David Dalle
Thursday January 19th, 2012 with David Dalle
Concert recording from Mohammad Reza Shajarian, Hossein Alizadeh, Kayhan Kalhor, Homayoun Shajarian

Today we hear one of my favourite recordings, Mohammad Reza Shajarian's concert recording from 2003 "Faryad". Shajarian chose poems centuries apart which share common dark themes of isolation and frustration and which can easily be interpreted as subtle protest at current Iranian politics, especially after Shajarian more explicitly protested during the contested 2009 Iranian elections and uprisings. Shajarian joined with two musicians who are among the best of their generation and his very talented son to weave these poems into a grand dramatic arc through the mode Rastpanjgah. Compositions in this work are by Shajarian, Kayhan Kalhor, and Alizadeh, but the 2nd half of the work is all compositions by Alizadeh (aside from the improvisations) and they are truly stunning. Hossein Alizadeh will be appearing for the first time in Ottawa on January 28 with a rare improvisational concert with percussionist Pejman Hadadi. For more information visit: http://persianradio.net/anoan/monad.html