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Hossein Alizadeh and Djivan Gasparyan
Endless Vision (World Village)
$17.99

Live recording of 2 world-renown artists, Hossein Alizadeh from Iran and Djivan Gasparyan from Armenia, recorded outdoors in Tehran on September 4-6, 2003 before an audience of 12,000. They were accompanied by Vazgen Markaryan (bass duduk), Afsaneh Rasaee (vocal), Hoorshid Biabani (vocal), Armen Ghazaryan (duduk), Ali Boustan (shurangiz), Mohammadreza Ebrahimi (ud), Ali Samadpour (dammam, udu, vocal) and Behzad Mirzaee (daf, tombak). Highly recommended.

Press from the record label:
As anyone who has attempted to play one can attest, the duduk can be notoriously ill-tempered in the wrong hands. It consists of a cylindrical Apricot-wood pipe with nine finger holes and is available in three sizes, each with a range of approximately one octave. Often played in pairs, it has a warmly sensuous, diffused timbre that is equally effective whether playing intricate, diatonic traditional melodies or long-breathed, sustained drones. The shurangiz is the latest member of Iran’s noble plucked instrument family. The earliest prototype was a setar with an amplifying membrane inserted under the bridge. The modern version has a skin face, six strings, a longer fingerboard and an increased number of frets. Both instruments are captured here amid a true meeting of giants, under ideal acoustic circumstances at Tehran’s Niavaran Palace. Djivan Gasparyan’s seasoned generosity gleans an inspirational counterpoint from Hossein Alizadeh’s impetuous classicism. Accompanied by the seven-member Hamavayan Ensemble plus Armen Ghazarian and Vazgen Markaryan on duduk and bass duduk, the concert is further enhanced by emotional, overtone-laced singing in Armenian, Azeri (the language of Azerbaijan) and Persian by Afsaneh Rasaei, Hourshid Biabani and Ali Samadpour.