The following review
is written by Mr. Farhad Bahrami member of
Darvak Ensemble.
Shahram & Hafez Nazeri
In the Path of
Rumi
Courtesy of
EARNIE GRAFTON / San Diego
Union-Tribune
Feb 25, 2006 San
Diego concert
Review
On Saturday night
Feb 25, 2006 I attended a concert by Shahram Nazeri & the Rumi Ensemble at
the Escondido Center for Arts. The concert featured Shahram Nazeri
(vocals), his son Hafez Nazeri (setar), his nephew Siavash Nazeri (daf &
dohol), with Salar Nader (tabla), Liuh-Wen Ting (viola), and Peter Wyrick
(cello). Here are my impressions.
The first half of
the concert started with an introduction by Ms. Mahasti Afshar of the L.A.
Philharmonic, who introduced the musicians and described the music we were
about to hear as a “new horizon”. She also presented a plaque from the City
of San Diego in honor of the musicians.
Then the ensemble
came out to perform a suite in the Persian dastgah, Nava, composed by Hafez
Nazeri. The suite started with a dramatic cello solo introducing the
dastgah. The cellist, though not Iranian, I thought brought out the feeling
of Nava well in his playing. Then the setar played a solo above a drone of
cello and viola. Hafez is a competent and delicate setar player. His
virtuosity is hidden by his attention to balance. Finally the voice entered
and was answered by the full ensemble. The poetry – as in the rest of the
performance - was by Molavi (Rumi): “Peyda shodam, peyda shodam
- Sheyda shodam, sheyda shodam”.
As in a
traditional performance, the middle section consisted of voice and
instrument interchanges. I like Shahram Nazeri’s voice, and his singing is
soulful. His choice of poetry is good, and with his son’s setar
accompaniment, the avaz (unmetered singing) section was satisfying even
though a tad long.
The final section
of the suite was a rendition of the famous poem “Baaz Aamadam” (“I’ve
Returned”). I enjoyed this lively composition
set in a 5-beat rhythmic cycle, though it’s hard not to remember M.R.
Lotfi’s epic song using the same poem as sung incomparably by Ms. Hengameh
Akhavaan.
The first half
closed with a standing ovation. Everyone was talking about how
well-arranged the music was. It’s true - each instrument had good lines
that worked well together. Some interesting harmonies resulted, mostly
within the G natural minor soundscape which is a part of Nava. The
non-Persian melody instruments (cello and viola) fit well into the
composition, but did not play any “Persian notes”. Nava includes a neutral
2nd in it’s lower tetrachord, which
was voiced by the solo setar, but was less prominent in the overall
composition than in other renditions of Nava I’ve heard. The cellist and
the violist – both non-Iranian - played extremely well, especially that the
music was technically challenging and furious at times. The tabla and daf
worked well together and played off of each other, though some people missed
having a tombak. The concert was presented as a fusion of Persian
traditional music and Western classical music, and overall I think most
people liked the result.
In the second
half, after giving thanks to all those who helped in producing the concert,
Mr. Nazeri offered a short set of more traditional Persian and Kurdish
melodies accompanying himself on the setar.
First he played a
short daraamad in Shur and sang a few lines in Kurdish before launching into
the famous Kurdish song “Kabuki”. Next he invited onstage Siavash Nazeri
who played some amazing daf. I had not seen some of the techniques Siavash
used on the daf, nor heard a sound as thunderous coming from that
instrument. Mr. Nazeri opened with a few lines of avaz in Persian, before
singing a new setting of the poem “Hilat Rahaa” in Shushtari, which included
ample space for Siavash to display his virtuosity and musicianship.
Finally the
ensemble came out to play “Aab-e Hayat-e Eshgh” with music by Hamid
Motebassem (of Dastan Ensemble). Hafez’s arrangement was not dissimilar to
the original, though the instrumental interludes were new. Personally I
prefer a more lyrical setting of this poem, but anyway their performance was
dynamic. I ought to mention that Hafez echoed his father in song in a few
spots, and revealed a voice similar in texture (and control) to his
father’s. The ensemble warmly thanked the audience for their multiple
standing ovations, but did not offer an encore. I thought the length and
balance of the concert was just right.
Unfortunately the
short notice for the concert resulted in less-than-expected attendance.
Also I think ticket prices were too high for San Diego (even with a last
minute decision to offer $25 student tickets), which affected attendance of
young people and non-Iranians. Hopefully such events can be better planned
in the future, so that more people can take advantage of these rare
opportunities. On the other hand, there were good reviews in the local
papers afterwards.
On another note,
it’s struck me that some people treated the concert billed as “Modern
Persian Traditional Music” rather like a pop event. Some insisted on
calling out requests during the concert (especially one who kept
asking for “Navai”, a song from Khorasan Mr. Nazeri has never sung).
Others insisted on clapping all through “Kabuki”, though not always on
the beat. Still others talked, left the hall and came back during the
performance, or insisted on recording the performance on their cellphone
cameras (not only breaking copyright law, but distracting people seated next
to them). Nevertheless, the atmosphere was electric,
most people enjoyed the music, many young people attended, and overall
people felt good about the younger generation bringing vitality to Persian
music. Was it a “new horizon” for Persian music? Time will tell. As
summed up by one person who called out from the audience: “Hafez, we love
you!”.
More info on the
music, players, and the San Francisco concert
here.
San Diego
Union/Tribune article
here.
