Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall
Baku's principal concert hall of 1912, home to the state symphony orchestra and choir capella.
The building went up between 1910 and 1912 to designs by Gabriel Ter-Mikelov, who took the Monte Carlo casino as a model. The exterior follows Italian Renaissance lines, with a rusticated base, arcaded loggias and corner turrets, while the interiors were finished in a German rococo manner. It opened as an exclusive social club and, between 1918 and 1920, the parliament of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic met in the hall. The building stands at the corner of Istiglaliyyat and Niyazi streets, beside the Philharmonic Garden.
Reorganised as a philharmonic society in 1936, it was named after the composer Muslim Magomayev in 1937. Rising groundwater forced its closure in 1995, and it reopened on 27 January 2004 after a long restoration. Two auditoriums share a single stage: the Summer Hall seats about 1,100 and the Winter Hall about 610. Seven ensembles are based here, among them the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra and the State Choir Capella, and the hall has hosted the international Mstislav Rostropovich Festival each December since 2007.
Highlights
- Renaissance-revival exterior modelled on the Monte Carlo casino
- Summer Hall of about 1,100 seats and Winter Hall of about 610
- Base of the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra and State Choir Capella
- Meeting place of the 1918-1920 parliament of the first republic
