Eastern Voices

Eastern Voices documentary Frank Scheffer and Günter Wallbrecht about the fusion of eastern and western music as experienced by participants in the Morgenland Festival in Osnabrück, Germany. (Morgen in German means "morning" with the sun rising in the East and Morgenland here means the Middle East.) Disc features Ibrahim Keivo, the Alim & Fargana Qasimov Ensemble, Salar Aghili & Harir Shariatzadeh; the Yulduz Turdieva Ensemble, Christian Heinecke, the Morgenland Chamber Orchestra, and Nader Mashayekhi. The documentary lasts 49 minutes. It has rehearsal segments, interviews, and excerpts of concert performances. The bonus consists of 63 minutes of straight performance by Eastern artists. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B

Eastern Voices begins with a short documentary film about the meeting of the Morgenland Chamber Orchestra and various stars of the Middle East and Western Asia traditional music scene. The two groups had a performance together at the Morgenland Festival, showcasing a fusion of styles.

The bulk of the documentary is split in two modes. Roughly half the documentary consists of interviews with the Eastern singers and musicians and the Western organizers of the concert. The other half, interspersed between interviews, is comprised of clips of the performers playing their music. Sometimes the action focuses on the practice hall where the players practice for their performance, while others showcase the Eastern stars in solo or small group performances. The film does a good job of switching between the two modes, which helps keep the viewer engaged.

Unfortunately, the content of the interviews isn't all that enlightening. I would have preferred to learn more about the difference in the history and structure of the two musical styles. Instead, we mostly get testimonials about how awe-inspiring it is to work with musicians from such a radically different cultural background. Some of the interviews with the Eastern performers are more interesting, as they talk of the difficulty in practicing their craft in some oppressive government regimes. But on the whole I found the interviews to be lacking.

Luckily the performances included in the documentary were stellar. Both the video and audio  are first-rate. The camera spends much of the time focused on the close-ups of the individual performers, allowing for an intimacy that maybe even viewing a performance live can't achieve. The sound is also clear and vibrant.

But due to the short length of the documentary (49 minutes), the total time spent simply watching the documentary is underwhelming. Luckily though the disc has a wonderful bonus feature: 3 substantial live performances, uninterrupted by interviews, that combined last for a bit over an hour. I found the bonus material  to be the most valuable and entertaining part of the disc. The first performance in particular, a complete  Mugham Bayati Shiraz by the Alim & Fargana Qasimov Ensemble, is arresting. It is a wonderful piece of music, performed by masters.

Update on Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 12:03PM by Henry McFadyen Jr.

The mini-review above was by Henry Tercero. This is a follow up from Henry McFadyen Jr. This website is devoted to fine-arts performances in high-definition video, or HDVD. We intend to report on "classical" performances from all regions of the world (not just Western-style art forms). We do not, however, cover Western pop music, jazz, musicals, or folk music.

So what should we make of the performances on this disc of Eastern music? Many Westerners might say this is folk music because it is handed down by memory, not notated, and played on instruments that have not, one gathers, changed much in centuries.

But we are also told that the subjects of this music are "love, humanity, respect, and beauty" and that much of the music is set to texts from great poets of literature. This music would have, it seems, a much loftier position in Eastern cultures than that enjoyed by Western square-dance fiddlers. Although some humor might slip in, the performances command attention and concentration. The works are delivered by serious performers who seek to edify, not entertain. And when it comes to a fusion work, the Eastern performers are joined to a Western-style chamber orchestra that would normally be playing Mozart or Messiaen. So we conclude that this style of music is "classical" for the country of origin and should therefore be covered here.

This Eastern music might also be considered classical as it is today's rendition of extremely early music from which Western tradition eventually emerged. If Moses, Sophocles, or Julius Caesar could be invited to sit on a music jury, I'm guessing they might feel rather at home with the performances here and would be totally baffled by something from Beethoven.

I'll make another comment in praise of high-definition video. Some of the musicians in this video wear incredibly beautiful garments which may themselves be works of art. This come across well in 1080 resolution; no previous video technology would have adequately revealed this.

So I think this Eastern Voices disc is just a tiny first step in the right direction. I hope we get more Eastern music in HDVD and that future titles will provide more detail about the music and the instruments. And, please---let the next disc have some subtitles in various languages with translations of those exotic songs!