Two special music events at ÖKFT

Austrian Cultural Forum in Tehran (ÖKFT) held two music concerts that were distinct in many aspects, AVA Diplomatic reports. In a sequel to well-known and successful series ‘Talents on Stage’ in which Iranian young artists have the chance to perform on stage at ÖKFT based on Austria’s culture policy, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Tehran held a Classic Song Night for the first time in which only Iranian artists attended, performing a contemporary interpretation of Hafiz’s poems.

Soloists from the Austro-Iranian Choir (AIC), an affiliate of Austro-Iranian Symphony Orchestra (AISO), sponsored by ÖKFT performed for the first time, a Classic Song Night, with pieces by Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Robert Alexander Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and Gustav Mahler. Eight female artists (Mehrnaz Ebrahimi/ soprano, Tara Mansouri/ alto, Haghineh Owhanian/ soprano, Bahar Rastegar/ matzo soprano, Pante’a Safaei/ soprano, Ghazal Salar Behzadi/ soprano, Shaya Zandi/ soprano, and Taravat Zare’ei/ soprano) and two male artists (Ara Karpetian/ tenor and Mehrdad Talaei/ bass) performed the concert with accompaniments by pianists Ghazal Akhoundzadeh, Hanili Ali Akbar, Arian Avanesian, Shayan Habibi, and Ghazal Salar Behzadi.

Ara Karpetian’s reading of Von der Jugend by Mahler received especially warm welcome by the excited audience. Plans are underway for performing most pieces composed by Mahler at the moment.

Reputed Iranian composer Arash Mitooie also performed some pieces in a fusion concert with electric guitar and drums called ‘Ascetic Hermit’ with vocals of Hafiz’s poems.

Hāfez-e Shīrāzī known by his pen name Hāfez was a Persian poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian literature can still be found in the homes of most people in Iran today. His Divān was first translated into German by Austrian orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall in 1812. Later, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe called him the main inspiration for his book East-West Divan (1819).

The group members were Arash Mitooie (guitar and vocal), Mohammad Javadzadeh (keyboard and vocal), Raham Motakhdemin (guitar), Mohammadreza Saki (tonbak, kouzeh, cajon), Arash Tahmasebi (bass), and Ala Valanejad (drums and guitar).