Fazil Say - 1001 Nights in the Harem; Grand Bazar; China Rhapsody (Howard Griffiths)

Information

Composer: Fazil Say

1. 1001 Nights in the Harem, Violin Concerto, Op. 25: I. Allegro
2. 1001 Nights in the Harem, Violin Concerto, Op. 25: II. Allegro assai
3. 1001 Nights in the Harem, Violin Concerto, Op. 25: III. Andantino
4. 1001 Nights in the Harem, Violin Concerto, Op. 25: IV. -
5. Grand Bazaar, Op. 65
6. China Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 69

Iskandar Widjaja, violin

Iraz Yildiz, piano

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra

Howard Griffiths, conductor

Date: 2019

Label: Sony Classical

https://sonyclassical.de/alben/releases-details/fazil-say-1001-nights-in-the-harem-grand-bazar-china-rhapsody

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Review

Pianist-composer Fazil Say creates epic soundscapes that combine traditional orchestration with instruments from his native Turkey, including kudüm and darbuka drums and the ney reed flute. Say also employs unusual techniques to make Western instruments evoke Middle Eastern ones. In the violin concerto 1001 Nights in the Harem (2007), written for Patricia Kopatchinskaja and performed here by Iskandar Widjaja, pizzicato effects turn the instrument into an oud. The work is not the first to be inspired by the Arabian Nights tales, of course: Rimsky-Korsakov based his symphonic suite Scheherazade on the popular story; Say’s version focuses particularly on the women within a harem. Widjaja impresses throughout, particularly in the cadenzas that link the first three movements.

Grand Bazaar (2015/16) conjures the vibrancy of the market, its highly rhythmic character neatly executed by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Howard Griffiths. This and the following China Rhapsody for piano and orchestra (2016) are premiere recordings; both works incorporate jazz-influenced elements in a manner reminiscent of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. If, at times, the music threatens to become pastiche, it remains enjoyable nonetheless.

There is some prepared piano in China Rhapsody (building on ideas heard in Say’s earlier work Black Earth, from 1997), which pianist Iraz Yildiz tackles with aplomb. It is these additional timbres, along with the cross-genre style of writing that give the music its distinctive colouring (think Bernstein, John Adams and, in a way, Karl Jenkins).

-- Claire Jackson, BBC Music Magazine

More reviews:
https://www.allmusic.com/album/fazil-say-1001-nights-in-the-harem-violin-concerto-grand-bazaar-china-rhapsody-mw0003243249

https://www.amazon.com/Fazil-Say-1001-Night-Harem/dp/B07HGNRK3J

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Fazıl Say (born 14 January 1970 in Ankara) is a Turkish pianist and composer. He began studying piano at age 3 and wrote his first piece – a piano sonata – at the age of 14. Say attracted international attention with the piano piece Black Earth (1997), and since then has increasingly turned to the large orchestral forms. In 2007 he aroused international interest with his Violin Concerto 1001 Nights in the Harem, and after that scored further great successes with his symphonies. On 15 April 2013, Say was sentenced to 10 months in jail for his crime of "insulting religious values". The conviction was reversed on 26 October 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fazıl_Say

https://fazilsay.com/

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Iskandar Widjaja (born 6 June 1986) is a German violinist and winner of numerous international competitions. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" and the Stern Conservatory of the Berlin University of the Arts. Concert tours have taken him to all five continents with the Berlin Philharmonie, the Aula Simfonia Jakarta, the Tel Aviv Opera House, the Hong Kong City Hall. He regularly appears as a soloist with orchestras such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the German Symphony Orchestra and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Widjaja plays a violin by JB Vuillaume, 1875, as well as the Stradivarius "Stephens" 1690.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskandar_Widjaja

https://www.iskandarwidjaja.com/

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Howard Griffiths (born 24 February 1950) is a British conductor. He was born in Hastings and studied music at the Royal College of Music, London. Griffiths has lived in Switzerland since 1981. From 1996 to 2006, he was chief conductor and artistic director of the Zürcher Kammerorchester (ZKO). Griffiths is a champion of music by contemporary Turkish and Swiss composers. With the ZKO, he has also conducted works in a classical and classical modern range. From 2007 to 2018 Griffiths was chief conductor of the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester in Frankfurt. He has recorded over 60 CDs under various labels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Griffiths_(conductor)

https://www.howardgriffiths.ch/

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