More than 2,000 people have attended the unveiling of a statue of Azerbaijani singer Muslim Maqomayev in central Moscow.
The monument stands at the junction of Yelisevskaya and Voznesenskaya streets near the Azerbaijani embassy and the singer's former home.
Muslim Magomayev's widow, Tamara Sinyavskaya, representatives of the Moscow authorities, friends and fans attended the event.
The monument was unveiled to the strains of one of the singer's most popular songs, "You are my melody".
The score and words to the song are engraved on the monument's polished granite base, which is in the shape of a piano.
The base is topped with a bronze statue, 4.5 metres high. The monument is the work of Alexander Rukavishnikov.
"He was an excellent opera singer and an artist of remarkable talent," Moscow's deputy mayor, Lyudmila Shvetsova, said at the ceremony.
People’s Artist of Russia Svyatoslav Belza described the statue as both a monument to the artist and to Russian-Azerbaijani friendship.
The Azerbaijani ambassador to Moscow, Polad Bulbuloglu, himself a singer, thanked all those who had contributed to the monument on behalf of the president and government of Azerbaijan.
"Today, Muslim is no longer with us, but I assure you that his music is heard in every home in Azerbaijan. People in Baku revere his memory," Bulbuloglu said.
The unveiling of the monument was supported by the Muslim Magomayev Musical and Cultural Heritage Fund, established by Azerbaijani-born businessman Aras Agalarov, president of the Crocus group of companies. Aras Agalarov's son, the singer Emin who is married to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's elder daughter, describes Magomayev as one of his greatest musical influences.
Muslim Magomayev, a performer of opera and pop songs, was popular across the Soviet Union. Dubbed by some commentators "the Soviet Sinatra", he was awarded the country's highest honour for performers, the title People's Artist of the USSR.
Muslim Magomayev died in Moscow in 2008 and is buried in Baku, in the Avenue of Honour.
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