Esfahan

This new album of Iranian classical music features Faraz Entessari on tar (long-necked lute), accompanied by Fabio Tricomi on various percussion instruments and also on the barbat (short– necked lute). The musicians give a full rendition of the modal system (dastgah) known as Esfahan, and its individual pieces or gusheh, including both improvised and pre-composed pieces. Entessari trained in the classical tradition in Iran, and now lives in Italy. The performance is competent enough but this is a largely traditional interpretation and those familiar with this music are likely to find it somewhat lacking in originality compared with recent work, both from musicians in Iran and those in diaspora such as Kayhan Kalhor, the Dastan Ensemble or Hafez Nazeri. There is a brief spark of an individual voice in the rhythmic track ‘Oj, Zarbi’ but I came away wondering what yet another recording of the traditional repertoire, with some of the most well-worn and oft-repeated precomposed pieces, adds to what's already available on the market. Listeners who are new to Iranian music may be better off starting with recordings by more established artists, with a greater variety of timbral and instrumental sounds.

Entessari is certainly a promising musician: he does what he does well but has not yet developed a distinctive enough voice to warrant the liner note's claim of him as ‘one of the most important performers of the ancient Persian musical style in Europe’. He is young, and may still fulfil that promise. Not yet, though.