Customer Reviews

Faryad

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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!

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.

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 !

AWESOME music. These musicians are incredible. What a great deal for a 2-disc set of this traditional music.

I agree with one of the reviewers here that I am no connoisseur of Persian classical music, and know next to nothing about it aside from what I've heard here and on several other discs I've bought. But I know great music when I hear it, and this is truly great music! Persian classical is unlike any other music I've ever heard: intensely sensuous, passionate and spiritual - not to speak of its immense melodic and rhythmic sophistication and beauty. Moments of reflective calm alternate with passages of soul-bursting power and passion. As a long-time aficionado of that incredibly rich and beautiful creation known as Indian classical music, it's exhilarating to discover another venerable, ancient and sumptuous musical tradition that is very different from the Indian intellectually and technically, but somehow uncannily kindred in substance and spirit. That just goes to show, I guess, that while cultures and civilizations may differ, the spiritual essence is the same in all people at all times.
So, if you are looking for music to caress and thrill and delight your soul, you need go no farther than this two-disc set. Approximately one and a half hour of incandescent music awaits you.