Classical Music of Iran

Product Description
Ella Zonis Mahler’s compilation of these Iranian classical music performers was originally issued on Folkways Records in 1966. Ten of the twelve model melodic patterns (dastgahs) are represented here, in a variety of instrumental and vocal performances.

Classical Music of Iran,Various Artists,Smithsonian Folkways,Arabic,Int'l & World Music,Iran,Pop,World Music

Average customer rating: A trip from the terrestrial to the celestial. First rate Pure Bliss Hindu-Persian Beauty it sends me

The Rain Ghazal Manufacturer: Ecm Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD India | India & Pakistan | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Middle East | International | Styles | Music Iran | Middle East | International | Styles | Music Islamic | Middle East | International | Styles | Music General | Reggae | International | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music ECM Classical | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music ECM Jazz & World | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Lost Songs Of The Silk Road As Night Falls On The Silk Road Night Silence Desert Without You Moon Rise Over the Silk Road ASIN: B00008UAGA Release Date: 2003-08-26

Tracks:

1. Fire
2. Dawn
3. Eternity

Amazon.com

As on their previous releases, this much-admired Persian/Indian crossover duo have created a separate yet spacious universe that is tranquility incarnate. The musicans, who have named themselves after an ancient form of romantic poetry, perform on sitar (a multi-stringed Indian plucked instrument with a tall fretboard attached to a resonating gourd) and kamancheh (a sonorous but gutty-sounding spike fiddle) and voice, accompanied by a tabla virtuoso (a tuned skin drum commonly played in India and Pakistan). They wander hither and yon, seemingly traveling between dimensions of time, thought, and feeling. People who find Indian classical music too demanding for a beginner and/or have no idea what Persian music sounds like need have no fear. These three extended pieces, called "Fire," "Dawn," and "Eternity," may be somewhat rarified but they are also utterly accessible. Performing live before a respectfully rapt audience, Ghazal is at once sensuous, austere, fiery, and spiritual. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews:

A trip from the terrestrial to the celestial........2007-03-24

"Gazal": An Urdu word, to me it means: a delicate poem of love and passion.

Pl let me share a few known things. Ustaad Shujaat is a maestro of Sitar, a seven string Indian music instrument, with a big echo box made from a shell of a gourd. He excels in "Gayaki" style where strings are plucked and intonations made to emulate vocal chords. He hums along and renders the words with Sitar as a fiddle, to follow up. He has a deep commitment to the tradition, at the same time is fearless to experiment and improvise. Please listen to his other CD "Lajo" where pristine folk tunes from Punjab, India have been given a rebirth. Amazing, indeed.

Kayhan Kalhor, for me has been an amazing find and gift to Indians; from Persia With Love. I have no words to write about him, but admire his art, vision, virtuosity.

Together they in this CD will enthrall anybody. If you can follow the words, this is ecstatic. Otherwise it is sublime. Listen and enjoy these to take a flight to another planet.

This is very inspiring music, to go on a trip, from the terrestrial to the celestial.

ENJOY.

Anil, Iselin, NJ.

First rate.......2007-01-03

During a cab ride I took in New York, the driver played a CD of some Indian music which included a male voice as well as sitar, tabla and tambura. I asked him what it was and he wrote the name "Ghazal" as well as some other words that didn't show up on the Amazon search. The Rain is not the same CD and I'm not sure if it's even the same artist. The cab driver's CD was pure classical Indian and The Rain is a sort of fusion of Indian and Persian. If I made a mistake buying this CD it was a very lucky mistake because the quality of the music is very high. The interaction among the players is of a very high calibre, like that of the very best jazz combos as they take a motif and work it as if it were composed but with such a feel of spontaneity which is so much the excitment of improvisational music. I suppose that many people would like to find a piece of music like this if they only knew where to look. I got lucky with this one and I recommend it highly.

Pure Bliss.......2006-05-28

I own so many cd's of virtually every genre you could imagine among my favorites being indian classical, gypsy jazz, fusion, and flamenco. This cd is one of the few that i would rank among my very favorites. Shujaat Khan and Kayhan Kalhor play in complete sympathy with one another and are provided great tabla playing by the up and coming tabla virtuoso, Sandeep Das. The interesting thing about this group is that they combine effortlessly the two traditions of Indian Raga of North India and Persian Dastgah. These traditions are very different but you would never realize by listening to this music. They each uphold their tradition but welcome the other with open arms and mutual understanding. In short, If you should only buy one album this year, I would probably choose this one. All of the songs are great and long. The last track "Eternity" is probably my favorite clocking in at about 20 minutes and taking you to a place you could never imagine. Shujaatji really proves his remarkable since of music and his astonishing control over the sitar on this one. Also to check out would be Ustad Sultan Khan's album with Ustad Zakir Hussain of Raga Bhupali and Ali Akbar Khan's duet with Pandit Nikhil Banerjee on the Signature Series. ESSENTIAL TO ANY HUMAN BEING!

Hindu-Persian Beauty.......2005-12-18

Few CDs from my 4000 collection of CDs get into my car for a long ride as frequently as The Rain. I just cannot have enough of Kalhor's kamancheh sound and the peaceful Hindu-Persian feeling that it evokes. The sound brings back for me the memories of my younger days at my aunt's Safavid era house in the Northern Iran city of Rasht and the peaceful Zoroastrian temples of Iran and India where I spent a lifetime of happy hours. This is a keeper.

it sends me.......2005-12-09

My music staples are blues and rock, but I like all kinds. Whether it's blues or classical or Persian/Indian the masters of the genre put me in a zone that makes me forget about the cowboys looting our country. THis cd does that. These guys make great music.

Average customer rating: A Haunting Performance by Virtuosos Magical. Beautiful! Over the cubicle wall and across international boundaries Beautiful, as always! Good CD

Iran - Persian Classical Music Various Artists Manufacturer: Nonesuch ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Middle East | International | Styles | Music Iran | Middle East | International | Styles | Music Similar Items: Without You Faryad Monika Jalili : NoorSaaz Night Silence Desert As Night Falls On The Silk Road ASIN: B000005IWG Release Date: 1991-04-17

Tracks:

1. Dastgah Shur
2. Dastgah Homayoun
3. Dastgah Segah
4. Zarb Solo
5. Dastgah Chahargah
6. Dastgah Mahour

Customer Reviews:

A Haunting Performance by Virtuosos.......2003-05-05

Although I am a new convert to so-called "world music", I know there's no turning back now. After listening to this CD continually for the last two days, I've found myself desperately searching Amazon for more Persian music, and the web for more information about this fabulous group. The vocalist's ululating, almost pained voice seems a haunting precursor of the dark times that lay ahead (the album was recorded in 1974, five years before the rise of the mad Ayatollah and his fundamentalist government) and there is a palpable, frenetic urgency to the musicians' playing. The liner notes contain enough information for the listener to understand the instruments used and the forms of Persian classical music, although the black and white photographs of the players and their instruments are rather too small. The cover photograph, however, is beautiful and intriguing. In short, a perfect introduction to Persian music for the novice listener.

Magical. Beautiful!.......2002-05-31

I love Iranian music. I highly recommend that you add this to your collection immediately.

Over the cubicle wall and across international boundaries.......2002-03-07

I heard a bit of Persian music on the radio driving to lunch one day, and I didn't want to leave the car when I got to the restaurant because the music was so hypnotic and beautiful.

I know very little about Persian music, so when I returned to work, I asked an Iranian friend and cubicle neighbor if she had any CDs I good borrow to get a taste. This is one of the CDs she passed over the cubicle wall.

I played it last night and loved it. Anyone who loves music will be entranced by this CD. My favorite piece last night was Dastgah Mahour, but depending on my mood, any one of them could be my favorite. There are no less than wonderful tracks.

Beautiful, as always!.......2001-05-19

I am related to Faramarz Payvar, so ANYTHING he does is great to me! He is a master.

Good CD.......2000-09-26

This is a very good cd. Its well made with a mixture of iranian instruments. It has santur, sufi, sufi nei, sittar and some others. This music is the first traditional music of perisan (iran). The rythem is zarb is very stealth, like a cheetah. It goes faster, then slower, faster then slower, etc. The sufi is very peaceful, like a sitting bird, pondering. The sittar is also a very traditional instrument of iran and is presented very well with a lot of passionate rythems. This item is highly recommended for iranians that enjoy classical persian music.

Average customer rating: Very good persian classical music Tradition and Innovation Gets Five Star

Raz-O-Niaz Hossein Alizadeh Manufacturer: Kereshmeh Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music Iran | Middle East | International | Styles | Music World Dance | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: NeyNava/Song of Compassion Torkaman Endless Vision Iranian Music: Saz-Eno Sobhgahi ASIN: B000002XYW Release Date: 1995-04-16

Tracks:

1. Rastpanjgah: Chaharmezrab
2. Rastpanjgah: Daramad
3. Rastpanjgah: Song Of Heavens
4. Rastpanjgah: Oshaq
5. Rastpanjgah: Kereshmeh, Foroud
6. Rastpanjgah: Wild Gazelle
7. Shoushtari: Raz-O-Niaz
8. Shoushtari: Shoushtari
9. Shoushtari: Bakhtiari
10. Shoushtari: Masnavie
11. Shoushtari: Bayateh Raj-e
12. Shoushtari: Chaharmezrab,Foroud
13. Shoushtari: Let's Rejoice

Customer Reviews:

Very good persian classical music.......2006-12-01

I highly recommend this CD because it is very refreshing and not a run-of-the-mill classical music CD repeating, tooti-var, the same musical radeef.

Tradition and Innovation Gets Five Star.......2001-01-16

Alizadeh is Iran's finest living instrumentalist. But in this work you find out what a great composer he is as well. The work is based heavily on the dastgah system of Persian classical music, but the innovations are stunning.

Average customer rating:

Henry Cowell: Instrumental, Chamber and Vocal Music, Vol. 2 Manufacturer: Naxos American ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Character Pieces | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Clarinet | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Violin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Henry Cowell: Instrumental, Chamber and Vocal Music, Vol. 1 Nancarrow: Pieces Nos. 1 & 2; ¿Tango?; String Quartet No. 1 Charles Ives: Three Quarter-Tone Pieces; Five Take-offs; Hallowe'en; Sunrise Henry Cowell: Persian Set Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Violin Concerto; Rituals ASIN: B0007ACVMI Release Date: 2005-02-22

Tracks:

1. Andante Rubato
2. Interlude: Presto
3. Andante Rubato
4. Con Spirito
5. Piece For Piano With Strings
6. Vestiges
7. Euphoria
8. What's This
9. Elegie
10. The Banshee
11. Sunset
12. Rest
13. Rubato
14. Andante
15. Andante
16. Allegro
17. Adagio Cantabile
18. Allegretto Con Brio
19. Largo Sostenuto
20. Allegro
21. Andante
22. Presto Leggiero
23. Vigoroso

Average customer rating: amazing Transcendant aural epic

Sobhgahi Hossein Alizadeh Manufacturer: Caltex ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music Iran | Middle East | International | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Raz-O-Niaz Endless Vision NeyNava/Song of Compassion Torkaman Alizabeth Live at the Los Angeles Festival ASIN: B00000192X Release Date: 1996-06-18

Tracks:

1. Salaam/Kamancheh Solo/Chahar Mezrab/Tar Solo/Lezgi Piece
2. Dar Amad/Pish Zangouleh/Hesar/Tasnif

Customer Reviews:

amazing.......1999-01-14

I love it. It is music with heart and soul from classical Persia. For everyone with a heart for music.

Transcendant aural epic.......1998-11-11

Hossein Alizadeh displays his abilities as a master composer of Persain music. Although most of the text on the CD is written in Farsi, you don't need to know what it says to enjoy the music. A whole host of various instruments (including a nice kamancheh solo) as well as voice is employed on this CD. It gives you that meandering in the desert, headswimming kind of feel. It has the kind of intensity that can only be matched by a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan record.

Average customer rating: The witness in the corner This music carries you away... Greatest living instrumentalist of Persian traditional music

NeyNava/Song of Compassion Hossein Alizadeh Manufacturer: Kereshmeh Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music Iran | Middle East | International | Styles | Music General | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music World Dance | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Similar Items: Raz-O-Niaz Endless Vision Torkaman Faryad Iranian Music: Saz-Eno ASIN: B000002XYV Release Date: 1995-06-01

Tracks:

1. Con: Ov - Str Orch Of The National Radio And TV of Iran
2. Con: Vars On Naghmeh - Str Orch Of The National Radio And TV of Iran
3. Con: Jamedaran - Str Orch Of The National Radio And TV of Iran
4. Con: Nahoft And Foroud - Str Orch Of The National Radio And TV of Iran
5. Con: Sufi Dance - Str Orch Of The National Radio And TV of Iran
6. Life - Orch Of Indigenous Instruments Of Iran
7. Sunrise - Orch Of Indigenous Instruments Of Iran
8. Depth Of Catastrophe - Orch Of Indigenous Instruments Of Iran
9. Song Of Compassion - Orch Of Indigenous Instruments Of Iran
10. Transcendence - Orch Of Indigenous Instruments Of Iran
11. Search - Orch Of Indigenous Instruments Of Iran

Customer Reviews:

The witness in the corner.......2004-09-04

It can't be but because of passion and love for his rich musical inheritance that Hossein Alizadeh can bring hereto hidden voices from traditional Persian music to shine as the center pieces of a complex composition in which he invites the Western system as a universal "goushe".
Goushes can be loosely called "variations" within a single compositional system [dastgah] in Persian traditional music. But it is much more complex than that. Goushes have more to do with recalling possibilities demanded by the temporal understanding of the music at hand than a set way of interpretation. So, to call the "Western" guest a goushe may sound sacrilegious to some purists.
But given that goushe has many interpretations, let me the liberty to interpret it as more linguistically as "witness", rather than "corner", as it is usually done. Later you will see that this "witness" will get involved with equal stature.
Goushe was the person who would sit in one of the several rooms surrounding a traditional residential entry hall in Iran. The person would listen to the business or legal conversations of his master and his guests and be a "witness" or a reminder. The goushe would not participate in person as a sign of respect for the guests. But a goushe was legally equivalence of a physically present witness. The gouche's ear was all that mattered, and like a written account, it wouldn't carry any interpretations of the physical interaction of the parties. To use a gouche was an accepted practice when a witness with the same stature of the guest could not be brought in.
Thus we can imagine that here Hossein Alizadeh brings in Western "forms" to witness the nearly infinite array of possibilities in seemingly rigid Persian compositional system. This witnessing affects how the witnessed act and play.
Each western tempo, be it dance, military, or processional, brings out melodies and rhythms from Persian dastgahs in a one to one and then one to many relationships. A single western form evokes multitude Persian "shapes". But, beyond the playful game of precedence, there is also the interplay between the dastgahs in this new environment created by introducing a foreign witness.
Alizadeh goes a long way toward showing that by "witnessing" the Persian through the formalized, often linear western system, we can dust off lost insights and express musical ideas that truly have no edge, no border, nor fronts. The linear becomes tesseletated into fractured wholes.
The number of layers of patterns in these compositions is no less than interwoven patterns "flattened" onto a single surface in the tile designs of the sixteenth century masters. By weaving natural and geometric layers into stories forbidden by the religious sytem or "dastgah" the tile designers mixed human concepts and natural shapes to express the harmony between the two. Thus, a third wonderful game in these compositions appears as the place of natural "voice".
In these pieces Persian melodies are usually voiced by the ney while Western melodies by strings. Then the presence of a natural voice, although abstracted, changes this. In these instance Western melodies voice through the Ney. Similarly for percussion instruments. The daf and the tomabak take turns carrying the two systems, adding new layers of geometric "pattern".
These studies by Mr. Alizadeh accumulate added significance as time goes on. One discovers, and resolves, new complexities with each listening, with the pieces becoming more mystifying in their clarity. One can hear the joy, sadness, and mythical ecstasies of different poems in major dastgahs which here commingle in the presence of a new "witness" [goushe].
Hossein Alizadeh is convincing us that this "witness" SHOULD be made a permanent friend.

This music carries you away..........2002-12-12

I heard this music for the first time in a Persian restaurant in Porto/Portugal. It instantly carried me away so I had to get the
CD. The owner of the restaurant only had an old cassette.
I made a photo of this cassette, got the persian text translated by a persian colleague, searched a bit on the net and now I found it at Amazon.
Great!

Greatest living instrumentalist of Persian traditional music.......2001-01-05

Hossein Alizadeh is the greatest living instrumentalist of Persian traditional music and this work is one of his greatest compositions. If you desire purity of the ancient tradition combined with innovations of a great musician, Alizadeh is the person to listen to. If the music is new for you and sounds a bit strange in the beginning, listen to it with closed eyes for a while and more than once. Persian traditional music, like all introverted and esotric traditions, is a bit more difficult to grasp at first, but its emotional and intellectual rewards by far out-weighs the little extra effort one has to spend in the beginning.

Average customer rating: Large collection for the price, but not perfect excellent selection & quality sound

National Anthems of the World: Swarovski Orchestra Manufacturer: Koch Int'l Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Beethoven | Beethoven, Ludwig van | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Glinka | Glinka, Mikhail | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Franz Joseph Haydn | Haydn, Franz Joseph | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Kuhlau | Kuhlau, Friedrich | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Smith, John Stafford | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music World Dance | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Similar Items: Collections of National Anthems, Vol. 1 World Anthems The World of National Anthems The Complete National Anthems of the World National Anthems of the World ASIN: B00029J1XQ Release Date: 2004-07-27

Tracks:

1. Algeria
2. Arab Emirates
3. Argentina
4. Armenia
5. Australia
6. Egypt
7. Barbados
8. Belgium
9. Bolivia
10. Brazil
11. Germany
12. Bulgaria
13. Denmark
14. Ecuador
15. England
16. Estland
17. Europe
18. Finland
19. France
20. Georgia
21. Greece
22. Iraq
23. Iran
24. Ireland
25. Iceland
26. Israel
27. Italy
28. Japan
29. Cameroon
30. Canada
31. Colombia
32. Cuba
33. Latvia
34. Luxembourg

Tracks:

1. Lithuania
2. Malta
3. Morocco
4. Mexico
5. Mozambique
6. Moldova
7. Monaco
8. Mongolia
9. New Zealand
10. The Netherlands
11. Norway
12. Oman
13. Austria
14. Peru
15. The Philippines
16. Poland
17. Portugal
18. Romania
19. Russia
20. San Marino
21. Saudi Arabia
22. Sweden
23. Switzerland
24. Singapore
25. Slovakia
26. Slovenia
27. Spain
28. South Africa
29. Syria
30. Thailand
31. Czech Republic
32. Tunisia
33. Turkey
34. Hungary
35. Uruquay
36. United States
37. Venezuela
38. Vietnam
39. Zimbabwe

Customer Reviews:

Large collection for the price, but not perfect.......2006-07-30

As with these sorts of all-inclusive collections, there are issues to be had with 'National Anthems of the World' as performed by the Swarovski Orchestra. Primary--to me--is that these performances and arrangements come off as being rather sterile and bland, though it's perhaps not surprising since I doubt very much that most of the nationalities of the nations represented here have citizens actually in the Swarovski Orchestra. There's little of the passion that a national band or orchestra would have in playing their own nation's anthem, much like listening to a generic studio band play play a collection of college fight songs (and there ARE CDs of those out for sale as well).

That said, this 2-disc CD set does offer a wide spectrum of national anthems, though it does a far better job of covering European nations more so than any other region. For instance, Central America is poorly represented in this collection as is Africa which, aside from Cameroon, the heart of that continent is conspicuously ill-depicted. But the biggest omission is China; neither the mainland or Taiwanese anthems are included in this set. Considering that The People's Republic of China is the most populous nation on earth, as well as a global political and economic force to be reckoned with, even in 1996 (this CD set dates from 2004, but at least one online database list the contents from the mid-1990s), this is a glaring oversight in my opinion.

The final gripe deals with the included documentation. Each of these anthems DO have titles to them, none of which the producers of this collection ever bother to mention and provide. One has to go to Wikipedia or some other resource to look up the actual name of the anthems included here. This is information that is relatively cheap to research and out of courtesy to the consumer should've been provided for this set, especially since this collection has been around in some form for over a decade already.

For the money, it's a fairly good buy for those who want a collection of national anthems. But the producers could've done a better job of compiling the contents of this collection, and what music there is would've certainly benefitted from a bit more impassioned play.

excellent selection & quality sound.......2005-08-27

Swarovski Orchestra did an excellent job in this compilation. I work in Foreign Service & I use this CD to play US anthem & the host country anthem during events. Unlike other compilations which shorten the pieces, this offers full-length pieces saving me from embarrassment.

Average customer rating: Songs of freedom and devotion Austere Passionate Beauty

Birds Hossein Alizadeh , Homa Niknam , and Madjid Khaladj Manufacturer: Bâ Music Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music Iran | Middle East | International | Styles | Music ASIN: B000CC3TD6 Release Date: 2002-01-01

Tracks:

1. Horizon
2. Birds
3. Night Light
4. Fire
5. Light as the Butterfly

Customer Reviews:

Songs of freedom and devotion.......2007-05-15

In this CD, the Alizadeh and Khaladj duo extend their new interpretations of traditional Iranian musical systems. Their work demonstrates that the traditional system provides as much freedom in music composition as film has provided Iranian directors in the last 25 odd years, universal ideas expressed in a proven system.
Maybe it has been easier for directors and visual artists to comment on social issues and freedom by creating visual allegories. Meanwhile, music, being the more restricted art in Islam, had remained focused on renewal of classical repertoires with little deviation from formalized types. Thus, composers rarely introduced new forms without violating the traditional dastgahs, or modes of music. Most attempts broke the system by too overt overlays of external forms.

In this concert we hear one of the best of the successful works. This is a very thoughtful musical attempt at overtly focusing on current issues. They adapt poetry recitations in declamation form rather than the true goal of traditional singers of abstracting a nightingale, a Bird. This shift in poetry delivery allows the Alizadeh/Kkahladj duo, once again, to use modern interpretations of traditional Iranian musical stricture and refocus these diverse poems to new points of view.

The compositions create a tension filled backdrop for the collage of poems from different centuries. These shift from suggestive love (mystic) melodies to militant chanting voices, and recalling many familiar linear folk compositions. The weaving and shifting produces a pregnant atmosphere in Horizon, composed as a pishdaramd (prelude). Homa Niknam enters and puts the exclamation mark to that prelude in the next cut, Birds.

When birds can only watch the wind fly on, and virgin blossoms can only gaze at pure water flowing by, it is hard to miss the philosophical suggestions, the human condition. Niknam's voice and the musical accompaniment are what brings out the strength of these poems to weaves them in a new tapestry. The totality is enlarged as the trio shows that is not necessary to borrow from the outside or even leave the modal system, but to reinterpret what is a vast history of music and poetry. They simply add indirect undertones of outside influences, such as familiar western march and dance cadences to underline the focus of their poems.

Alizadeh's performance moves with Homa Niknam's smooth voice like reflections on water, and when the words stop, Alizadeh seems to take flight, taking us to all the corners of the given dastgah (compositional mode), and then return in time to open the space for her to bring the poem back into the foreground. All this is accompanied by Madjid Khaladj's mesmerizing percussion. His "voice" is like a chorus "chanting" on the daf and the tombak. His beat carries the emotions of the pieces like the steady hands of an old friend, entering and leaving at crucial moments with swiftness and resolve. It is difficult to believe that there is only a single percussionist here, but so is the mastery of Madjid Khaladj. His perfect timing and shifting rhythms emphasize "flight and return" as the underlying theme of these compositions.

The selected poems have, as always, have universal themes of human condition and are timeless. These diverse poets talk in one voice. Of freedom, in Birds, a poem by Azad, a contemporary poet - of justice in Fire, based on Majzoob Alishah's poem, "burning of the reed" (18th century), and of redemption of the soul in Mowlana's "as free as the moth", (11th century), in which the singed soul is urged to rise from the heart of the self-righteously set fire and accept life with humility.

Homa Niknam's fresh approach to reciting classical poetry produces a strong rhetorical effect, even if you just listen to the music of her voice, aside from the words. Her work with the Moshtagh group, also based in Paris, opened many doors in Iran for female vocalists in the mid 90's. This work should help her strengthen her well deserved position in the expanding female vocal presence in the new era. Bringing art back to female singing is a welcome change from the cliché operatic westernizing, popular in the sixties and seventies Iran.

Overall, one sees and enjoys the clear relationship between the vocalized words and the music, even if you don't understand Farsi. You can feel the built up and release of tension, freedom and lament, in this wonderfully composed and performed work. A must for serious music lover.

Austere Passionate Beauty.......2006-04-29

It was this CD that served as my belated introduction to the rich and beautiful world of Persian Classical Music. And what an introduction it was.

As noted, there's a pervasive feeling of austerity that's present throughout this music, a potent silence that underlies even its most exclamatory moments. Add the passionate yet restrained lyricism that characterizes most of these pieces (which are really more like successive chapters within a single extended narrative), and you wind up with a musical counterpart of the same spirit that expresses itself in some of the best Persian poetry.

The instrumentalists present on this CD, and especially Homa Nikham's vocals, are a perfect match for that expression.

Average customer rating:

Masters of Persian Traditional Music Homayoun Khoram , Farhang Sharif , and Jahangir Malek Zarb Manufacturer: Caltex ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music Iran | Middle East | International | Styles | Music ASIN: B00000193A Release Date: 1995-12-12

Tracks:

1. Masters Of Persian Traditional Music
2. Masters Of Persian Traditional Music

Average customer rating:

Persian Classical Melodies, Vol. 1 Maroufi & Khorram Manufacturer: Caltex ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music Iran | Middle East | International | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B00000193Y Release Date: 1996-08-01

Tracks:

1. Piano, Violin

Rock Music:

1. Collection: The Very Best of the Claddagh Years
2. Down by the Glenside: Songs of Ireland
3. Edinochestro, Vol. 2 [Import]
4. El De Siempre
5. Encontro [Limited Edition] [Import]
6. Estampado [Import]
7. Fireworks
8. Growing Up [Import]
9. Hymnes De Tahiti
10. Il Cammino Dell'Eta [Import]

Rock Music

rock music

Recommended Music:

That's the Way It's Gonna Be

The American Trumpet

Recorder Concertos

Eternal Journey

Saint Germain des Pres Cafe, Vol. 3-4 [Import]

Something To Say

Prophet: Papua New Guinea, Vol. 14 [Import]

Speed Up: Slow Down Ep [EP] [Limited Edition]

Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch [Import] [Limited Edition]

Remastered 1964-67 [Import]

Night Vision

Serie Retratos [Limited Edition] [Import]

Solid Impact! [Explicit Lyrics]

Made 4 Love

Love Comes Quietly