On January 12, 1908, a premiere took place in Baku that became a turning point in the history of theater across the entire East. That day, audiences saw the production of Leyli and Majnun — the first opera in the history of the entire Turkic and Islamic world. The opera by Uzeyir Hajibeyov is based on one of the most popular plots of Central Asia and combines European traditions of the genre with Azerbaijani folklore, merging written music with vocal improvisation.
