BWW Reviews: BMOP Presents Reza Vali's TOWARD THAT ENDLESS PLAIN

Reza Vali, both as composer and as music teacher (professor at Carnegie Mellon) is one of the finer preservers and expositors of Persian traditional music, while still being a Western orchestral innovator. With Boston Modern Orchestra Project directed by Gil Rose, working under their BMOP label, he has released TOWARD THAT ENDLESS PLAIN, a collection of two cycles of Persian folk song vocals as well as the title piece, which is, as those who have heard it in performance are aware, a marvelous composition for the Persian ney (an end-blown flute similar or identical to the Kurdish shimsal).

The title piece, a three-section concerto for Persian ney and orchestra, is performed by soloist Khosrow Soltani, former bassoonist with the Tehran Symphony, who has performed on the ney since 1979. The first section, a prelude ("The Abyss") and first movement ("Passage"), opens with near-violent brass and wood cacophony, indeed suggesting descent into a maelstrom of some sort - a Western mind might conjure the descent of Orpheus into the underworld. Following this clash of musical ideas, there is the ney, providing a droning but moving, and movement-filled, solo, as if at the end of the abyss there is indeed a flat, deserted area to be traversed.

The second movement, "Ecstatic Dance," is named clearly. It begins with what sounds like folk tune, followed by a more lushly romantic theme and then into a more pulsing tune reminiscent of many of the dance tunes of the region, punctuated with cacophonic bursts of horn and string that recall (if more melodically) the opening "Prelude". After an introduction consisting of percussion line, there come faster dance rhythms picked up by the strings from the ney solo. The final movement, "Descent and Dissolve," opens with melodic interaction between ney and strings, moving into dreamy, seemingly free-form ney passages leading to a resolution with strings and chimes. Though conspicuously modern, the passages are as Persian as they are Western, and the result is satisfying.

The opening selections on the disc are Folk Songs, Set No. 8 and Folk Songs, Set No. 14, both sung by mezzo-soprano Janna Baty. Baty, a fine mezzo who teaches voice at Yale as well as singing with the Boston Lyric Opera and numerous symphony orchestras, has a voice that causes one to conclude that no one but a mezzo could have sung these pieces. Both sets range from love songs to children's tunes to laments, covering a range of themes and emotions that are clearly discernable regardless of one's knowledge of the language. Backed by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the singing, which is a primary component of Persian traditional music, is both delightful and meaningful. For those who care, the liner notes to the disc provide the translations of the songs.

This compact disc is as well-produced as BMOP's other recording projects, and is of the uniformly fine quality to be found in their series. For lovers of Persian music or of modern music, as well as for those who collect vocals, it is a worthwhile addition to a compact disc collection. For those who have friends who profess to dislike modern orchestral or vocal works, this is a disc that may help prove otherwise.

Graphics credit: BMOP

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