PERSIAN NOTES

The musical culture of Iran is one of the most beautiful and refined of the East.  Song, as well as instrumental music, is based on the vast traditional repertoire called radif, which serves as an anchor and reference point for all forms of creation, including the inspiration of the great soloists. Intimately intertwined with the imagination of great poets such as Hafez, Rumi, Saadi and Khayyam, Persian music gives rise to a particular interior state (hal) within its listeners – a form of aesthetic emotion, or perhaps even a mystical drunkenness.

We have invited very talented artists who demonstrate the inexhaustible vitality of this music to celebrate Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. Inspired singers such as Salar Aghili, great improvisers such as Hossein Alizadeh and Madjid Khaladj, composer-performer Hamid Motebassam, the storytellers Hamid Javdan and Tchakavak, and artists of the instrumental music revival such as the members of the Chakam ensemble – all of these performers bring to life the dynamism of a musical practice that crosses ages and stirs hearts.

Laurent Aubert