Behzad ABDI Rumi Shajarian • Motamedi • Sadeghi • Alishapour • Khodaei • Moradi Credo Chamber Choir • Bogdan Plish National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine • Vladimir Sirenko Act I Act II Behzad 1 8 War Rumi in the Circle of his Objecting Followers A(b.B 19D73) I 2 [Amir Touman, Mongolian, People] 7:16 9 [Old Follower, Rumi, Shams, Sheikh Attar] 8:12 Death Overcomes the Nation Meeting of Shams and Rumi Rumi (2009) 3 [Shams, Sheikh Attar, People] 4:01 0 [Shams, Rumi] 2:57 Opera in two acts Sheikh Attar Prefers Death Over Humiliation Rumi and his Wife Libretto by Behrouz Gharibpour (b. 1950) [Kharazm Prince, Amir Touman, [Rumi, Wife of Rumi, Soltan al-Olama, 4 Sheikh Attar, Soltan al-Olama, People] 6:14 ! Sheikh Attar, Shams] 7:53 Based on the life and writings of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (1207–1273) The Advice of Rumi’s Father: Rumi’s First Dream: The Shepherd Shams . Homayoun Shajarian, Tenor ‘Love and Only Love’ [Shepherd, People, Soldier, Sheikh Attar, Rumi . Mohammad Motamedi, Tenor [Chorus, Soltan al-Olama, Rumi, @ Shams, Rumi] 7:35 Amir Touman . Mohammadreza Sadeghi, Baritone 5 Amir Touman, People] 4:57 Second Meeting of Shams and Rumi Soltan al-Olama . Hossein Alishapour, Tenor A Bazaar in a Remote Town in Iran # [Chorus, Shams, Rumi] 7:03 Sheikh Attar . Ali Khodaei, Tenor [Narrator, Soltan al-Olama, Attack Wife of Rumi . Maliheh Moradi, Mezzo-soprano 6 Rumi, People] 11:10 [Wife of Rumi, Rumi, Shams, Old Follower . Es’haq Anvar, Baritone Shams and Rumi $ Old Follower, People] 5:17 Shepherd . Mostafa Mahmoudi, Tenor 7 [Shams, Rumi, Chorus] 9:54 Rumi’s Nightmare: Shams’ Persecution Soldier . Mehdi Javar, Bass Rumi’s Exodus [Mongolian, Shams, Chief Justice, Mongolian . Sadjad Pourghanad, Tenor [Old Follower, Wife of Rumi, Old Follower, Soltan al-Olama, Sheikh Attar, Chief Justice . Amer Shadman, Bass Rumi, People] 2:51 % People, Chorus, Wife of Rumi, Rumi] 7:04 Kharazm Prince . Ehsan Nasiri, Baritone Sufi Temple: Repentance Narrator . Mehdi Emami, Baritone [Old Follower, Rumi, Shams, People . Kayvan Farzin, Ali Najafi, Sulmaz Badri, Ali Yari, Amir Touman, People] 11:48 Reza Najafi and Sara Rezazadeh Credo Chamber Choir • Bogdan Plish National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine Vladimir Sirenko Behzad Abdi (b. 1973) a reflection of the strength of his influence in both (gūsheh s) emphasise different parts of the scale and Rumi countries. The influence of his writings in the Indian various tonal relationships. A recognisable musical subcontinent is also substantial. By the end of the 20th character is established for each performance. Composing a traditional Iranian opera using the Iranian unaware of modern Western music techniques, and unlike century, his popularity had become a global phenomenon, Conceptually and in their musical content, dastgāh and modal system, dastgāh , has always been my dream. I first most Iranian symphonic music, it is not based on any with his poetry achieving a wide circulation in Western their constituent gūsheh are related to the Arabic system of approached this by composing an opera called Ashura specific ‘ism’ or school of thought, and in all parts of the Europe and the United States. maqāmāt and the Turkish makam s, and they are almost followed by the operas Rumi and Hafez . I believe that in opera, Western composition techniques are employed. Shams al-Din Mohammad bin Ali bin Malik-e Dad or identical to the mugam s of the art music of Azerbaijan. order to attract an international audience for Iranian opera, In Rumi , the use of the polytonal technique is not Shams al-Din Tabrizi (meaning ‘the Sun of Faith from The seven main dastgāh of Iranian music are known it is essential to fuse dastgāh with Western classical forms. limited to the classical elements, and it is often heard in Tabriz’) was a Persian Sufi saint who is best known for his today as Shour , Māhour , Homāyoun , Segāh , Chāhārgāh , Rumi , which can be considered as the first national various dastgāh simultaneously – a technique that helps intense spiritual relationship with Rumi. He is credited for Rāstpanjgāh and Navā . Shour is mainly considered to be opera of Iran, is based on the life of the Sufi mystic and to reflect the unique concepts of the poetry, and one that wholly transforming Rumi’s life and thought, after arriving the mother of all dastgāh . poet, Rumi, and the circumstances of his time, from when was also used in the opera Ashura . in Konya in 1244; he died around 1248 or later. the Mongols invaded Persia, killing the Iranian poet The text of this opera, which is set in 15 acts, is Shams left a single work in prose known as Maqalat About the Sama dance Sheikh Attar, to his time in Konya and his life-changing mainly based on Rumi’s writings with several parts taken (‘Discourses’) which reveal him to be highly proficient in meeting with Shams. However, the librettist and director, from other poets. Rumi’s poetry is not distorted and the philosophy, theology and spirituality. He was an engaging Sama is a popular form of worship in Sufism, with rituals and Behrouz Gharibpour, chose not to reflect the events poems are read in their original form. speaker whose words were both simple and profoundly ceremonies that take on many forms. These can include directly, instead creating a symbolic libretto based on For the listener, especially those familiar with Rumi’s moving. singing, dancing, poetry and prayers, and the wearing of Rumi’s thoughts and words. writing, what Gharibpour has done is astonishing and Shams and Rumi were inseparable and it is said that symbolic attire. The Sama dance appears at key points in the This redefinition and distancing from the historical admirable. Due to his long-time involvement with these they spent days, even months together in a state of narrative of Rumi. Sama meaning ‘the universe’ allows the narrative is considered to be the most significant point of concepts and careful selection of Rumi’s texts, he has mystical communion. One biographer describes Rumi’s dancer to become focused on their inner spiritual world and the text in this opera, and was in fact the only way to grasp created one of the best and most important libretti among spiritual transformation at the hands of Shams: as a result become able to connect with the universe through the latent meanings of Rumi’s words. The unifying Iranian operas. Gharibpour not only considered Rumi’s ‘The encounter with Shams triggered the completion of the dance’s unique choreographic moves. The main move of message of the work – the promise of the ‘immortality of literary and conceptual techniques but created an artistic a paradigm shift in Rumi’s approach to piety and spirituality; the Sama dance is a continuous turning of the truth’ – is repeated throughout the narrative. The audience mix of drama, history and literature. He was able to look at he discovered that beyond the safe, dry and socially dancer/worshipper which brings about a state of meditation. is also exposed to various other stories along the way. Rumi’s life and his eternal teachings from several aspects. approved forms of obedience (prayer, sermonising, This is an act of improvisation and it continues until the Those familiar with 13th-century Iranian literary texts discovering and applying the principles of law) and dancer feels the presence of God and becomes part of the know that due to the successive attacks of the Mongols Behzad Abdi renunciation (fasting, controlling the passions and the ego), network of the universe. Once connected, there is no You or and the reports of massacres, the Iranian people had there is a meta-spirituality of love, which consists in joyously I, only one soul. Humans, the plants, the sky, water, air, fire, turned to Sufism and nihilism. This is why there are A brief history of Shams and Rumi and creatively celebrating our relationship with God.’ the stars, the mountains, the animals and the planets are the sometimes contradictions in the realm of ideas from that same; they are all the manifestation of God in different ways. era, which complicates understanding, for our generation, Rumi, in full Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, also called by the honorific About dastgāh Once this is realised, the dancer is presented with a of the secrets that lie within the literature of that time. Mawlānā, (born c. 30 September 1207, Balkh [now in new life in which all all beings can be loved and valued as The key to understanding Rumi’s poetry is its far- Afghanistan] – died 17 December 1273, Konya [now in Dastgāh , (Persian: ‘pattern’ or ‘set of directions’) are the they are. Rumi calls this ‘The Miracle of Love’. He talks reaching look at human aspirations; the power that we call Turkey]), was the greatest Sufi mystic and poet in the principal modes of the art music of Persian-speaking areas, about a very deep love for all beings and a mystical love love and the temptations that take us away from false Persian language, famous for his lyrics and for his used as the basis for composition and improvisation. A for God that would lift human souls, leading the way to the mundane charms and attractions (which Iranian mystics didactic epic Mas̄navī-yi Maʿnavī (‘Spiritual Couplets’), dastgāh incorporates a scale, a motif, a group of short light of happiness for eternity. in many poems refer to as wisdom or common sense). which widely influenced mystical thought and literature pieces, and a recognisable identity. The scale ( maqām ) is a The Sama dance is a ritual some people choose to Rumi is based on Iranian traditional dastgāh and is the throughout the Muslim world.