Journey to Persia

sehr gut, 1 mal gespielt. Cover hat eon paar Kratzer

This Koch issue of 1997 is now available on the ARC world music label of the United Kingdom, well distributed in the United States by Naxos. It features Iranian singer Zohreh Jooya and the musical arrangements of Saeid Faradj-Ouri, who also is the kamanche spiked fiddle player. Other traditional Persian instruments here are the ud, tombak, daf, and dayereh drums, and tar lute. Jooya sings traditional tunes of her birthplace, but she studied music in Vienna and in her European career she performs Western classic lieder as well. Her voice inflection and the Iranian dastghah modes may sound off to the Western ear, but the listener will soon appreciate the strength of her emotional interpretations. The only exception to the series of songs is Track 8, which is an instrumental written and arranged by Nariman Hodjati. The music is largely upbeat ballads and dances. ARC added more information about the instruments and musicians in the package notes than in this earlier edition. The album provides a generous 69 minutes of music. There are many instrumental recordings of classical Iranian music and music written to accompany the poems of Rumi and other Sufi mystics, but vocals of traditional songs have less caught the public's attention. This album may be appreciated to give another perspective to Persian music.

k.A.