Abdi: Hafez Credo Chamber Choir & Bogdan Plish, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine & Vladimir Sirenko

• Behzad Abdi (b. 1973): Hafez, Act I:
• 1 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 1: Sultan Mobarezedin's Attack 03:05
• 2 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 2: Disaster and Killing Sultan Abu Eshaq 03:59
• 3 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 2: Elegy 06:44
• 4 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 3: Pub and Obeid Zakani 06:15
• 5 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 4: Saqinameh 04:42
• 6 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 5: Prison of Sultan Mobarezedin 10:40
• 7 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 6: Hafez's Aria I 03:46
• 8 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 6: Obeid and Sultan Mobarezedin 05:10
• 9 Abdi: Hafez, Act I Scene 7: Hafez's Aria II and Arrest Hafez 08:50
• Hafez, Act II:
• 10 Abdi: Hafez, Act II Scene 1: Revolt 13:37
• 11 Abdi: Hafez, Act II Scene 2: Victory 05:36
• 12 Abdi: Hafez, Act II Scene 3: Departure of Hafez 08:46
• 13 Abdi: Hafez, Act II Scene 3: Dialogue 12:58
• 14 Abdi: Hafez, Act II Scene 4: Shakh-e Nabat 04:01
• 15 Abdi: Hafez, Act II Scene 5: Death 05:05
• 16 Abdi: Hafez, Act II Scene 6: Final 02:10
• Total Runtime 01:45:24

Info for Abdi: Hafez

The music of Iranian composer Behzad Abdi fuses dastgāh (the Iranian modal system) with Western classical forms. He wrote Iran’s first national opera, Rumi (Naxos 8.660424-25), and Hafez also exemplifies his approach to the medium. The opera’s subject is the great Persian poet and mystic Hafez, whose sonnets and poetry are still widely read across the Persian-speaking world today. Behrouz Gharibpour’s libretto traces the poet’s tribulations, memories of keeping his poems from being destroyed by a despotic government, and subsequent exile. Abdi’s polytonal technique serves to reflect the unique concepts of Hafez’s 14th-century poetry with passion, lyricism and power.

Composing a traditional Iranian opera using the Iranian modal system, dastgāh, has always been my dream. I first approached this by composing an opera called Ashura followed by the operas Rumi and Hafez. I believe that in order to attract an international audience for Iranian opera, it is essential to fuse dastgāh with Western classical forms.

Hafez, as one of the greatest composers of lyric poetry, is revered the world over. Many people deify his poetry to such an extent that they seek the divine in it, and ask him for help in their affairs and work. In Iran, however, there are few people who understand Goethe as he deserves to be known. Many people imagine that he is only a poet, and may ask themselves why he is so venerated. A growing recognition of Goethe and his personality highlights the importance of Hafez’s influence on this author. Therefore, we shall briefly consider Hafez’s life and its important moments, especially in relation to the Orient.

Mohammad Motamedi, tenor
Hossein Alishapour, tenor
Babak Sabouri, bariton
Haleh Seyfizadeh, mezzo-soprano
Mohammad Zakerhossein, tenor
Ali Zandevakili, tenor
Credo Chamber Choir
Bogdan Plish, direction choir
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Vladimir Sirenko, conductor

Behzad Abdi
is an Iranian composer. He studied the setar and Iranian traditional music with Masoud Shoari and Mohsen Nafar and Western classical music with Liudmila Yurina and Vadim Juravitsky at the Tchaikovsky Academy in Ukraine.

Abdi is the first composer to write Iranian traditional opera fusing Iranian traditional and Western classical music. He is also a composer of film soundtracks and has won two awards at the Fajr International Iranian Film Festival, among others.

Booklet for Abdi: Hafez