Music / folkemusik

Songs from a Persian garden


Reviews (2)


AllMusic

2008

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Chris Nickson

2008

"This (mostly) live album from a pair of Iranian sisters is an absolute melodic feast. Sampling the range of music — from the classical modes of "Saghi Nameh" to the opening lush Kurdish theme of "Mina" — is a joy, and nowhere more than on "Dorna," where their voices shine, largely unaccompanied, on a more contemporary piece that manages to sound timeless ... Apart from the lovingly sinuous voices, what impresses most is the rich, loving variety of sensual and exotic melodies filling the disc. It's close to a sensory overload — but stops short, just at the perfect point".


Froots

2008 May

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Tom Jackson

2008 May

"It's one of the paradoxes of Iranian music that the classical Persian poets, sacred and secular, write of wine, women and song, yet since the 1979 revolution a religious and social conservatism has limited expression in society, perticularly by women. The lyrics in this live recording (...) go back as far as the 13th century, possibly further, and were sung by sisters Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat at a private concert in a garden in Tehran in the summer of 2007. Performing them in public broke a ban on public performances by women, but the recording is more than an act of defiance. The sisters' voices melt in a lovely harmony the way only siblings can ... The accompaniment is deliciously lazy while the entwined voices are as sweet and refreshing as a glass of cantaloupe juice ... It was recently reported that the first western rock concert to be staged in Iran since the 1979 revolution had been announced: Chris de Burgh is coming. The Iranians can keep him. We'll take theVahdatsisters".