Search - Matlubeh :: Yar Kelour

Matlubeh, whose name means "she who is desired," is one of Uzbekistan's most treasured classical folk artists. She began singing under her mother's tutelage and honed her skills by listening to famous vocalists on the radio and participating in weddings, circumcisions, and harvest celebrations. As she is the mother of five children, her career blossomed alongside her family duties. After several years as a soloist in Radio Uzbekistan's Shashmaqam Ensemble, her plangent voice and command of the demanding Uzbek and Tajik (Persian-derived) repertoires led to performances in Sweden and Spain and at several festivals in France. On "Yar Kelour" she is accompanied only by a robabe (a banjolike instrument) or an oud (Arabic lute), which allows her vocals to soar, barely tethered to the earth from which they came. --Christina Roden