Faryad [Import]

Masters of Persian Music | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 11, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: World Village USA
• ASIN: B0000DB3SG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,134 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > World Music > Middle East > Iran
  • #36 in Music > World Music > Middle East > General AAS
  • #36 in Music > World Music > Middle East > General

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As a meeting of living masters, this collaboration between legendary vocalist Mohammed Reza Shajarian, his multi-instrumentalist/apprentice singer son, Homayoun, kamancheh (spike fiddle) virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor plus Hossein Alizadeh, a noted exponent of the tar (lute) would be hard to top. Thus, it is not surprising that their recent USA tours were routinely sold out or that their debut album, Without You, was nominated for a 2003 Grammy. The tradition these artists so peerlessly exemplify is drawn from medieval Persian court music and Sufi devotional poetry. Intricate melodies flow outward from ancient modal tunings as the scratchy violin, rumbling tombak (a goblet-shaped frame drum) and plangent plucked strings alternatively mirror, augment and embark from Shajarian Senior¹s plaintive, soaring, preternaturally fluid flights of improvisation. That the performances were captured live under ideal sonic circumstances transmits all the immediacy of witnessing epochal interpretations as they flower from seed to deliriously fragrant full bloom. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and very soulful, January 22, 2005

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Faryad (Audio CD)

A stunning 2-CD set of live performances by the Persian supergroup now known as the Masters Of Persian Music... Kalhan Kalhor (also of the group Ghazal) played the Ur-fiddle known as the kamancheh, with rhythmic accompaniment by Homayoun Shajarian on tombak and melodic counterpoint by Hossein Alizadeh on the tar (lute). One of Persia's greatest modern vocalists, Mohammad Reza Shajarian leads with lyrical, soulful interpretations of mystical poetry by various classic Persian poets. Both the vocals and the instrumental sections rely heavily on improvisation, and this element of all the artists being fully in the moment adds to the sense of conviction and emotion that characterize all the recordings by this widely lauded group. The first disc is mellower and more introspective, while several songs on the second set build towards a more frenzied, ecstatic release... If you've enjoyed earlier albums by Ghazal or the Masters ensemble, this live album will thrill you as a well. Recommended!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than eminently listenable, July 28, 2007

By 

M. Clark Troy (Princeton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Faryad (Audio CD)

I'm no connoisseur of Persian Classical music, I know nothing to speak of about it aside from what I've heard here. But this is intense and beautiful music, melodic and rhythmic in a way that is different from Western music without being so far afield (like, say, Chinese opera) that it demands entirely new ways of listening. It's a great introduction to a tradition. Having bought it, I'll buy more.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unpolluted by western trends, April 10, 2007

By 

Alan Arcus - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faryad (Audio CD)

Music interpreted with scholar responsibility. An impecable and sensitive interpretation. A chance to meet the Persian musical tradition without the new age rhetorics. Awfully cinematic !