. N. Popov at the Tbilisi Conservatory. In 1933–34 he was a graduate student at the Baku Conservatory. From 1937 to 1948, Niiazi was a conductor at the M. F. Akhundov Azerbaijan Theater of Opera and Ballet, where in 1951–52 and 1958–59 he served as principal conductor and in 1961–65 as director, artistic director, and principal conductor. In 1960–61, Niiazi was principal conductor of the S. M. Kirov Leningrad Theater of Opera and Ballet. Since 1938 he has been (with interruptions) artistic director and principal conductor of the Azerbaijan Symphony Orchestra.

Niiazi composed the opera-cantata The Year 1920 (1940), the opera Khosrov and Shirin (1942), the ballet Chitra (1962), works for symphony orchestra (including the symphonic mugam Rast), cantatas, songs, adaptations of Azerbaijani folk songs, and music for plays and films. He was the first to conduct many works by Azerbaijani composers. Niiazi has performed outside the Soviet Union.

Niiazi was a deputy to the fourth through eighth convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR. He has received the State Prize of the USSR (1951, 1952), the U. Gadzhibekov State Prize of the Azerbaijan SSR (1967), the Order of the October Revolution, two other orders, and a number of medals.