Saodat Qobulova

Uzbek singer and opera artist Saodat Qobulova was born on December 15, 1925, in Margilan. She graduated from the Moscow Uzbek Opera Studio in 1954 and the Tashkent State Conservatory in 1969. She learned the Uzbek musical heritage and original samples of national singing art from To’xtasin Jalilov, G’anijon Toshmatov, and Jo’raxon Sultonov. In Moscow, she studied under masters such as Byolyavskaya and Goldman.

S. Qobulova began her career in singing very early, in 1939, as a singer at the Margilan collective farm and state farm theater. From 1940 to 1948, she worked at the Muqimiy Uzbek Musical Drama and Comedy Theater, playing the roles of Qamar in S. Abdulla’s «Tohir and Zuhra» and Nurxon in K. Yashin’s «Nurxon», while also engaging in concert performance.

In 1954, S. Qobulova joined the Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theater as a soloist. Initially, she performed the part of Jamila in the opera «Layli and Majnun» by T. Sodiqov and R. Glier, but later she successfully performed parts such as Masha in M. Ashrafiy and S. Vasilenko’s «Great Canal», Zuhra in T. Jalilov and B. Brovtsin’s «Tohir and Zuhra», Huri in T. Sodiqov, B. M. Zeydman, D. Zokirov, and Yu. Rajabiy’s «Zaynab and Omon», Sanobar in S. Boboev’s «Hamza», Dilorom in M. Ashrafiy’s «Dilorom», Asal in T. Sodiqov and R. Glier’s «Gulsara», Oyxon in S. Yudakov’s «Maysara’s Trick», and Gulnor in R. Hamroev’s «Light from Darkness», taking her rightful place among the leading opera artists and earning great attention from the cultural community.

In particular, the parts of Dilorom, Oyxon, and Huri, performed by the actress, are mature in terms of stage presence and vocal performance and hold a special place in the artist's career.

S. Qobulova was the first among Uzbek opera artists to masterfully perform leading roles in foreign classical operas in Russian. Her performances of Layli in G. Bizet’s «The Pearl Fishers», Cio-Cio-San in G. Puccini’s «Madama Butterfly», Rosina in G. Rossini’s «The Barber of Seville», Gilda in Verdi’s «Rigoletto», Iolanta in P. Tchaikovsky’s «Iolanta», and other parts were appreciated by Russian-speaking audiences as well.

Opera performance, singing, and teaching constitute an integral part of S. Qobulova's work. Her repertoire includes Uzbek classical music, Maqom, and contemporary songs. The songs she recorded on magnetic tape, such as «Bayot-1, 2, 3, 4», «Talqini Bayot», «Sarahbori Oromijon», «Samarqand Ushshog’i», «Iroq», «Chapandozi Navo», «Dugoh», «Iroqi Buxoro», and others, as well as romances by Uzbek composers, have not lost their value and continue to bring joy to art lovers.

She also sang songs of European and Asian peoples (Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Tajik, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Mongolian, etc.) with great enthusiasm. She went on creative tours to India, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, Afghanistan, Germany, Poland, Canada, and Mongolia, performing rare examples of Uzbek song art and promoting our national song art.

S. Qobulova was a prize-winner at the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow in 1957, and she is an Uzbek artist who achieved success at the concert held at the World Exhibition in Montreal in 1967. Even today, she is working seriously on new Uzbek classical songs.

«Independence has added inspiration to my inspiration,» says the talented singer. «I have finished working on several new songs. In particular, we have recorded many works for the radio. I can mention several songs sung to the ghazals of Alisher Navoi and songs written to Sobir Abdulla’s poems dedicated to the Motherland.»

Since 1970, the artist has been working as a teacher and professor at the Tashkent State Conservatory, showing great dedication in training young talents. Talented singers such as M. Razzoqova, T. Boyjonova, and M. Mamatova are her students. Her creative career has been highly recognized; she has been awarded the titles of «People's Artist of Uzbekistan» and «People's Artist», and was awarded the «Friendship» (Do’stlik) Order in 1997 by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The prominent artist and People's Artist of Uzbekistan S. Qobulova passed away on October 12, 2007.