Philharmonic Academy Summer Festival

Iranian Culture Day at the Philharmonic Gardens on Thursday 26 June. Art and music between tradition and modernity.

Thursday 26 June will be the day that the Giardini della Filarmonica, the summer festival of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, will dedicate this year to Iranian culture, an event that has been a regular feature of the festival for almost ten years now. Between tradition and modernity, the art and music of the millenary Persian culture will be explored.

Opening at 6.30 pm in the Sala Affreschi (via Flaminia 118) with the calligraphy exhibition Whispering ink by Ghazaleh Monshizadeh, curated by Bahar Hamzeh Pour. Born in Semnan, in the north of Iran, Ghazaleh graduated from the University of her city in Urban Planning, and furthered her studies at the Islamic Azad University in Tehran in Urban design and planning, delving into the study of calligraphy; she now lives in Rome where she studies Architecture – Urban Regeneration at “La Sapienza” University. His works are deeply rooted in the Persian poetic tradition and represent a harmonious fusion of calligraphy and spirituality. Each piece reflects a traditional poem, often taken from the verses of Rumi (13th century) or Hafez (14th century), revolving around the ethics of life and the celebration of existence, exploring the mystical nature of life and divine love. Its calligraphy consists of three types: Nastaliq, which is the old version of handwriting (Nastaliq developed in Iran and is still widely used for written poetry and as an art form), the Kufico style (an Arabic writing style used in architectural decoration) and the modern or contemporary style. The modern style using Ghazaleh is a new type that incorporates the old version of calligraphy and handwriting, but changes the forms to reflect the beauty of the letters.

At 8 p.m., the concert in the Sala Casella pairs German-Italian pianist Marlene Fuochi with singer Sahbā Khalili Amiri in a dialogue between contemporary Iranian music and that of Maurice Ravel. Born in Tehran, Sahbā Khalili Amiri is now living in Milan where, after graduating from the “G. Verdi” Conservatory, she is specialising with Alda Caiello. The concert alternates Persian-inspired songs by the composer Reza Vali (1952) with some lyrics by Maurice Ravel (an occasion to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his birth), a dialogue between music from the East in a contemporary version and early 20th-century French repertoire with a special focus on popular songs written by the two composers. Indeed, one of the most fascinating aspects of Reza Vali’s work is his passionate research into traditional Iranian music. He has spent many years collecting and studying Persian folk songs, especially those from the most remote regions of Iran, which then inspired the series of compositions entitled Folk Songs, from which some excerpts will be heard. Vali uses authentic melodies reworked with modern harmonies, structures and compositional techniques. Also on the programme is Blue Johannes written for Dutch pianist Marcel Worms in 2012, a combination of different musical elements in which blues, Persian folk melodies and tango are found. Ravel’s Cinq mélodies populaires grecques and two pieces from Miroirs for solo piano are also on the programme.