Review | Songlines

Conversations with Manol

Rating: ★★★★

View album and artist details

Album and Artist Details

Artist/band:

Ara Dinkjian

Label:

Krikor Music

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.

Subscribe from only £7.50

Start your journey and discover the very best music from around the world.

Subscribe

View the Current
Issue

Take a peek inside the latest issue of Songlines magazine.

Find out more