TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) -- Prominent musician Loris Tjeknavorian announced that he is busy composing the opera “Rustam and Esfandiyar.”

“The composition of the opera should be completed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2004) and I hope to perform it with the Rudaki orchestra next year,” he said. On the style of the work, he added, “I have based my composition on the tradition of ta’zieh (Persian passion play). I have always liked epic works especially Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh which is an everlasting masterpiece.”

Tjeknavorian has in the past composed and performed the opera “Sohrab and Rustam”.