Saturday October 4, 2003
The Persian Cultural Center of San Diego (pccsd.org) celebrated Mehregan with a concert honoring Ostad Mahmood Zoufonoun.
Since San Diego was Ostad Zoufonoun's first home in America, this concert was a homecoming of sorts. The audience was enthusiatic, and stood as soon as Ostad Zoufonoun, a small man with the kind face of a grandfather, walked on stage with his violin. By the end of the concert, there was nobody who was unmoved by his demeanor and warmth.
Mr. Kourosh Mehrayin, President of PCC, presented Ostad Zoufonoun with a plaque commemorating "half a century of service to Persian music".
Zoufonoun Ensemble played 2 sets exploring dastgah Rastpanjgah, based on compositions from the radif and also by "Zoufonoun and others".
The following is my impression of their concert:
The music - while cohesive - had a lot of variety. Each player took solos; there were duets and ensemble pieces; the voice would come in at opportune moments; there were slow and also fast pieces; short and also long sections; and plenty of chaharmezrabs sprinkled around to keep the whole thing lively.
Each of the players were proficient on their instruments as soloists and ensemble players.
Omid Zoufonoun's cello not only provided a beautiful low melody voice, but also filled out the sound and held the ensemble together. He bowed, plucked, and strummed the strings, sometimes even tapping the cello for rhythm.
Amin Zoufonoun played an extended improvisitory piece on setar (in Shur) - later joined by his brother Amir on vocal. Amin's solo reminded me of Ostad Lotfi's style where delicate melodies float above a fast repetitive rhythmic figure.
Ramin Zoufonoun played an extended improvisitory piece on Persian-tuned piano (in Shushtari) - also later joined by his brother Amir on vocal. Not many have followed in the footsteps of Morteza Mahjoubi and Moshir Homayoun in tuning and using the piano as a Persian instrument. Ramin, with his coordination of a nimble right hand and a steady and independent left hand, has made that tradition relevent again. Ramin also played a solo piece on tar (in Aragh) - later joined by Shahram Kazemi on tombak..
Shahram Kazemi took an extended tombak solo, exploring it's many tonal and rhythmic colors. Audiences love drum solos and inevitable applause followed.
Amir Zoufonoun has a voice that is pleasant but not spectacular. Nevertheless it was a pleasure listening to him, because he enunciated the words so clearly and paid special attention to the inherent music of the verses, that Persian-speaking listeners could easily understand and enjoy the poems. Also he held a nice balance between verses and tahrir (melismatic passages).
Ostad Mahmoud Zoufonoun, obviously enjoying being surrounded by his family and music, alternated between quietly listening to others play, and suddenly coming to life with a fast chaharmezrab or by modulating to a new gusheh. He's incredibly agile and in-tune on the violin for a man of 82 years, and even the occasional slight imperfection in tone only enhanced the emotion of his playing.
The program could be said to be wholly traditional, as there were no "newly discovered modes", modern poetry, or unfamiliar rhythms. Yet is was fresh and alive, fueled by creativity & youth on the one hand, and experienced artistic outlook on the other.
A couple of comments I heard were: 1) "it would've been nice to include some modern poetry". I agree, but frankly I enjoyed the "old" poetry just as well. And 2) "the second set did not have the momentum of the first". I agree - perhaps the last diversion to Afshari - though beautiful - could've been dropped.
As an encore Ostad Zoufonoun asked the audience to join them in singing the traditional favorite "Morgh-e Sahar". Almost everyone sang, and it was moving to hear such a chorus of voices on this song of freedom.
The Ericsson auditorium is a nice hall, but not ideal for music. Two large pillars obstructed the floor-level stage for many people, and the lights were permanently set to on. The chairs for the performers were obviously not ideal for playing music. Fortunately, the sound was clean and well-balanced, except that the tar was a little low in the mix.
In my mind, overall the concert was a great success. The audience, young & old, Persians & non-Persians, with multiple standing ovations, seemed to agree.