Summerwinds Festival: Joolaee Trio & Parisa Saeednezhad: Schnittstellen, Amalgame
Joolaee Trio & Parisa Saeednezhad Clarinet
Misagh Joolaee Kamancheh
Schaghajegh Nosrati Piano
Sebastian Flaig Percussion
Highly expressive and sonorous, rich in harmony and melody, pulsating rhythms: the German-Iranian Joolaee Trio has found its own musical language as an innovative amalgam of various cultures, where the separation of West and East, Persian classical and European classical and jazz, tradition and modernity is overcome.
With Misagh Joolaee on the kamancheh – the Iranian spike fiddle sounds brittle-smoky and nasal – with classical pianist Schaghajegh Nosrati, who achieved international breakthrough with her interpretations of Bach, and ethnic and jazz percussionist Sebastian Flaig, the Joolaee Trio is one of the most extraordinary chamber music formations in existence. Its guest, Iranian Parisa Saeednezhad, who, like the trio, lives in Germany, masterfully plays the Western clarinet and also brings improvisational artistry and Persian tonal colors.
In “Schnittstellen, Amalgame,” Saeednezhad demonstrates that in the West there have “always” been intersections of the major-minor system with other scale systems, known as modes. The prevailing two, three, and four beats were also combined with asymmetric rhythms. Art music has renewed itself by embracing “foreign” influences enthusiastically, like folk music. The native of Tehran plays Bartók's “Romanian Folk Dances,” as well as “Four Hebraic Pictures” by Russian-American clarinetist Simeon Bellison, which are rooted in Eastern European klezmer tradition. Aside from major and minor, Olivier Messiaen, in his quest for spiritual transcendence, listened to birdsong among others and developed completely individual modes, such as for the moving clarinet solo “Abîme des oiseaux.”
Misagh Joolaee's compositions are based on the Radif, an ancient collection of over 350 Gushehs – melodies, motifs, modes – that form the foundation of classical Persian music. Each mode has its specific characteristics and mood. Joolaee studied the Radif with Persian masters: “One must memorize these Gushehs. And then comes the exciting part: finding one's own variation, combination, and ornamentation.” From his compositional framework, he, Nosrati, Flaig, and Saeednezhad create the captivating Joolaee trio and quartet amalgam with improvisational freedom and boundless imagination.
Schnittstellen, Amalgame
Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992): Abîme des oiseaux
Béla Bartók (1881–1945): Romanian Folk Dances
Simeon Bellison (1881–1953): Four Hebraic Pictures
Traditional: Sari Gelin
Misagh Joolaee (*1983): Gefährten| Be Hich Diyar | Mehrabani | Mahjur | Negarin | Vashagh | Sharar
Improvisations, among others
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
