This album is the conclusion of an exhilarating four-part study of Turkish classical music during the Ottoman Empire. The emphasis is on a type of suite called a fasil that was typically performed at the sultan's court. A single makam (mode--this work is built on one called Segah) inspires the musicians and acts as a unifying force, binding themes from diverse sources into a seamless whole. Although elaborate and tightly structured, a fasil also demands extensive improvisation; without a high level of empathy and cooperation between the players, it would never get off the ground. Lalezar is more than equal to the challenge and their performance is a revelation of precise, tasteful abandon. The male and female vocals alternate and join amid dark-toned fiddles, mellow flutes, zither arpeggios, twanging lutes, and several kinds of drums. This is classical music as it should be: civilized but never effete. --Christina Roden
Lalezar: Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 4 - Ottoman Suite,Lalezar Ensemble,Traditional Crossrds,Int'l & World Music,Middle East,Pop,Sufi,Turkish,Turkish Folk,World Music
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Lalezar: Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 2 - Music of the Dancing Boys
Lalezar Ensemble Manufacturer: Trad. Crossroads ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
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ASIN: B00004Z3V8 Release Date: 2000-11-21 |
Tracks:
- Kemenge Takism
- Turkmen Kizi
- Ilkbahar Olunca
- Nazh Nazh Sekip Gider
- Yuru Dilber Yuru
- Elem Cekeme Gonul
- Selanik, Kahbe Selanik
- Yine Yol Vermedi Acem Daglari
- Yinede Kaynadi Costu
- Benim Sevdicegim Bahcenin Gulu
- Ikide Bulbul
- Hortinanin Ufak Tasi
- Taylada Beslerler Birascidoru
- Mandira
- Cirpan Havasi
- Ulah Havasi
Amazon.com
Volume two of this essential and superbly played survey of music from Turkey's Ottoman Empire is dedicated to the repertoire of köçek dancers, longhaired boys who performed in women's clothing. For 200 years they were welcomed at the sultan's court or the homes of powerful patrons, but most were employed at taverns. The most popular soloists even caused periodic riots, but theirs' was a short-lived profession. Once their beards grew in, they were forced to retire and became musicians, prostitutes, or embittered has-beens. Their surviving accompaniments date from the late 19th century and are sinuous, juicy, and drop-dead sexy. The most common rhythm is an Anatolian-derived 9/8 known as aksak, which is synonymous with unbridled sensuality. The style is not closely related to Arabic raks sharki (belly dance) music, but traces of it still turn up in certain Greek and Jewish klezmer traditions. --Christina RodenCustomer Reviews:
Outstanding.......2007-05-09
If you're a collector of Ottoman Turkish music, as I am, then you must get this CD.
Music to be seduced to.......2003-03-15
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Lalezar: Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 4 - Ottoman Suite
Lalezar Ensemble Manufacturer: Trad. Crossroads ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B000056CD6 Release Date: 2001-01-30 |
Tracks:
- Segah Pesrev
- Kar-i Ses-avaz
- Murabba Beste
- Agir Sema'i
- Yuruk Sema'i
- Segah Saz Sema'i
- Karsilikli Taksimler
- Isfahan Pesrev
- Ey Tir-i Cefa
- Gonlumu Canane Verdim
- Yine Bezm-i Cemene
- Bir Katre Icin
- Ey Gaziler Yol Gorundu
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This album is the conclusion of an exhilarating four-part study of Turkish classical music during the Ottoman Empire. The emphasis is on a type of suite called a fasil that was typically performed at the sultan's court. A single makam (mode--this work is built on one called Segah) inspires the musicians and acts as a unifying force, binding themes from diverse sources into a seamless whole. Although elaborate and tightly structured, a fasil also demands extensive improvisation; without a high level of empathy and cooperation between the players, it would never get off the ground. Lalezar is more than equal to the challenge and their performance is a revelation of precise, tasteful abandon. The male and female vocals alternate and join amid dark-toned fiddles, mellow flutes, zither arpeggios, twanging lutes, and several kinds of drums. This is classical music as it should be: civilized but never effete. --Christina RodenCustomer Reviews:
Trees: the Hidden Secrets of the Forest.......2004-12-07
This is a disc of, for lack of a better way to put it, mellow Ottoman art-music inspired by 18th and 19th century styles. The basis for some of the the contour of the suite itself is a bunch of smaller compositions by 19th and early 20th century composers. Based on my own music collection, Tanburi Cemil Bey is the biggest name here but I'm not a specialist in this music. For those of you with greater knowledge of this music than I, the other composers whose works are presented here are Haci Arif Bey, Zeki Arif Ataergin, and Munir Nurretin Selcuk.
To be honest, the first time I listened to this disc a couple years ago I thought it was boring. As I continued to listen to it and dig deeper inside it, I found it to be fascinating. The thing with this disc is that if you only listen to "the whole", you miss all the details. On one hand, this would be a fine disc to play in the background while having company over. I hear this music as having 2 horizontal, parallel lines of "emotional parameters" that everything fits inside. There are no extreme emotional peaks, and no extreme emotional depths. It's a very constant music. As I said, if you only listen to the whole of this music, or if you ONLY listen to it as background music, you will miss what is really happening. Alone, with or without headphones is, for me, the ultimate way to listen to this disc.
The details in question are all of the smaller melodies that oftentimes double each other in support of the overall mood and feel of the music as a whole. The minor rythmic fluctuations also change the internal mood of the pieces, subtle as they are. This is a style of performance that largely could not happen in the West, because there are no stars in this band. What I mean is, the "emotional parameters" of the music do not allow for showing off or trying to be the flashy star soloist of the band. The Lalezar Ensemble is brilliant in its willingness and ability to sacrifice musical self for the greater good. Everyone in the band is a textural cog in the machine.
Since some of you will know the instruments and some of you won't, I'll give both the traditional and english names. Here we have the kanun (triple-strung zither), kemence (spike-fiddle), tanbur (lute), ney (end-blown flute), and percussion, along with vocalists.
I never even considered reviewing this disc within the first 20 times I listened to it, and after having it for a couple years now and listening to it again last night, the time was right. The next time I order cds, the other 2 discs in this fine series are coming home to me. I really have nothing else to which this and Dancing Boys compare, so I have given them 4 stars because for all I know, maybe the other 2 discs in the series are even better.
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Lalezar: Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 3 - Minority Composers
Lalezar Ensemble Manufacturer: Trad. Crossroads ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B000056CD5 Release Date: 2001-01-30 |
Tracks:
- Acem-Asiran Pesrev
- Mahur Medhiye
- Segah Pesrev
- Sazkar Agir Semai
- Gulizar Agir Semai
- Hicaz Sarki
- Ney Taksim
- Cesm-i Celladin
- Calima Bak Efede
- Kanun Taksim
- Ey Nice Daglar Basinda
- Kemence Taksim
- Hala Kanayan
- Tanbur Taksim/Gazel
- Nes'eyle Gecen Omrumu
- Cismin Gibi Ruhunda
- Hancer-i Ebrusu
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In Turkey's Ottoman Empire, as in other nations, minority groups made important contributions to arts and sciences within the dominant culture. The third volume of this exhaustive four-CD series showcases works by Armenian, Jewish, and Greek composers. From the 17th to 19th centuries, immigrant musicians were popular at court and with religious leaders but lived freely within their own faiths and cultures. Aside from fragments by earlier composers, this program includes a generous selection of pieces dating from the early 20th century, when minority nightclub performers were central figures of a creative renaissance that summed up much of what had come before. Lalezar, which is comprised of five men and one woman, is easily the peer--or better--of any original instrument ensemble. Their delicately articulated, lyrical performances reflect a deep understanding of the complex scales and time signatures that are the essence of this exotic and rewarding music. --Christina RodenRock Music:
- Las Salinas 2005 [Import]
- Leny Andrade [Import]
- Les plus grandes chansons
- Melodies of the Oud
- More Than Music: The Deva Premal & Miten Story
- Morning Concert: Ahir Bhairav, 1989 [Live]
- My Hawaiian Country, Vol. 1
- Nacao Zumbi [Import]
- National Geographic: Destination Ireland
- Novo Millennium [Import]
Recommended Music:
Ballet Gala: The Art of the Prima Ballerina
Beauty on the Fire [CD-single] [Import]