نقد و نظر
Abdolhossein Azarang
(Author, researcher and translator)
MelalOrchestraconcert was an important and historic event, but before recounting the pros, I would like to mention some minor problems. First, this concert should not to be performed just for two successive days, but for one week at least. Second, the advertising stuff was poor, as I, accidently has been informed about this concert. And so many people in Tehran have been noticed only after the winding up. Third, as this concert was a joint concert with Armenia, the Armenian musicians should have been introduced to Iranian audiences properly. Forth, the concert brochure description was incomplete. Fifth, the first part of the repertoire (Delphi song) was not suitable for being performed in the hall; it seems that this piece was supposed to be performed in the remains of Persepolis.Especially with the roaring of instruments (Marnay, timpani and tambourine) that are not suitable for the hall. It seems that the organizers of the concert were under an impalpable limit. But in the end I have to say that the endeavors of Mr. PeymanSoltaniand his wonderful groupwere amazingly great. I hope the mentioned notes to be consideredin the next performance of the group. At the end I should say that considering the content and quality of the performance, I think this national anthem, has the sufficiency to become Iran's national anthem.
Loris Tjeknavorian
(Composer and conductor)
Melal Orchestra performance was good. Especially the conductor, PeymanSoltani, had suffered many efforts. I realized that the orchestra had about two months of training, and I told them that this time is too short to reach to this level of performance.Althoughitwasacollectiveeffort, but we should not forget that In particular,theburdenof responsibility is on the shoulders ofthe leader ofanorchestra. I should say that the selection and musical arrangement of the pieces were interesting to me. On the whole the band had a good start and I hope they continue their efforts. Composition and orchestration of the pieces, particularly in the famous classics, for me, was very interesting and new.ItwassofreshandpristineperformanceofMozart with drum, and Master Rajabi performed excellently. At the end I should say that it is always important to start well, and Melal Orchestra began its work very well. But what is more important is that they continue to work together to promote the quality of their performances. It seems that audiences liked their performance as well. However, the orchestra is still new and its members know better than anyone that they need to work hard.
Bijan Taraghi
(Poet and Lyricist)
It was a very memorable and lasting work. I also wanted to have a share in this national work. Not onlymebutalltheaudiencesreceived the performance very well, that night. With practice and perseverance that orchestra has had, I hope to become one of the prominent orchestras in Iran. I have about 60 years working on poetry and song, when I heard a part of their performance shortly before the concert,though I was physically in bad condition and acute illness, I was so impressed that I decided to writethelyrics of this hymn. This hymn, to me, had a national and patriotic aspect, so it was not a political one, or something else. And it was written with a hope for the future. "Young Iran" isafittingnameforthispiecebecauseitwastheorchestra itself is newborn and its members are all young as well. It was so beautiful and unique work; it was expectable because all the members of the group were very honest. My only request is that Mr. Soltani and his group does not forget the greatness of the Iranian music. Besides the selection and arrangement of the pieces were a little bit questionable, but I have to say that traversing a new path is difficult. Although people may not recognize it at first, and they may disagree at first, but we should continue our efforts persistently.
Omran Salahi
(Poet, writer and satirist)
Our country was most of the time the country of individualistic works and solo performances. Our music history is full of magnificent solo performances. In a country where it can be difficult to gather four people together, peyman soltani was able to gather 80 people, and with a perfect harmony create a wonderful music event. He showed that nothing is impossible and we should just step forward. He performed his two years of endeavors just in two nights.
Ali Dehbashi
(Journalist, editor, art and cultural publications)
It was an admirable work. What peymansoltani has performed contains Iranian and western aspect of music. I think that this performance showed the vast potentials of the conductor, though we should not forget the cooperation of the members of the orchestra as well. I think last year we have not been working in the field of orchestral performances, but the valuable work of Mr. Soltani was compensation.
Malekdokht Bahar
(President of the Association of Environmental Protection, Colonel AlinaghiVaziri's niece)
I have heard this masterpiece (the "Dawn Bird" ballade since the age of 5;since it was performed by Ms. Qamar, till its last performance by Melal Orchestra. As a child I could not decide which one is better; but I remember Mr. Golchin performance and then Master Shajariyaan and Mr. Aghili's as well. Basically, I do not enjoy the music without singing, but I liked the works of this orchestra (both music with word and instrumental music as well). It was a dignified performance. The ballad of "Young Iranians" (Homeland), was a masterpiece.Conductor, Mr. Soltani, was very fluent and accurate,and the orchestra was very much alive and vibrant.
Akbar Radi
(Author and playwright)
I'm so glad to see Mr. PeymanSoltani, as an old friend of mine, in the position of maestro conductor, and in such a degree of authority and yet, modesty. That was a very impressive piece of work that shed tear in my eyes. There was a magnificent feeling in some pieces and it was wonderful to feel it in the work of such a young conductor. And I saw a number of outstanding musicians who were cooperating him. I wish there was a better publicity and more performing nights. It sounds a very, very Iranian structure with traces of western effects and melodies. These western traces are common and not unexpected for a symphonic orchestra, but they tried to reach the essence and spirit of Iranian music. There was a good combination of vocal and instrumental music in a number of pieces. I hope to see more concerts like this.
Mohsen Hajjariyan
(Sociologist and musician)
In the past twenty years, the music is celebrated in other countries though we cannot see any special attention to music in Iran, as it has to be supported by people and government and other organization, however such backing is not seen our country, unfortunately. So concerts like the one performed by Melal Orchestra is a good sign. As music has a popular base,sowe can raise some sociological perspective in this connection. First, the members of this orchestra; the members of the orchestra, was composed of two groups of women and men. The dress and the color that has been chosen for them is another important point to consider. If the film of this concert has to be shown in Europe or in America or Canada, the audiencemayrealize that in music in Iran is not in a propersocial situation. Their uniform shows some kind of social pressure.This is noteworthy sociologically.
In this concert the relation between the audience and the musicians was great. This suggests that the social masses are very interested in music. PeymanSoltani, the conductor of the orchestra, treat with members of the orchestra modestly, and all this represents an Eastern idea.
Solo playing of master Rajabi, was great. The works presented that night, are worthy of giving them careful thought. Mr. Soltani was super humble and extremely dominant and strong and very hardworking. However the situation of music in Iran is somehow losing its credit. And the presence of such orchestra or concerts could be considered as a window towards future.
Mehrdad Delnavazi
(Musician and composer)
The orchestra began a good work in my opinion, and considering the seriousness of Mr. Soltani the orchestra will be more successful in near future. However I suggest composers to provide this orchestra their new pieces of music, as in this way not only they feed repertoire for this orchestra, but also this could motivate other composers to write new works for this ensemble and in this way their works will be heard by the audiences. I think such orchestras should be supported in every possible way. It was a good performance, but unfortunately I could not get more than one night, but I was persistent. I asked other friends of mine who had been following this concert, and they all agreed with me that it was very good. But this does not mean that there is no problem. But we are not going to compare their work with Berlin Orchestra, considering the situation of orchestral music in Iran, Melal orchestra is working well. Having in mind that eighty percent of the players were young, we can claim that Mr. Soltani had labored so much.
Manouchehr Badiyee
(Scholar, translator, writer)
Basically, I enjoy music and especially rhythmic music, so I enjoyed the piece made by Mozart. There was a good mixture of Iranian rhythmic music in that work of Mozart and especially I was fond of Mr. Rajabi's playing and Mr. Soltani"s arrangement. Mr. Soltani did a great job to coordinate 130 musicians. I reckon that we could make a balance and compromising between classical music and pop music and Iranian traditional music, in order to outreach the people who are interested in pop music and make them interested in classical music.
Kambiz Roshanrawan
(Composer)
The quality of the voice of the Hall was not so good. It seems that this Hall is not suitable for big orchestras. By the way, all the players did their work well and Mr. Soltani, as a conductor, made a big effort. I think that the Hall made harm to the Orchestra and as a result, there was no god voice. The conductor did his work very well and he is capable and so the players, but the Hall itself didn't help them, at least, where I was sitting I couldn't hear it well, maybe it was better in the other parts of the Hall.
Assadollah Amraei
(Translator and Author)
It was a very good concert and I enjoyed a lot. As an audience, I heard very good pieces and enjoyed the performance. To my opinion, the orchestra made a very orderly and coordinated performance and Mr. Soltani as the leader was very good.
Amir Ashraf Ariyanpour
(Musician)
I should say that Keyvansaaket and Master Rajabi's solo playing were very interesting. The traditional Iranian pieces were arranged and performed beautifully, although the orchestra contains western instruments as well but even the violins and cellos played the Iranian traditional music perfectly. Soltani, the conductor, tried his best to coordinate such a big group of players and singers together. That was a memorable night, but I wish the price of the tickets were not so expensive that my student could be able to purchase it and attend the concert. It seems that no one pay any attention to the price of the tickets. In the past, when I was the artistic head of the Rudaki hall, the prices were not this expensive and there were some discounts for students. But today there is no such a thing as everything is expensive and running a concert is very hard and expensive and above all the government does not support the musicians so there wouldn't be any discount for students and practically we are losing the students as potential audiences.
Mahmoud Dolatabadi
(Author)
It was a good concert, performed very well. The conductor coordinated the group very well. As a viewer, I can say that the concert was very good and was well received by people. One of the interesting things was that it was trying to be a fusion between classical music and vocal music. I suggested Mr. Sotani, the conductor, to work on one of my books (specially "Kalidar") and write and arrange a piece of music about that novel. If this going to happen I will have very close cooperation with him.
Hossein Omumi
(Musicians, architects)
It was pretty interesting. Mr. Soltani had worked very hard, in my opinion. Ordinary audience may not comprehend the difficulty of working with more than 80 music players and 40 coral singers; but those who organized even a small group will feel the burden of coordinating such a big group for performance. But today the cultural situation of Iran is so critical that there is no protection for groups and orchestras like these. But I should say considering the facilities and limited support of the government the concert was performed very well. Although we should consider that the voice features and instruments of the hall werevery weak. But on the whole the concert was very good.
Masoud Ahmadi
(Poet, writer)
On the whole, I should say that both parts of the performance- western and traditional Iranian music- were charming. Soltani, the conductor, coordinated the members of the orchestra very well. Although the traditional Iranian music was more interesting to me, I liked the combination of western and Iranian instruments.The orchestra and chorus were very interesting for me, though they have been underestimated. And some pieces from Mr. Roshanrawan, Beizaei and Delnavazi were very well performed. Congratulations to Mr. Soltani and hope to see more works from him.
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