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NOËL
Concerto for Solo Actress: The Legend Of Yush's Poet
2018-03-04
The structure of this "concerto" is a combination
of contemporary Naghali
(recounting stories), spoken word, and contemporary
performance art. The
actress here creates musical events with voice, body, and
movement; a bit like
a piano concerto that does not have an orchestra. For me,
the Mise-en-scène
functions like the orchestration of a piece.
Naqqāli (or Naghali) is the oldest form of dramatic
performance in Iran.
Historically, it has adapted itself to socio-political
circumstances. Before the
Sassanid (651 AD), Naqqāls were poets and musicians
simultaneously: they
recited stories while playing instruments. Bārbad
was the most renowned
Naqqāl of the Sassanid. During Ghaznavids
(10th-12th AD), the Court banned
musical Naqqāli, but the tradition survived in
remote areas.
The performer – the Naqqāl – recounts stories
in verse or prose accompanied
by gestures and movements, and sometimes instrumental music
and painted
scrolls. Naqqāls function both as entertainers and
as bearers of Persian
literature and culture, and need to be acquainted with local
cultural
expressions, languages and dialects, and traditional
music.
The Concerto for Solo Actress is a faithful narration based
on the poem
“Afsaneh” (The Legend) by Nima Yushij. I left Tehran for
two years in order to
write “The Legend of Yush’s Poet”. For this purpose,
what place could be better
than the homeland of Nima, the father of modern Iranian
poetry and whose
poem “The Legend” poem charmed me?
I took up residence in the village of Khesht Sar, in the
Central District of
Mahmudabad County, Mazan- daran Province, Iran, and in close
proximity to
the birthplace of Nima – Yush. Whenever I was going to the
city, I saw a large
board at the entrance of the city that had been written on
it: “Welcome to
Nima Yushij’s Birthplace”. Indeed, Yush and Mazandaran
are Nima, and Nima is
the pristine nature of the North of Iran. My new home was
near the Caspian
Sea, which Nima describes it like this: “Your lips were
smiling in that wave”.
The only music that filled my mind in those two years were
the sounds of
nature and silence. In this silence, I had the opportunity
to think about one
thing every day and every hour! Who is the legend? What
shape is she? How is
her singing? How bitter is her bitterness? And how long is
her way?
The performance of this work certainly has the result of
cooperating with a
sympathetic and committed group that I should be very
grateful to all of them.
Those who were with me at eleven nights’ live perfor-
mance of this work and
then at all stages of recording, producing, and preparing
the audio and video
version.
As far as I know, The Legend of Yush’s Poet is the first
concerto that written
for an actress. However, I am responsible for all the errors
ahead. But at the
same time, I present the premiere of this work to all
members of the group
and Ghazal Naeemi, who practiced hardly and tirelessly for
almost seven
months. I am grateful to my sophisticated and kind-hearted
friend, Ramin
Dargahi, who translated all the texts into English. I am
grateful to my dear
wife, Lena Koocheri, who has strongly supported me all this
time. Also, I thank
Mohammad Mousavi and Bruce Hamilton, who helped me to
produce this
work.
My greatest hope and desire during the making of this
project and upon the
release of its audio and video albums is that Nima Yushij, a
well-known poet of
Iran, is watching our work and smiling on what we have done
– like a wave
that smiles on the sea and caresses us slowly! - Ehsan
Saboohi Tehran 2017
Spectropol Recordsof contemporary Naghali
(recounting stories), spoken word, and contemporary
performance art. The
actress here creates musical events with voice, body, and
movement; a bit like
a piano concerto that does not have an orchestra. For me,
the Mise-en-scène
functions like the orchestration of a piece.
Naqqāli (or Naghali) is the oldest form of dramatic
performance in Iran.
Historically, it has adapted itself to socio-political
circumstances. Before the
Sassanid (651 AD), Naqqāls were poets and musicians
simultaneously: they
recited stories while playing instruments. Bārbad
was the most renowned
Naqqāl of the Sassanid. During Ghaznavids
(10th-12th AD), the Court banned
musical Naqqāli, but the tradition survived in
remote areas.
The performer – the Naqqāl – recounts stories
in verse or prose accompanied
by gestures and movements, and sometimes instrumental music
and painted
scrolls. Naqqāls function both as entertainers and
as bearers of Persian
literature and culture, and need to be acquainted with local
cultural
expressions, languages and dialects, and traditional
music.
The Concerto for Solo Actress is a faithful narration based
on the poem
“Afsaneh” (The Legend) by Nima Yushij. I left Tehran for
two years in order to
write “The Legend of Yush’s Poet”. For this purpose,
what place could be better
than the homeland of Nima, the father of modern Iranian
poetry and whose
poem “The Legend” poem charmed me?
I took up residence in the village of Khesht Sar, in the
Central District of
Mahmudabad County, Mazan- daran Province, Iran, and in close
proximity to
the birthplace of Nima – Yush. Whenever I was going to the
city, I saw a large
board at the entrance of the city that had been written on
it: “Welcome to
Nima Yushij’s Birthplace”. Indeed, Yush and Mazandaran
are Nima, and Nima is
the pristine nature of the North of Iran. My new home was
near the Caspian
Sea, which Nima describes it like this: “Your lips were
smiling in that wave”.
The only music that filled my mind in those two years were
the sounds of
nature and silence. In this silence, I had the opportunity
to think about one
thing every day and every hour! Who is the legend? What
shape is she? How is
her singing? How bitter is her bitterness? And how long is
her way?
The performance of this work certainly has the result of
cooperating with a
sympathetic and committed group that I should be very
grateful to all of them.
Those who were with me at eleven nights’ live perfor-
mance of this work and
then at all stages of recording, producing, and preparing
the audio and video
version.
As far as I know, The Legend of Yush’s Poet is the first
concerto that written
for an actress. However, I am responsible for all the errors
ahead. But at the
same time, I present the premiere of this work to all
members of the group
and Ghazal Naeemi, who practiced hardly and tirelessly for
almost seven
months. I am grateful to my sophisticated and kind-hearted
friend, Ramin
Dargahi, who translated all the texts into English. I am
grateful to my dear
wife, Lena Koocheri, who has strongly supported me all this
time. Also, I thank
Mohammad Mousavi and Bruce Hamilton, who helped me to
produce this
work.
My greatest hope and desire during the making of this
project and upon the
release of its audio and video albums is that Nima Yushij, a
well-known poet of
Iran, is watching our work and smiling on what we have done
– like a wave
that smiles on the sea and caresses us slowly! - Ehsan
Saboohi Tehran 2017
