Alireza Mortazavi

Alireza Mortazavi ( Persian عليرضا مرتضوي, Born September 17, 1976 in Isfahan / Iran ), is a Persian avant-garde musician, composer and master of the Santoor , which he learned from the age of seven.

Life

Alireza Mortazavi's musical career began with his collaboration with his brother, the percussionist on the Tombak and Daf , Mohammad Reza Mortazavi . Alireza was valued as an interpreter of classical works from a young age . His virtuosity has been confirmed by numerous awards. Since his encounter with Western music, his musical interest gradually shifted, matured beyond traditional teaching and enabled him to develop a personal style on his instrument. He expanded his classical repertoire to include modern and contemporary music.

Alireza Mortazavi studied musicology in Cremona (Italy) from 2001 to 2003 .

He began his concert career in Europe by participating in a radio program on the Bavarian Radio and performing at various music festivals in Italy and Germany. In 2003 he performed at the Progetto Jazz in Cremona and with his brother at the Tanz & Folk Fest TFF Festival in Rudolstadt . There he was nominated for RUTH, the German World Music Prize, but his brother Mohammad Reza Mortazavi received the prize.

When Alireza Mortazavi returned to Iran in 2003, his musical art was cultivated within an intellectual circle made up of his followers as well as artists, philosophers and scientists. With them he shared the pursuit of a new artistic trend that rejects conventional, artistic standards. His interviews have appeared in cultural magazines such as Honare musighi (German: The Art of Music) and Sharq (German: Orient). At the same time he also devoted himself to music research and the development of a special santur that allows him to play all notes of the western chromatic scale without retuning and thus to achieve a wide range of chromatic solutions and sounds. The musical instrument he developed is a santoor of normal size, which is still divided into four positions, but has fourteen narrower bridges .

In 2007 Alireza Mortazavi was together with his brother Mohammad Reza Mortazavi for a number of concerts a. a. invited to the festival of improvisational music Total Music Meeting in Germany In the summer of 2012 he decided to live in Italy again and moved to Turin, where he is working on a musicological project at the DAMS (Discipline delle Arti, della Musica e dello Spettacolo) art university.

Alireza Mortazavi has had numerous appearances at Italian radio broadcasts and concerts in Italy, Germany and Switzerland. He has collaborated with artists and conductors such as Markus Stockhausen ( Eternal Voyage / Live , 2018), Franco Battiato and the Orchestra filarmonica di Arturo Toscanini in Parma.

Discography

Alireza Mortazavi has produced two albums for Hermes Records , a major Iranian music publisher specializing in unusual musicians.

• 2004 "Gah o Bigah" (Now and Then)
• 2008 "Clouds", a selection of compositions by 20 important musicians from Asia, including Djivan Gasparian, an Armenian Duduk player and Hossein Alizadeh , a famous interpreter on Tar and Setar .

Awards

• 1994 and 1998: best santur player at the Fajr Festival in Tehran and Isfahan, Iran
• 1994: Honorary diploma as best santur player and solo musician at the National Festival in Mashhad, the second largest Iranian city.
• 1998: Honorary concert at Chehel Sotoun ("Forty Pillars") in Isfahan
• 2013: Prize premio Talento dall 'Associazione Culturale Ca dj'Amis ”in Turin, Italy. The prize is awarded exclusively to musicians with a classical, western education.

Music genre

Alireza Mortazavi's music can be described as “minimalist”. Their originality lies in the musician's extroverted technique and is linked to the use of the various positions of the instrument. In particular, it is the fourth position that is usually not used because it does not correspond to the basic scale. Alireza also uses many special effects in his compositions. Western harmonies are always present in his music and are used as a clear contrast to the sounds with a distinctive, oriental character.

bibliography

• The Santoor and New Horizon Article in Hamshahri magazine, June 6, 2004
• An F minor that is not an Esfaha Interview with the composer Alireza Mortazavi in ​​the weekly “Sharvand”, December 17, 2006
• An instrument to listen to , article about the Santoor piano by Alireza Mortazavi in ​​Honare musighi magazine “The Art of Music”, August 2009
• Towards a new definition of beauty , interview with the composer Alireza Mortazavi in ​​the daily newspaper “Sharq” (Orient), October 20, 2010
• Opinions of some eminent musicians from Esfahan in Esfahane ziba magazine “the beautiful Isfahan”, March 2011
• The santur piano, in Share Ketab, December 2, 2009.

Web links

• Alireza Mortazavi on Hermes Record
• Alireza Mortazavi in Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://bookcity.org/detail/161
2. ^ Fajr Festival
3. ↑ premio Talento
4. ↑ The Santoor Piano