Author: Maria Lord
View album and artist detailsArtist/band: |
Ara Dinkjian |
Label: |
Krikor Music |
Magazine Review Date: |
Nov/Dec/2013 |
I loved the idea behind this CD even before I started listening to it; the album pays homage to an instrument maker, one of the exceptionally skilled craftsmen and women who rarely make the headlines – unless it’s a story about the auction price of a Stradivarius. In this instance the craftsman in question is oud maker Emmanuel Venios (1838-1914), better known as ‘Manol,’ whose workshop in Istanbul produced some of the finest Aegean stringed instruments of the time. The American-Armenian musician of Night Ark fame, Ara Dinkjian, went into a studio after acquiring one of these sought-after ouds, initially to record background music for a poetry recitation. But he ended up recording a string of improvisations to explore the possibilities of his new instrument. The result is a wonderful journey, with all the pieces based on traditional models, but each subtly different. To my ears the most successful are those Dinkjan characterises as a ‘free introduction and song,’ perhaps because they better invoke the history of the instrument. Yet every track is a testament to Ara Dinkjian’s great musicianship.
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