Iranian music
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"This Pale" – Rumi set to music
A celebration of the complexity of love
Four musicians – two Iranian, two Indian – have created an album of music inspired by the poetry of Rumi. Like the poet's works, the album advocates tolerance, inclusivity and love in divisive times. By Richard Marcus
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Kioomars Musayyebi's "A voice keeps calling me"
The nights speak to me
With his new album, "A Voice Keeps Calling Me", the Persian santur player Kioomars Musayyebi is building bridges from Iran across the Arab world to European early music. By Stefan Franzen
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Life in the Islamic Republic, then and now
The softening of Sharia in Iran – four harams turn halal
On the face of it, the Iran of 2021 still bears considerable resemblance to the Islamic theocracy that was established following the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. Yet, although the enforcement of Sharia law continues to this day, the definition of what is permitted and what is forbidden has shifted over the years. By Mehdi Abadi
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Album review: Misagh Joolaee's "Unknown Nearness"
Silent yearnings
Produced during the coronavirus pandemic, Misagh Joolaee's latest album returns to the most concentrated expression of the kamancheh – solo performance. Plumbing spiritual depths whilst exploring new virtuoso techniques, "Unknown Nearness" traces an arc between Persian tradition and enigmatic echoes of Western music. By Stefan Franzen
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Crossing cultural and political boundaries
Singer Liraz Charhi's secret collaboration with Iranians
In an act of subversive diplomacy, Israeli singer and actress Liraz Charhi has recorded her latest album in secret collaboration with Iranian artists. By Carl Holm
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Music in the Middle East
Attuned to a different classical
Many in the West equate Middle Eastern music with the folklore of "A Thousand and One Nights". Tayfun Guttstadt demonstrates just how erroneous this is
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Obituary: Iranian singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian
The voice of the poets
Mohammad Reza Shajarian, the great singer of Persian music, has died at the age of 80. With his passing, the world has lost an outstanding talent and consummate artist. By Stefan Buchen
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Album review: Misagh Joolaee's "Ferne"
Expanding the horizons of the kamancheh
German-Iranian Misagh Joolaee was recently recognised for widening the scope of playing the Persian spiked fiddle with the German Record Critics’ Award. Mariam Brehmer listened to his new album
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16th Morgenland Festival Osnabruck
A virtual journey of sound across the Balkans
As a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, the Osnabruck Morgenland Festival took place via YouTube for the first time – transporting us to new cultural regions through music. Marian Brehmer attended several of the virtual concerts
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Portrait of Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor
Cultural emissary and grand master of the kamancheh
These days you might be forgiven for wondering whether international relations would be better served by artists than politicians. Iranian Kayhan Kalhor, a bridge builder from the world of music, holds both the 2019 WOMEX Artist Award and the 2018 Isaak Stern Human Spirit Award. By Bernd G. Schmitz
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Art and censorship
Iran and Egypt – where making music means torture and exile
Musical freedom of expression is under fire, but artists like Iran's Farzane Zamen and Egypt's Ramy Essam refuse to be silenced. Cristina Burak has the details
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Interview with Iranian percussionist Habib Meftah
Analogue "electrofolk" from southern Iran
Percussionist Habib Meftah has made an international name for himself with clubbable, acoustically altered folk music. But he also works with dancers and musicians from other genres. His versatility is based on the traditional musical culture of his southern Iranian origins. Interview by Bernd G. Schmitz