Leader writes commendation for memoirs of captivity

June 18, 2014, 8:08 am

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TEHRAN -- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has written a commendation for “I’m Alive”, which is the memoirs of Masumeh Abad during her long captivity in Iraq during the 1980s.

 

The commendation, which was written September 27, 2013, was unveiled Tuesday evening during a ceremony at Tehran’s Andisheh Cultural Center.

 

“I read the book with the mixed emotions of sadness and pride, and sometimes from behind a veil of tears, and highly praised that patience and endurance which visualized beauty, ugliness, pain and joy in an artistic way,” the Leader wrote.

 

He said that “I’m Alive” is an important book which should be translated into other languages.

 

The book was published in 2013 by Boruj Publications.

 

The Leader also wrote a commendation in October 2013 for “The Division of the Good”, which contains Iranian veteran Mehdi Qoli-Rezaii’s memoirs on the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. The book was published in 2005 by Sureh-Mehr.

 

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Iranian vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian to receive France’s highest honor

June 18, 2014, 8:10 am

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TEHRAN -- The living legend of Iranian traditional music Mohammadreza Shajarian will receive the medal of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in Paris next week.

 

Speaking at a ceremony the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) held on Tuesday evening to commemorate tar virtuoso Jalil Shahnaz (1921-2013), IAF Director Majid Sarsangi announced the news.

 

Shahram Nazeri, another Iranian vocalist, received the honor on September 29, 2008 for the scholarly interest he has taken in the musical interpretation and vocalization of the transcendent lyrics of Rumi.

 

Shajarian, who began his education with Shahnaz, attended the commemoration ceremony and delivered a speech.

 

“I am glad to come together here again and to talk with the language of heart,” Shajarian said.

 

“I have been living with the voice of Shahnaz’s tar for years. When he performs it is as if he tells a story. All the motifs and words of his music are of the same nature and narrate a single subject,” he added.

 

“Few musicians I have seen are able to perform as illustratively as Shahnaz did. Shahnaz was the god of this job. With his instrument, he pictured everything,” he stated.

 

Shahnaz died at the age of 92 on June 17, 2013. Shajaran said during his funeral, “The master created love and passion inside me. I owe all my achievements to the voice of his tar. He is the only person who deserves the title of master [of tar playing]. Like Hafez, he is unrepeatable. With all respect to tar players, the book of Iranian tar playing should be closed after the death of Shahnaz.”  

 

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What’s in art galleries

June 20, 2014, 8:45 am

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Photo

 

* Mohsen Gallery is playing host to a joint exhibition of photography by Jubin Mir-Eskandar and Namdar Shirazian.

 

The exhibit, which opened on Friday, will be running until June 25 at the gallery located at 19 Amir Nuri Alley, North Salimi St. near Andarzgu Blvd.

 

* An exhibition of photos by Haman Fuladvand entitled “A Woman beside a Window” opened at the Haft-Samar Gallery.

The exhibit will be running until June 25 at the gallery located at No. 8, Fifth Alley, Kuh-e Nur St., off Motahhari Ave.

 

 

Painting 

 

* An exhibition of paintings by Rumisa Sakkaki opened at the Shirin Gallery on Friday.

 

Entitled “Grass Land”, the exhibit will be running until June 25 at the gallery located at No. 9, 18th St. in the Velenjak neighborhood.

 

* An exhibition of paintings by Kajal Niazmand opened at the Hana Gallery on Friday.

 

The exhibit will be running until June 27 at the gallery located at No.19, Kolahduz St., Kaveh Blvd.

 

* Sabalan Gallery is playing host to an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Jafar Najibi.

 

The works will be on show for one week at the gallery located on No. 101/1, Eastern 26 St., off Allameh Jonubi Ave., in the Saadatabad neighborhood.

 

* Hoom Gallery is hosting a group exhibition of paintings focusing on the myths of creation.

 

Works by 22 young artists will be on display until July 1 at the gallery located at No.2, 4th Alley, Qaem Maqam St.

 

* A collection of paintings by Fatemeh Zanjanian opened at the Mehrva Gallery on Friday.

The exhibit will be running until June 30 in the gallery which can be found at 38 Azodi St., off Karimkhan Ave.

 

* Golestan Gallery is playing host to an exhibition of paintings by Jubin Amiri.

 

The exhibit will be running until June 25 at the gallery, which can be found at 42 Kamasaii St. in the Darrus neighborhood.

 

* Tehran’s Seen Gallery is holding a group exhibition of paintings, which opened on Friday.

 

Works by Nazi Beigi, Leila Babakan, Pegah Lari, Sasha Zand and several others will be on display until July 22 at the gallery located at No. 16, 12th St., off South Piruzan, off Hormozan St. in the Shahrak-e Gharb Neighborhood. 

 

 

Video art 

 

* An exhibition of video art by Tara Najd-Ahmadi is underway at the Tarrahan-e Azad Gallery.

 

The exhibit, which opened on Friday, will be running until June 25 at the gallery, which can be found at 41 Salmas Square, off Fatemi St.

 

RM/YAW

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Bahman Farmanara gets green light for staging “Man for All Seasons”

June 20, 2014, 8:58 am

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TEHRAN – The celebrated Iranian director Bahman Farmanara has finally obtained the approval of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to stage “Man for All Seasons”.

 

Iranian cultural officials under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had refused to authorize Farmanara in 2008 to stage the play.

 

The play will likely go on stage in February 2015 in Tehran, the director of the Dramatic Arts Center of the Culture Ministry, Hossein Taheri, said during a meeting with Farmanara on Wednesday morning.

 

Farmanara alongside with the actor Reza Kianian paid a visit to Taheri and discussed the play.

 

The play, written by the British playwright Robert Boly, is being translated again for the performance, Farmanara said during the event.

 

“The play promotes the commitment to morality principles, which is necessary in today’s society,” Farmanara added.

 

On his 63rd birth anniversary on Thursday, Kianian said that his lifelong wish for playing the role of Sir Thomas More will be fulfilled.

 

“I saw the movie ‘A Man for All Seasons’ by Fred Zinnemann when I was a high school student. Later on, I read the play and I have always wished that I could play the role of Sir Thomas More,” he told the Persian service of ISNA.

 

The plot of the play is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Chancellor of England, who refused to endorse King Henry VIII’s wish to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, who did not bear him a son, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, the sister of his former mistress. 

 

The play portrays More as a man of principle, envied by rivals such as Thomas Cromwell and loved by the common people and by his family. 

 

Farmanara’s play “Darkness at Noon”, which was on Stalin’s purge trials of the 1930s, also was not authorized by the Culture Ministry in 2008. 

 

The play is based on a novel under the same title written by Arthur Koestler, which was published in 1940. 

 

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Moscow festival to screen Iranian film on World War II

June 20, 2014, 8:58 am

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TEHRAN – An Iranian A film on the Allied occupation of Iran during World War II “Give Back” (also known as “The Restitution”) will go on screen at the 36th Moscow International Film Festival.

 

The film will go on screen at the Russian Trace section of the festival, which will be held from June 19 to 28.

 

Directed by Ali Ghaffari, “The Restitution” traces the events that led to the Allied occupation of Iran during World War II.

 

The Iranian movies “Unripe Pomegranate” by Majidreza Mostafavi and “Snow” by Mehdi Rahmani will go on screen during the event.

 

The Moscow International Film Festival was held for the first time in 1935, but the chronology of the festival began in 1959 when it became a regular event.

 

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Iranian Artists Forum honors filmmaker Nasser Taqvaii

June 20, 2014, 8:58 am

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TEHRAN – The Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) honored Nasser Taqvaii, a filmmaker famous for his ingenious style, during a ceremony on Thursday.

 

Cineastes Masud Kimiaii, Saeid Pursamimi, Ashkan Khatibi, Seifollah Samadian, graphic designer Ebrahim Haqiqi, writer and translator Najaf Daryabandari, and IAF Director Majid Sarsangi attended the ceremony.

 

Speaking at the event, Kimiaii called Taqvaii an intimate friend, “I have always disagreed with Taqvaii for not making a film, because if he had made films, we would not have been left alone.”

 

“We came from an era that took cinema seriously. Taqvaii made his efforts with literature, short films and documentaries, and whatever he produced turned out to be a masterpiece in its time,” he explained.

 

Sarsangi regarded Taqvaii as a genius of Iranian cinema, “He is an intellectual, a filmmaker who is familiar with literature and writes books and articles.”

 

“Taqvaii is a filmmaker with idealistic values who prefers to deter himself from making films, and has concentrated on more personal activities such as literature and photography,” Sarsangi said.

Pursamimi called Taqavii an individual who mixed filmmaking with different types of arts and created a new style of filmmaking.

 

Taqvaii’s actress wife Marzieh Vafamehr made a brief speech and called Taqvaii a filmmaker with a modern outlook on cinema.

 

“Captain Khorshid” director Taqvii was next called on stage to speak, who said, “Nobody has forced me not to work, however, in the current cultural atmosphere, there is no room to work easily.

 

“I am not making films these days, but I teach cinema and try to concentrate on the current condition of screenwriting in Iran,” he continued.

 

However, the concept of screenplay and story needs to be differentiated, he said, “The problem is that a story needs to be turned into a screenplay and later appears on silver screens.”

 

“Directors like Kimiaii and (Dariush) Mehrjuii know both screenplay and filmmaking, and they can make good productions, but there are not many like them in our cinema,” Taqvaii said.

 

He also stressed that he is busy these days, though he has not made features for a long time, adding that he has produced several documentaries and short films. “We are far behind in making documentaries since we do not possess the equipment we need in order to make interesting docs,” he concluded.

 

“Tranquility in the Presence of Others” and “The Curse” are among Taqvaii’s other credits.

 

The ceremony was brought to an end by handing the plaque of “Cypress of Art” to Taqvaii.

 

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Iran Cinema Organization director visits Polish Television president

June 20, 2014, 8:58 am

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TEHRAN -- Iran Cinema Organization Director Hojjatollah Ayyubi met Polish Television (TVP) President Juliusz Braun last week.

 

The meeting was held at Braun’s office in Warsaw on Tuesday. 

 

Ayyubi traveled to Poland to attend an Iranian film festival, which was held in the Polish capital from June 15 to 20, Iran’s Visual Media Institute, which was the organizer of the festival, announced in a press release on Thursday.

 

Braun gave details about film production, the quality of broadcasting, program making and several other issues in Poland during the meeting.

 

Proposals for cooperation on joint film projects, holding educational programs on filmmaking, and organizing mutual meeting for film experts were also discussed at the meeting.

 

“My two-hour meeting with Mr. Braun was quite amazing,” Ayyubi said on his Facebook page.

 

He said that 40 feature films are produced in Poland every year and the TVP sponsors production of about 10 of the films.

 

According the Ayyubi, the TVP is allowed to broadcast the films two years after production.  

 

“TV broadcasters contribute to cinema almost in all the countries, which have the industry,” he stated and added, “I hope the relation between the Iranian TV and cinema is improved.”

 

“The Private Life of Mr. & Mrs. M” directed by Ruhollah Hejazi, “The Sinners” by Faramarz Gharibian, “In the Name of Father” by Ebrahim Hatamikia, “Snow on a Hot Tin Roof” by Mohammad-Hadi Karimi, and several other films were screened during the festival.

 

The Visual Media Institute and the Embassy of Poland jointly organized a Polish film festival at Tehran’s Niavaran Cultural Center from May 26 to 29. 

 

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Iranian filmmaker holding workshops in Afghanistan

June 21, 2014, 7:38 am

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TEHRAN – Iranian filmmaker Majid Movasseqi has been invited to hold workshops in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

 

The invitation was extended by the Social Association of Afghan Journalists in North of Afghanistan (SAJNA), Movasseqi said in a press release on Thursday.

 

The workshops, which began on Friday, will run until July 10. Members of SAJNA will be trained in journalism skills and movie analysis during the workshop.

 

Movaseqi is scheduled to work on a new project with the SAJNA members in Mazar-i-Sharif as well.

 

Movaseqi, who is a member of the Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association, has studied filmmaking in Moscow and is currently working as a filmmaker and writer.

 

He is also busy working on his documentary “Land Art”.

 

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Iran to hold Quran week in Kazakhstan

June 21, 2014, 7:31 am

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TEHRAN – Iran’s cultural attaché’s office in Kazakhstan will be holding Quran week, which will open in Almaty on the first day of Ramadan on June 29 this year.

 

A collection of Quran translations in different languages, handicrafts with the central theme of the Quran, calligraphy works and various copies of the Quran will go on display in the library of the National Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan and the Central State Museum.

 

A number of Iranian Quran reciters and calligraphers have also been invited to attend the program, Iran’s Islamic Cultural Relations Organization (ICRO) announced in a press release on Saturday.

 

In addition, several Iranian Quran researchers have been invited to deliver speeches during the week.

 

This is the third year Iran’s Cultural Office is holding Quran week in Kazakhstan.

 

Iran’s cultural attaché’s office is also scheduled to hold a similar program in the eastern Kazakh city of Oskemen at the same time.

 

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Tehran theater to host performance satirizing Qajar court

June 21, 2014, 7:31 am

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TEHRAN – A troupe, which will be directed by Rahmat Amini, is scheduled to perform “Jijak Alishah”, a play by Zabih Behruz (1891–1971) which satirizes the Qajar court.

 

The play will be staged at Tehran’s Sangelaj Hall in February 2015, the Persian service of MNA reported on Saturday. 

 

Amini directed a reading performance of “Jijak Alishah” with a large cast at Tehran’s Hafez Hall in June 2013.

 

“The text of the play will be shortened and the play will go on stage this time with a small cast,” Amini said.

 

Hossein Kiani will rewrite the play and Hassan Varasteh will collaborate as assistant director in this project, he added.

 

Amir Karbalaizadeh, Farzin Mohaddes, Tinu Salehi and Abolfazl Hajalikhani are the main members of the cast.

 

“The play follows a style, which has elements from modern Western drama and ru-hozi,” Amini previously stated in a press release. 

 

Ru-hozi is a form of Iranian traditional theatrical performance.

 

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“I’m Not Angry!” wins awards at Shanghai filmfest

June 21, 2014, 7:40 am

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TEHRAN -- The Iranian social drama “I’m Not Angry!” has won prizes at the 17th Shanghai International Film Festival.

 

The film received the Asian New Talent Award for Best Film and Reza Dormishian was presented with the Best Director Award for the movie.

 

He also shared the Vincent Ward Prize, which is sponsored by the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, with the Indian director Indranil Roychowdhury for “Dragon Fly”.

 

“I made this film with a love for Iran and the people of my country,” Dormishian said in his acceptance speech during the closing ceremony of the festival on Friday.

 

“I wish a world full of love and love and love, in which there would not be any war and nobody would be angry with someone else,” he added

 

“I’m Not Angry!” tells the story of Navid, a young man whose university studies are disrupted because of his activities and beliefs. He tries to deal with all the injustices and suffering, and he maintains a very basic living style while trying not to lose his love Setareh.

 

Baran Kowsari, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Reza Behbudi, Misaq Zare and Bahram Afshari are the main members of the cast for the film, which is Dormishian’s second feature.

 

He made his debut film “Hatred” about the life of an Iranian couple after their immigration. This film was screened at many international events.

 

The celebrated Iranian actor/director/writer Peyman Moadi was on the international jury of the Shanghai festival.

  

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L.A. gallery to display Arabic, Iranian typography and calligraphy works

June 21, 2014, 7:39 am

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TEHRAN -- A modern collection of Arabic and Iranian typography and calligraphy works is scheduled to be put on display in an exhibition, which will open June 26 at the Inside/Outside Gallery of the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

 

The U.S.-based Syrian graphic designer Maece Seirafi and the U.S.-based Iranian graphic designer Puya Jahanshahi will jointly curate the exhibit entitled Local/Not Local, the organizers have announced.

 

The exhibit, which will run until August 29, will showcase works by Ebrahim Pustinchi, Milka Broukhim, Kurosh Beigpur, Sam Anvari, Paymon Pojhan and Shilla Shakuri, Reem Hammad, and Yusef Al-Ahmad.

 

The designers come from all over the Middle East but now base themselves in California.

 

“Arabic and Iranian typography is alive and well, relevant even in the United States, as these artists prove when they share their commissioned work or personal projects,” the organizers said.

 

“From bringing ancient calligraphy into the modern world, to linking Western and Eastern design practices, Local Not Local is an exhibit guaranteed to shake up what you think you know about Middle Eastern art,” they added.

 

MMS/YAW

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Iranian and Russian musicians to perform at Moscow festival

June 23, 2014, 8:43 am

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TEHRAN – Neyanbun virtuoso Mohsen Sharifian, who is the leader of the Iranian band Lian, and percussionist Farhad Safari will be giving a performance with Russian pianist Aleksey Sergunin on June 28 at the Universe of Sound, a international music festival that will be held in Moscow.

 

“We will be giving the performance in the Rachmaninov Hall by invitation of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory,” Sharifian told the Persian service of MNA on Monday.  

 

“I will do my best to introduce Iranian regional music to the world and I hope this concert will facilitate the participation of Iranian musicians at other international events,” he added.

 

The Lian band from the southern Iranian city of Bushehr performs a range of percussion instruments and the neyanbun, a kind of bagpipe which is played in southern Iran.

 

The Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory has been holding “The Universe of Sound” since 2003.

 

The festival aims to familiarize the general public of various countries, especially young people, with the sounds, musical traditions and scientific discoveries of different civilizations.

 

RM/YAW

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Richard Frye cremated in Boston

June 23, 2014, 8:42 am

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TEHRAN – The body of American Orientalist Richard N. Frye, who had wished to be buried in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, was cremated in Boston on June 8.

 

The family of Professor Frye finally decided to cremate his body after 73 days of waiting for Iran’s permission to bury the Orientalist in the country, his Iranian colleague Turaj Daryaii told the Persian service of ISNA on Monday.

 

“I still don’t know what his family will do with the ashes,” he added.

 

Frye, a professor emeritus of Iranian studies at Harvard University, died in Boston on March 27 at the age of 94, and in his last will he had expressed his wish to be buried next to the Zayanderud River in Isfahan.

 

However, certain groups of people and a number of Iranian officials had raised objections to plans to bury Frye in Isfahan.

 

Former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had agreed to Frye’s request in September 2007. The American orientalists Arthur Pope and Phyllis Ackerman have already been buried in Isfahan. 

 

In addition, Ahmadinejad had donated a house in Isfahan to Frye in 2007. The house was to be converted into a museum after the death of the professor.

 

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“The Big Clay Jar” to appear in English, Swedish

June 23, 2014, 8:44 am

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TEHRAN – Iranian children’s writer Hushang Moradi Kermani’s “The Big Clay Jar” will be published in English and Swedish in the near future. 

 

The U.S. translator Caroline Croskery is currently working on an English translation of the book and Iranian translator Rezvaneh Keisari is rendering the work into the Swedish language.

 

Candle & Fog Publishing will introduce the book during the 2014 Frankfurt Book Festival, which will be held from October 8 to 14, the director of the publishing company, Afshin Shahntabar, said in a press release on Monday. 

 

The English version of the book will be edited by Michael McIrvin, he added.

 

The book tells the story of a big clay jar, which is set in a small grade school in a desert village. Students at the primary school drink water from the big jar which cracks during a cold winter night. Repairing the jar or replacing it becomes a major concern of the residents of the village.

 

It won the Book of the Year Award from the Austrian Culture Ministry in 1994 and the film version of the book directed by Ebrahim Foruzesh received the Golden Leopard Award of the Locarno Festival for best adaptation in 1994.

 

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Iranian, Turkmen dotar virtuosos teaming up for concert tour

June 23, 2014, 8:44 am

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TEHRAN – The Iranian dotar virtuoso Kamyar Fanian and the Turkmen dotar virtuoso Agh Morad Charief plan to hold a concert tour in Iran during August.

 

They will give performances in Tehran, Isfahan, Bandar Torkman, Gonbad-e Kavus, and Kalaleh from August 6 to 15.

 

Vocalist Mehdi Emami will accompany the dotar virtuosos during their performances.

 

SB/YAW

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Iranian cartoonist wins second prize at Turkish competition

June 23, 2014, 8:46 am

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TEHRAN -- Iranian artist Mojtaba Heidarpanah has won the second prize at the 31st Aydin Dogan Cartoon Competition.

 

Winners were announced during a ceremony in Ankara on June 18, the Hurriyet Daily News reported on Monday.

 

Turkish cartoonist Kursat Zaman won first prize while third prize went to Polish cartoonist Krzysztof Grzondziel.

 

In addition, 12 artists, including Farzaneh Vazifitabar, Sajjad Rafiei and Alireza Pakdel from Iran, received honorable mentions at the competition.

 

An exhibition displaying works by the 15 finalists of the competition opened at the Milta Bodrum Marina Osmanli Tersanesi Kaymakamlik Art Gallery on June 17.

 

Iranian cartoonist Dokhshid Ghodratipour was among the members of the selection committee, which was headed by Liza Donnelly, the celebrated U.S. cartoonist and writer for the New Yorker Magazine and Forbes.

 

A total of 814 cartoonists from 70 countries submitted 2556 works to the competition this year. The selection committee evaluated 300 cartoons by 214 artists from 43 countries, which had already been chosen by the pre-selection committee.

 

Another 12 artists have received Merit Awards from the jury, including Farzaneh Vazifitabar, Sajad Rafee and Alireza Pakdel from Iran.

 

MMS/YAW

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Controversial Iranian film on Shia saints gets nod for screening

June 23, 2014, 8:42 am

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TEHRAN -- The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has authorized the controversial film “Hussein, Who Said No”, which is about Imam Hussein (AS), his family and the tragedy of Ashura, to be screened in the country. 

 

“Hussein, Who Said No” premiered at the 32nd Fajr International Film Festival held in Tehran in February. The depiction of the members of Shia Imams’ households in the film sparked a storm of protest from top clerics in Iran.

 

The faces of Hazrat Abbas (AS), the brother of Imam Hussein (AS); Hazrat Ali-Akbar (AS) and Hazrat Ali-Asghar (AS), the sons of Imam Hussein (AS); and Hazrat Qasim (AS), the son of Imam Hassan (AS) have been depicted graphically in scenes of the film.

 

Afterwards, the Culture Ministry agreed to modify the film for screening in Iran.

 

“The concerns were allayed during a meeting I had with the ulama, and this film obtained a screening license today,” Iran Cinema Organization Director Hojjatollah Ayyubi said during a press conference in Tehran on Monday.

 

Ahmadreza Darvish, who is mostly known for his films on the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, which is known as the Sacred Defense in Iran, spent about nine years making “Hussein, Who Said No”.

 

The depiction of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and his household (AS) in any art production is prohibited by the Islamic law.   

 

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International Holy Quran Exhibition kicks off

June 24, 2014, 8:22 am

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TEHRAN – The 22nd edition of the International Holy Quran Exhibition was inaugurated in the Sacred Defense Garden Museum in Tehran on Tuesday.

 

This is the first time the exhibit has been set up in the garden museum, Persian media reported on Tuesday

 

Previous editions of the exhibit were held at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla.

 

Several sections including children, academics, international and digital media have been arranged during the exhibit.

 

Storytelling, competitions, paintings and computer games are among the programs arranged for the children’s section.

 

Cultural products, books and CDs with the central theme of the Quran will be available in the exhibit.

 

The international section will open on July 3 and will run for ten days.

 

Moreover, an exhibition of visual arts was opened on the sidelines of the Quran exhibit on the first day.

 

A collection of 120 works by 90 artists in different fields of painting, calligraphy and calligraphic-painting have been put on display in the exhibit.

 

Works by masters including Gholamhossein Amirkhani, Keikhosro Khorush, Yadollah Kaboli, Mohammad Ehsaii, Nasrollah Afjeii and Jalil Rasuli are among the works on display.

 

A selection of video arts and installations by masters including Ahmad Nadalian, Shirin Pilevari and Morteza Ahmadvand are also being shown.

 

The exhibit will be running for 20 days in the garden museum located on Haqqani Highway.

 

 

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Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi commemorated in Tehran

June 24, 2014, 8:23 am

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TEHRAN – The Persian literary monthly Bokhara commemorated Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901), the greatest Italian opera composer of the 19th century, during a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday.

 

Italian Cultural Attaché Carlo Cereti, Bokhara Managing Director Ali Dehbashi and a number of Iranian scholars attended the ceremony which took place in the Italian school of Tehran “Pietro Della Valle”, Persian media reported on Tuesday.

 

Speaking at the event, Dehbashi gave a brief introduction about the composer. 

 

Giuseppe Verdi was one of the few composers whose genius was recognized while he was alive. Verdi’s reputation as the greatest of all Italian opera composers is beyond dispute.

 

Verdi dominated the Italian opera scene after the eras of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world.

 

Still performed all around the world, Verdi’s works are among the greatest hits of the past 150 years.

 

“These nights are usually dedicated to the introduction of the literati and great scholars, but music plays a great role in Italian culture,” Cereti said in his brief speech.

 

“Verdi was a genius. He could make words with the notes. He was able to express his political opinions in his compositions,” he added.

 

Several compositions by Verdi were next performed by Iranian musicians including Sina Fat’hololumi, Mohammad Haqiqi, Pegah Einkachi and Sohrab Jalali.

 

RM/YAW

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