Search - Various Artists :: Iran Classical Music

Very Good Music!

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel | 02/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Three of the ten tracks have vocals and the remaining seven are all solos. They feature the setar, santour, kamancheh, tar, and nei. I found the vocals to be annoying at times but please take note that I'm not a fan of vocals in general and am perfectly happy skipping those songs without regretting the purchase of the CD. I liked all the instrumentals very much even though they seemed repetitive at times. The santour solo is especially good and I was disappointed to find that there was only one. That solo was the specific reason I bought the CD. The nei solo is haunting and the three tar solos are all very satisfying. For the most part, this music is subtle and serene but I've found that I can't listen to it without inadvertently thinking about it. I can't use this one as background music. :-)"

Incomplete reissue

Charlie Brown | Mars, CA United States | 08/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have the original two vinyl albums from which these recordings were taken. Together with Ella Zonis' book, they were very helpful in introducing me to traditional Persian music, as well as being hugely entertaining. They received high praise from ethnomusicologists at the time (late 1960s/early 1970s). So why were only a little over half of the tracks reissued? Recordings of this quality and historical importance certainly deserve a 2-CD set, with possible additions from the original source tapes. Other than the beautiful cover painting, this is a disappointing reissue. Original albums would get 5 stars."

For the Archives

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel | Oakland, CA USA | 01/06/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The original two LP anthology of 1966 had the intention of providing a representative survey of the entire dastgah mode system, and at that period, when world music was a tiny section in record shops and of interest mainly to ethnomusicologists and people from a given country, the Folkways records were very fine. But this CD reissue fails the mission by leaving out two, albeit little played, dastgah: Rast-panjgah and Nava. A third missing track is a drum solo. While the solo performances of the musicians (Ahmad Ebadi, setar and tar; Asghar Baharai, kamancheh; Hohamad Heydari, santour; Houshang Zarif, tar; Hassan Kassayi, nei; Ali Tajvidi, violin; Nasser Efetah, drum; Hossein Fakhei and Khatereh Parvanhel, voice) are excellent indeed, the audio quality is not especially good by standards of today. Some tracks are tinny or flat and distant. If you are a serious collector, then, yes, this CD is certainly worthy; otherwise, I suggest that any more recent recording of Iranian music will provide a better introduction."