TEHRAN – “A Beautiful Square in Isfahan”, Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s composition inspired by Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square, was performed by Danish ensemble Athelas at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Thursday during the 34th Fajr Music Festival.  

Before the performance, Athelas artistic director Jesper Lützhøft said that the piece features the square’s beauty, hustle and bustle, and its silence.

The ensemble also performed pieces by Iranian composers Shahin Farhat, Hormoz Farhat and Amir-Mahyar Tafreshipur, and French composer Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc.

Bahareh Safai, Asu Kuhzadi and Nazanin Ahmadzadeh were the three Iranian musicians who accompanied the ensemble in its first performance. The group also gave a second performance on Friday.

The 34th Fajr Music Festival opened on Wednesday and will run until February 19.

Also on Thursday, the Orchestra of National Instruments conducted by Ali-Akbar Qorbani and vocalist Vahid Taaj dedicated one of their performances to Iranian music icon Mohammadreza Shajarian who is battling kidney cancer.

The orchestra also observed a moment of silence in remembrance of the 27 Iranian border guards who were killed on a suicide attack in southeastern Iran on Wednesday.

Also on the opening night on Wednesday, Vahdat Hall hosted several concerts including a performance by the Amael Trio from Slovenia. 

They performed compositions by Shahin Farhat and German composer Johannes Brahms.

Photo: Danish ensemble Athelas performs during the 34th Fajr Music Festival at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on February 14, 2019. (Honaronline/Mojtaba Arabzadeh)

RM/MMS/YAW