Rare documents of Tehran Opera Company published in Europe

The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of Evlin Baghcheban’s death. She played a crucial role to promote opera and choral music in Persia (Iran). Born to an Assyrian-French family in Turkey, she studied singing and piano at the Ankara State Conservatory. In 1950 Evlin married the Persian composer and fellow student Samin Baghcheban and moved to Tehran.

In Persia, Evlin started to teach singing at the Tehran Conservatory of Music and later became one of the stars of Tehran Opera Company. BBC’s Pejman Akbarzadeh has explored Evlin Baghcheban’s work in a special programme.

The late 1960s saw the zenith of Evlin Baghcheban’s career. After forming the Tehran Opera Company at Rudaki Hall, she had lead roles in many operas, including “Il Trovatore”, “Cavalleria rusticana” and “Carmen”, directed by legendary Lotfi Mansouri in 1971. Many documents and recordings held at the venue were damaged during the 1979 Islamic Revolution but, on the 10th anniversary of Evlin’s death, her son, Kaveh, has published some of the recordings and documents from the family private archive. The bilingual book is now available on Amazon.

“It was quite sad that after a long period of activity at the Tehran Opera, no album of my mother’s performances was available to the public,” Kaveh Baghcheban told BBC Persian TV’s 60 Minutes programme. “These are not professional recordings. These are recorded with simple microphones, but thank God! Because they tell us that, once upon a time, there was an opera company in Iran,” said Kaveh.

Funded by Toos Foundation (UK) and published by Persian Dutch Network (NL), the collection includes an audio CD and more than 50 rare documents and photos. Focused on Evlin Baghcheban’s career, but shedding light on the history of music in 20th-century Persia as well. Most of the materials were previously not accessible for the public.

According to Kaveh Baghcheban, as many recordings and documents were destroyed in 1979, researching the history of opera and choral music in Persia has become quite difficult. “We kept all of these materials hoping only to publish them one day. If other surviving artists also publish the documents and audio materials they have, the gap might be filled a bit,” said Kaveh.

Evlin Baghcheban (also transcribed as Evelyn Baghtcheban) was a singing teacher at the Tehran Conservatory of Music for years. Among her most famous pupils, Hossein Sarshar deserves a mention. Baghcheban was also quite active in choral conducting. She founded the Tehran Choral Group in 1967, which was assigned to perform the choral music for the coronation ceremony.

In 1973 Evlin Baghcheban founded a conservatory for orphaned children; a choral group was also formed under her baton in this conservatory. The choir became quite successful and, just months before the Islamic Revolution, was dispatched to Austria to record two albums: Rangin-Kamun (Rainbow), written for children by Samin Baghcheban, as well as an album of Persian folk songs.

 

Post a Comment

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

Transition to Enlightenment: Six Lectures on Mozart’s String Quartets (4)

Mozart’s compositions bear the imprint of Enlightenment ideals in various ways. His music exhibits a balance between reason and emotion, mirroring the Enlightenment’s call for a harmonious integration of these elements in human life. The clarity of Mozart’s formal structures in his symphonies and operas reflects Enlightenment principles of order and rational organization.

Fereydoun Shahbazian, An Iranian Musical Icon Passed Away

Fereydoun Shahbazian, the renowned Iranian composer, passed away at the age of 82 due to respiratory illness in Tehran. His last significant activity was leading the National Orchestra before the appointment of Homayoun Rahimian

From Past Days…

New Technique for Playing Classical Guitar (I)

Joint application of the two techniques of “Lip” and “Nose” could be effectively applied for hearing and playing far-away intervals, by the Classical Guitar. Before this, a Classical Guitar player had to waive playing intervals not possible with the left hand, and had to replace or eliminate some notes, making it possible to play such intervals; specifically the capability of the left hand of the musician, was also a factor in such a selection. These methods are hereby illustrated by photographs and a video-file, in order to provide optimum comprehension of applying these methods, invented by the author; specifically the “Lip” technique, which is considered to be a more significant technique, emphasized by the author.

Motherland Orchestra Broke the Spell of the Covid-19 Restrictions

The Motherland Orchestra staged the first concert since the outbreak of the pandemic under the baton of Nezhat Amiri. The orchestra went on stage on December 23-24, 2021 in memory of Rouhollah Khaleghi and Golnoush Khaleghi at Vahdat Hall, Tehran, Iran. Since the pandemic outbreak, concerts were held online and restrictions were imposed on in-person concerts.

“Guitar Memories” Released

The album “Guitar Memories” consists of the performance of baroque to recent era masterpieces, by Mehrdad Mahdavi, and is published by Tanin-e Honar Publication.

In this album there are pieces composed and arranged by artists such as: Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Johann Anton Logy, Fernando Sor, Yuquijiro Yocoh, Leo Brouwer.

The Role of Arts in Development of Societies

Mr. Mohsen Ghanebasiri, author and critic in the field of economy, culture and arts, as the next speaker, highlighted the role of arts, specially the music, in development of societies: “As far as the individual upbringing is concerned, a newborn baby is absolutely dependent. The relation between the baby and the parents is based on orders. There is lots of relativity in these orders; therefore, they are political orders. In the economy, however, the relations are mutual and based on common logic; hence, the formation of the concepts of democracy and individuality.

Parviz Meshkatian’s Heart Beat for People (II)

As such, the young Meshkatian reached the position of a great maestro in the Iranian music. Up until 1997, Meshkatian remained prolific and composed many pieces which were characterized by progressiveness while drawing on the music of the past Iranian musicians. In some of Meshkatian’s works, one can trace the influence of maestros such as Faramarz Payvar; however, this influence is so balanced that one can neither say that Meshkatian is a progressive and deconstructionist composer nor does he use cliché forms in his compositions.

Whose dream?! Whose reality?!

(A review of the “So Faraway” album; Tar and Tonbak duet; Siavash Imani, Pedram Khavarzmini)

Principles of Violin Playing (III)

Violin players should always pay attention to the proper position of the left thumb and other points related to it and to its joining point to the palm.

From the Last Instrumentalist to the First Composer (II)

Rouhollah Khaleghi was the master of composing beautiful melodies. He was the premier of the course of history which was first established by Ali Naghi Vaziri and which improved the Iranian music from simply a gathering music to the classical music of the country. First efforts to compose independent and instrumental music can be also traced in Khaleghi’s works.

A combination of technique and musicality in the fingers of a pianist

In the world of classical music, the position of soloist has always been exceptional. Apart from the technical ability that many orchestral musicians also have, the soloist must also have a special power to be able to present a different and unique perspective of a piece. The soloist must maintain its special power of expression not only in solo roles but also when interacting with the orchestra.

Music education in third-world countries

Music education in third-world countries is facing many problems that limit access to it and it’s full of challenges. These rising and falling obstacles are made of the socioeconomic, cultural educational systems, etc.