Excerpts from press reviews (some are from German newspapers which are
translated
into English):
The third and last part of the concert was performed by the
guitarist
Reza Ganjavi, he was born in Persia, with an enormous virtuosity... He
played
pieces from Spanish and South American Masters of the 19th and 20th
century
among them Barrios, Tarrega, Albeniz, Malats, Lauro, Bonfa and
Villa-Labos.
His caracteristical intensity charmed the public, which rewarded his
delightful simplicity with a lot of applause....As a “final-point” of
the presentation
Mr Ganjavi played some songs from the Beatles where the public joined
the
singing. So, on a day of a mostly informal gathering the whole
spectrum/variety
of occidental music art from Bach to Beatles was presented. And
although
the presentation didn't compete at all with the magical presentations
of
the actual Menuhim Festival in Gstaad, one got a clear idea of how the
music
language is and how she can bring people from all languages and
nationalities
together in peace and solidarity/mutuality.
Reza Ganjavi Travels Through Five Centuries With His Guitar......a
musical
journey through time from 16th century to today...From Renaissance to
Baroque
– with an emphasis on Bach – to the Romantic period, the artist
enchanted
(“verzauberte”) his audience by the works of such composers as Sanz,
Scarlatti,
Sor, Giuliani, Tarrega, and Albeniz....During the second part of the
performance,
the Persian virtuoso who had lived in the US since he was 15, changed
between
classical guitar and piano and the audience listened, sang, and clapped
along,
to songs from The Beatles, such as Hey Jude and Let It Be. All in all
it
was a successful evening between the middle-age and the new-age, with a
brilliant
and energetic musician and narrator.
A World-Citizen Gave A Concert... when this classical musician says
that
his biggest musical influence are the Beatles, everybody understands
what
the word “multi-cultural” could mean.... RG is everywhere at home. And
he
doesn’t feel at all like a stranger in Switzerland. “the world is my
home”,
he says. But he doesn’t mix up everything. When he’s playing Persian
music
– what he was doing with a lot of joy after his classical concert last
Friday
evening – he is 100% Persian. But the Beatles also would be happy if
they
heard his interpretation of their songs. He played the Beatles at the
Badenfahrt
for a big audience.... And at the classical concert in the Sebastian
Chapel
to celebrate the anniversary of the centre, he played pieces of the
European
masters with a sensitivity as if only this kind of music existed in his
life.
For RG everything stays original. That’s what one should understand by
multi-cultural:
to stay faithful to oneself, to be conscious of our roots, and to
cherish
them while being at the same time open for other people and cultures.
To
be tolerant and willing to learn. If a multicultural society could be
like
this, RG would be a perfect example. In this sense if was a brilliant
idea
to choose him for the Multicultural Centre anniversary concert.
At the appointment he had with the newspaper he came in with a small
yellow
parcel which he had to carry to the post afterwards. There were 4 CD's
in
it. He said as an answer to the question asked: "because a girl on a
train
ordered" and he smiled contentedly... After a long a time Reza has
produced
his first CD. It is not the last reason [why he produced it] because as
his guitar playing on trains and buses have people more and more
fascinated,
they obviously wanted to have this music at home for years. So he
started
to promise his fans that they'll receive a CD and started collecting
their
addresses and put himself under pressure - because the first promise he
made
was 4 years ago. And his fans became in all these years a bit impatient
which
is very understandable. The nice thing about it is that now that the CD
is
available he owes the CD to a lot of people who are interested in it.
This
is important because he is both the producer and the distributor.
Musically
he does 3 different things: His repertoire includes Beatles songs and
Classical
music. But whenever he's on stage people realize that he was born in
Iran
and they always want to hear something Persian. Reza is a discrete
musician.
Although he is very capable of playing powerful energetic passages, he
doesn't
playing anything that disturbs other people. The main thing is that he
is
there with his whole soul.
He plays with a lot of sensibility and heart
across the strings and through the songs he loves.... He is always well
received
as a guest: whether in a concert, a private party, on stage, or as
mentioned
before on a train or tram, because of his heartiness and his music
which
is full of soul, it has never led to a confrontation - which is not
pleasant.
Maybe the man who gave him 5 francs when he left the train has very
much
realized the whole thing because he said: "when I got on the train I
felt
stressed. Now I feel relaxed."... Except of a grumpy old man, a well
haired
American woman, and an old lady wearing a fur coat, all the passengers
in
the train and in the bus are really really pleased. Everyone who've had
the possibility to enjoy one of the mobile Reza Ganjavi concerts have
been
pleased. When a conductor asked him to stop playing the other
passengers
objected and wanted Reza not to stop. But it was only one conductor who
said that - the other ones seemed to be pleased too. Reza said they
often
don't want to see my ticket and instead, walk by smiling, even though
that
it has also happened that the conductor came by and showed him a better
place to play.... Due to his playing in public transport and the
contacts
he had gave him loads of addresses around the world. Recently he asked
someone
who had written to him which would be the best way to pay because he
had
to send a CD to Brazil. He feels like a fish in the water among the
audience
who have chosen him. Except if he has gigs as in a concert or party, as
a
paid, engaged musician because people like him and he likes people,
specially
the Europeans, he says are much more open than Americans and Swiss
people
who are normally not that famous for spontaneity, he says the
opposite.
He is totally happy that he can bring joy to people with his music and
that's
why he says in a very pleased way, what would a musician want more in
life
than the appreciation of the audience. And when he is not looking for
it,
it comes.....
With his CD.... not only pleases and brings joy to his existing
friends, but he wins new friends. Because it is a CD with
extra-ordinary, delicate, sympathetic interpretation. The Italian
composer Angelo Gilardino has composed melodies for various instruments
based on Anonymous Romance
which the listener should have heard before - the music for the film
Forbidden
Games, it is one of the most famous guitar melodies. The variations
Gilardino
has written are on one side seeming simple, but on the other hand very
versatile, harmonic, and gives you a sense of meditation. These
variations have found in Reza the ideal interpreter. You can also find
pieces by Giuliani, Sor, Carcassi, Tarrega, Malats, and Albeniz. One of
the main parts of the meditative and harmonic character of the CD is
the acoustics. Reza has been to a lot of churches until he settled for
a small house of god near Bern. The music in this place has a little
echo. This room that produces a small echo, with it the music seems to
vibrate through the room and this gives
the whole CD without doubt, an intimate note. This intimate note gets
better
because the sound engineer really knows his job - and that was Reza
himself.
That's probably the reason why the whole CD seems to come from one step
-
because on every level the musician himself is working. It's very
typical
for Reza Ganjavi The choice of the different musicians is very
important
because the variations of this Romance is....... The company of his
guitar
changes from the voice of Franziska Hegi and from violin, viola,
mandolin,
flute, oboe, and the cellist Stefania Verita who's a member of a
flamenco
group and the Tonhalle orchestra - has been discovered by him in a tram
which
is very typical for him!... When Reza is on his way again and plays in
trains
and buses, makes people happy, and these people want to bring something
home with them, now he has not to give promises for later. Who wonders
that
traveling by train pays for itself because nowhere else you can sell as
many
CD's as on the train without coming too close to people but only
because
he plays. You can hear parts of his CD on his homepage....
Those who can not listen to Roger Whitakers’ songs were very pleased to
hear Reza Ganjavi, a virtuoso guitarist of Persian origin ... The
passionate musician took his audience with him without any effort...
joy of life…
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