Ali Rahbari & Recording Iranian Symphonic Compositions

1 June 2015 – 10:50 pm Posted in Iranian Classical Music, News, Western Classical Music

by: Sadjad Pourghanad & Mahboube Khalvai


In the few days prior to the New Iranian year (March 2015), the news of the revival of Tehran Symphony Orchestra under Ali (Alexander) Rahbari’s conductorship was announced. Ali Rahbari, who served as assistant to Herbert von Karajan in Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at a very young age, was also invited to conduct Tehran Symphony Orchestra in 2005; however, the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government put an end to his collaboration with this Orchestra. Recently, it was announced that Rahbari is invited to conduct an orchestra in the U.S.
Ali Rahbari is the most prolific Iranian conductor throughout the world. Writing about the activities of such a renowned Iranian musician on this international scale, tends to become redundant as much is written and said about him.
It does not go amiss to review his years at the National Conservatory of Music in Iran in order to contextualize his years as a young ambitious musician though. Ali Rahbari is a graduate of National Conservatory of Music where he also served as Principal (simultaneously with holding the same position at the Higher Conservatory of Music) during his years prior to immigration.
One of the major characteristics of musicians who have studied at the National Conservatory of Music while Hossein Dehlavi was the Principal is special attention to the Iranian music. Contrary to the Higher Conservatory of Music which solely focused on understanding and performing the Western Classical music with its extensive repertoire, the National Conservatory of Music directed close attention to the Iranian instrument and Iranian music.
Most of the graduates from the National Conservatory of Music are familiar with playing one or two Iranian instruments besides their main instrument. Ali Rahbari is not an exception; he plays tonbak and santour as well and has a comprehensive knowledge of the Iranian music.
In addition to engendering nationalist feelings, engagement with the Iranian music leads to bonding with the new repertoire of the classical music especially non-Western works; a qualification which some of the graduates of the Higher Conservatory of Music and those of many conservatories throughout the world lack. As a matter of fact, due to rehearsing and performing works by prominent classical musicians for too many hours, students make a fetish of them and consider composing as an unforgivable mistake and as disrespect for the great composers while they lack the ability to criticize and understand new realities of composing.
At the National Conservatory of Music and at the instruction of the Principal, Hossein Dehlavi, the students were encouraged and required to take courage and compose to the best of their capabilities. No carelessness in composing was accepted and works must have been defensible.
Ali Rahbari studied violin in the National Conservatory of Music but was attracted to conducting and composing very soon. As a result of this, he composed works, such as “Persian Blood on Sol”, a concerto (concertino) for violin “Noheh Khan”, Half Moon, Persian Ballet to name but a few, which are among the most valuable Iranian symphonic compositions.
During his many years of conducting various symphony orchestras all over the world, Ali Rahbari seldom stand the chance of conducting works by Iranian composers including him. The following, however, is the list of Iranian symphonic creations recorded under Ali Rahbari’s baton:
Persian Symphonic Manzoumeh (Symphonic Poems from Persia): the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra was commissioned by the pre-Revolution Iranian government to record this album. The album includes compositions by Hossein Dehlavi (1927), Ahmad Pejman (1937), Houshang Ostovar (1927), Mohammad Taghi Masoudieh (1927-1998), Aminoullah (André) Hossein (1905-1983) and Ali Rahbari.
* Manzoumeh: a long narrative poem
Bizhan and Manizheh for String Orchestra by Hossein Dehlavi: the album was recorded in Austria prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and was produced in Iran along with another work, composed and conducted, by Dehlavi entitled “Shour Afarin.”
Mani and Mana Opera by Hossein Dehlavi: Ali Rahbari sponsored the recording of the musical parts by Slovak Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava; however, the vocal parts are still outstanding (due to the ban on solo performances by women vocalists in Iran); hence, the album still awaiting its release.
Iraneh Khanom by Peyman Soltani (1971): the album was recorded by Slovak Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava. It is currently being mixed.
Persian Mysticism around G by Ali Rahbari: the album, which was recorded prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was recently issued in CD format (being originally produced in gramophone format). The CD version includes some new pieces.
Mirage by Ahmad Pejman: this piece which was part of “Taksavare Eshq” album is no longer available.

This entry was written by HarmonyTalk
Tagged: , , , , .

Post a Comment

Required fields are marked *
*
*
Your email is never shared.

Farhad Poupel: The Voice of the Shahnameh in the Orchestras Around the World

In an era when almost no trace of contemporary Iranian music can be heard in international concert halls, except (so-called!) avant-garde works that owe their existence solely to the fashionable slogans of the “pseudo-intellectual” crowd who have seized the already meager resources for performing classical music from the true artists of the field, the numerous performances of Farhad Poupel’s works shine as a ray of hope for lovers of sincere musical art. Without resorting to trendy slogans, he has kept the flame of Iranian classical music alive purely through the power of his artistry.

Five Major Myths About Mozart’s Life

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the renowned Austrian composer, is undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses in the history of classical music. However, his life is surrounded by numerous myths and legends, some of which are not based on facts. This article explores five of the most common misconceptions about Mozart’s life.

Latest posts

From Past Days…

Ali Rahbari & Recording Iranian Symphonic Compositions

In the few days prior to the New Iranian year (March 2015), the news of the revival of Tehran Symphony Orchestra under Ali (Alexander) Rahbari’s conductorship was announced. Ali Rahbari, who served as assistant to Herbert von Karajan in Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at a very young age, was also invited to conduct Tehran Symphony Orchestra in 2005; however, the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government put an end to his collaboration with this Orchestra. Recently, it was announced that Rahbari is invited to conduct an orchestra in the U.S.

Five Major Myths About Mozart’s Life

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the renowned Austrian composer, is undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses in the history of classical music. However, his life is surrounded by numerous myths and legends, some of which are not based on facts. This article explores five of the most common misconceptions about Mozart’s life.

Illusion or Ingenuity?

Mohsen Renani in the preface of his book entitled “The Political Economy of nuclear conflict; an introduction to traversing the civilizations” writes:

Is the Iranian National Anthem a Copy? (II)

In response, it should be said that it is better for the national anthem of a country to use the musical material exclusive to that country; however, some problems might come up in doing so the most important of which include: lack of familiarity of other countries’ music performer with the concerned country’s specific music intervals and special musical technique; and secondly, the strangeness of that music to the foreign listener.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (V)

ehrouz Mohammadi, “Daf and its feasts in Ghaderieh’s Tekyeh” mentions that the outer thickness of arch where studs are located, [is] between one to one and a half centimeters (Mohammadi, 2001: 12). The thickness of arch should be gradually reduced from the installation place of rings to skin (Avazeh of Daf) to create a high volume, clear sound from Daf; also, the connection of arch to skin should not be less than one millimeter, because in this case the skin will be torn due to the sharpness of the wood (Mogharab Samadi, 2009: 79-78). The thickness of wood on the skin side is about two to three millimeters (Tohidi, 2002: 79).

Last Year under the Light of Music

Almost three months into the new Iranian year (starting March 21), it is still not too late to have a look at the last year and the challenges that the musicians faced. The following article was published on the first day of the New Year in the Persian edition of the HarmonyTalk journal.

A note on “Illusion or Ingenuity” article

The author of the “Illusion or Ingenuity” article, who is apprehensive of the future of the Music in Iran, enumerates some symptoms of the music weakening in the country for example decreasing in the quality of the music as well as lack of the innovation in creating them, a gradual decline in the music public taste and the drop in the application of layered sound and polyphony in music. He explains that one reason for this gradual weakening might be our unawareness of the fact that we are not so intelligent nation. He believes that we, Iranians, have a comprehensive “Illusion of the high national intelligence “that make us ignorant of the unfavorable realities of our music and consequently no searching for the remedy is taking place. His point of view brings to the mind a patient who thinks he is healthy, therefore delays the treatment and finally is killed by the disease. The author also refers to the national difficulties which gradually will lower the national intelligence score such as the increased rate of the immigration and brain drain, low quality of the nutrition, incompetence of the education system and etc and predicts that the condition of the music of Iran might deteriorate in the future because of the mentioned illusion of its great status.

Women Musicians in Large Iranian Orchestras

It is more than a century now that the sociologists consider the presence of women in different social domains as a benchmark for a society’s progress. They analyze the presence of women in society by the means of available statistics. Unfortunately, as with regard to the Iranian society, statistics related to women’s engagement, has not been available to the researchers, if they existed at all.

Iranian Fallacies – Composition and Arrangement

In the tradition of classical music, it is generally tried to use the same technical terms related to music in all countries. Even in the cultures in which native terms exist to refer to musical terms, usually the better known universal terms are employed.

Farshad Sanjari, Forgotten Iranian Conductor Met His Tragic End

Farshad Sanjari, one of the most renowned Iranian conductors in the 1970s in Iran died after fire broke in his apartment in Vienna on November 22, 2019. Farshad Sanjari was not involved in politics; however, he was one of the victims of the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, his name was never seen as the conductor of any programmes.