Hosseini Alizadeh's New Concert; Alireza Ghorbani, Bahre Tavileh, and Other Matters

Hosseini Alizadeh's new tour with the group Zarbang and Hamavayan, featuring singer Alireza Ghorbani, took place in Copenhagen, Vienna, Cologne, and London, and will reach other European cities such as Berlin this week, with performances scheduled in Iran in Esfand. Fans of Hosseini Alizadeh may initially be surprised that the singer accompanying him on this European tour is Alireza Ghorbani, as Ghorbani is more known for his collaborations with the National Orchestra and singing with Western instruments rather than Iranian ones. However, Alizadeh, who claims to have been playing for fifty years, has always sought innovation, and this choice and his first collaboration with Ghorbani should be seen as part of that quest for novelty. In this performance, Alizadeh played the tar, while other musicians accompanied him with setar, ney, tombak, daf, santur, and kamancheh. The program began with a trio performance of tombak, slightly longer than usual, resulting in an engaging exchange between the three skilled musicians. After the entire group joined them on stage, Alizadeh's solo performance with the opening line 'Come, cupbearer, the one who created the soul' prepared the audience for the song 'Has the beloved come?' which, with the group's harmonization and carefully arranged music, created an appropriate excitement at the beginning of the program. However, songs like 'My heart burned in the fire of love' with frequently used lyrics did not align well with Alizadeh's choice of poetry (which is astonishing in 'Raz-e No'). Overall, the first part of the concert is not very diverse and at times tires the audience. Perhaps expecting a masterpiece from every work of Alizadeh is an unreasonable expectation (although the number of his masterpieces over the years is certainly not small), but the audience's expectation from someone who knows music and rhythm well is not met in the first part, with only sections like the repetition of 'Drink, drink' by all group members showcasing Alizadeh's characteristics and abilities—or perhaps better said: 'Alizadeh's signature.' The second part begins with Alizadeh's solo tar performance and Ghorbani's singing; here, in the absence of other instruments, the capabilities and, at the same time, the challenges of collaboration between these two become more apparent. It seems that Ghorbani's voice is not always a suitable choice for all types of music, especially traditional Iranian singing, particularly since his singing style—especially in his ornamentations—consciously or unconsciously resembles that of Mohammad-Reza Shajarian to such an extent that even Ghorbani's facial expressions during ornamentation remind one of Shajarian. In this regard, the choice of 'Delshodegan' to conclude this concert (a piece that Shajarian performed at his peak) may not seem very appropriate, as it inevitably draws a comparison between the two singers. However, the song before that recalls Alizadeh's unique innovations and boldness in finding new paths for Iranian music and effectively utilizes both the quality of Ghorbani's voice and his performance: a poem by Siros Jamali written in Bahre Tavileh form, which has more serious themes than the usual subjects used in Bahre Tavileh. In this song, the use of silence (an Alizadeh element) and rhythm changes creates an attractive atmosphere that peaks with excellent exchanges among the musicians. The coordination of form and content in this piece is also remarkable, as with the line 'My day has become chaotic with your hair,' the listener feels the chaos in the sound of the instruments, creating a song that is undoubtedly the best part of this concert.