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.

The Motherland Orchestra performed a full-capacity concert which was warmly welcomed by the audience. Observing the Covid-19 protocols and with the collaboration of four soloists, the orchestra performed pieces by Rouhollah Khaleghi, Morteza Mahjoubi, Golnoush Khaleghi, Tofiq Alief, Mehrdad Delnavazi and Behzad Abdi.

The concert project manager was Sadjad Pourghannad, while Ebrahim Ghaedi was the Motherland Orchestra manager and Boroumand Haghighi was the producer and financial manager. The concert singer was Zadbeh (Ghaffar Zabeh) and soloists were Seda Sodeifi: Qanoon, Maryam Khodabakhsh: Oud, Ali Najafi Maleki: Ney and Shima Shahmohammadi: Qeychak. Nezhat Amiri who conducted the orchestra is the first Iranian woman to conduct a state-owned orchestra since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

The last concert of the Motherland Orchestra dates back to two years ago when an orchestra consisting of women went on stage in the Vahdat Hall garden under the baton of Nezhat Amiri in memory of nurses taking care of Covi-19 patients. The concert which was filmed and available to audience offline featured a piece by the late Iranian Tar player and Iranian classical music composer Aminollah Hossein.
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Golnoush Khaleghi, the daughter of Rouhollah Khaleghi, was one of the most successful Iranian musicians and a pioneer of conducting orchestras as a woman. She learned to play piano under his father and Maestros such as Hossein Saba, Javad Maroufi and Emanuel Malik-Aslanian. She also receive harmony lessons from Mostafa Kamal Pourtorab. According to the website of the Rouhollah Khaleghi Artistic Center, Golnoush Khaleghi “Golnoush spent three-and-half years at the Akademie Mozarteum in Salzburg, specializing in conducting under the tutelage of Professor Kurt Prestel and Professor Gerhard Wimberger. She has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the same field from Oberlin College and the University of Wisconsin, respectively.

“Ms. Khaleghi has worked closely with such renowned conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Robert Fountain, Karol Teutsch, and the late Rouben Gregorian, and has performed in the United States, Europe, Canada, Venezuela, and Iran. She is the founder of the National Iranian Radio and Television Choir (Hamavazan) in Tehran and the Rouhollah Khaleghi Orchestra in Washington DC. Since the cultural upheaval of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, she has been a prominent figure in promoting Persian music and culture through the concerts of the Rouhollah Khaleghi Orchestra and other activities abroad”. (rkac)

In 1985, she established the Rouhollah Khaleghi Orchestra in Washington DC featuring 25 musicians intending to follow her father’s path; she managed to stage several pieces for a national Iranian orchestra; however, the orchestra did not last long.

In 1990, she returned to Iran to rework and stage his father’s pieces, she was not allowed to do it though and only managed to publish “Mey-e Nab” album. She passed away February 2021 in the US with the unfulfilled wish to conduct an orchestra in her home country.

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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.

From Past Days…

Maestro Hassan Nahid’s Role in Promoting the Ney

Maestro Hassan Nahid is one of the most prominent and distinctive artists who values high morals, discipline and hard work. His music activities include playing the Ney as both soloist and an accompaniment in the most important Iranian music orchestras and ensembles during the last fifty years, including the Orchestra of Iranian Instruments (Nusratullah Golpayegani), the Orchestra of National Instrumentalists of the Ministry of Culture and Arts (Payvar Orchestra), the Orchestra of Iranian Instruments (Morteza Hananeh) , Darvish Orchestra, Samaie Orchestra, Roudaki Orchestra, Maestros’ Ensemble, Aref Ensemble, as well as performances in various radio programs, many concerts in different countries, as well as a long teaching experience in the National Conservatory of Music, music universities and other music institutions to name but a few.

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).

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.

Polyphony in Iranian Music (III)

In heterophonic variant, two performers perform a single melody simultaneously and change it. Performing and changing a single melody simultaneously by two performers leads to the coincidence of different voices.

Lilly Afshar, Iranian Guitar Legend, passed away

The text you are reading is about Hamed Fathi, a guitarist and one of Lilly Afshar’s students, which was previously published on the Persian website HarmonyTalk.com:

Tehran Flute Choir Established

Tehran Flute Choir was established in 1394 (late 2015) by Firouzeh Navai. Tehran Flute Choir, Iran’s first largest flute choir, recruited its members mostly from young talented flutists of Iranian Flute Association. Featuring piccolo, flute, alto flute and bass flute, Tehran Flute Choir, directed by Firouzeh Navai, premiered under the batons of Saeed Taghadosi on January 7-8, 2016 at Roudaki Hall in Tehran.

Hossein Dehlavi: the Composer

With Dehlavi it is not all about fame but recognition. Hossein Dehlavi is not a popular musician (like pop singers) whom everybody might know when he is walking on streets of Tehran; however, he is recognized by both amateur and distinguished musicians of the country.

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.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (I)

Today, percussion instruments have such a high place in music that are an essential element of orchestras. This has attracted many people to this type of instrument with roots as old as the first humans. A historical study of music, shows that humans used the sound of these instruments to defend themselves against wild animals and, over time, for alerting each other, signaling their readiness and encouraging people for war, ritual ceremonies, dances, etc. in a manner that is still clearly visible in music and some ritual ceremonies.

Layla Ramezan, Iranian Pianist

Iranian pianist Layla Ramezan has always sought to create a connection between her Persian origin and the contemporary music which she encounters daily. Sound, phrasing, a particular sense of rhythm and a refined understanding of the “time of musical development” are the foremost qualities of her interpretations. Her musical and pianistic education began in Tehran at the age of 8 with Mostafa-Kamal Poortorab. Having moved to Paris and received a scholarship from Albert Roussel Foundation, she integrated the classes of Jean Micault and Devi Erlih at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot, where she received a Diplôme de Virtuosité in piano performance and chamber music.