Fazil Say - 1001 Nights in the Harem (Patricia Kopatchinskaja)

Information

Composer: Fazil Say

1. Violin Concerto '1001 Nights in the Harem': I. Allegro
2. Violin Concerto '1001 Nights in the Harem': II. Allegro assai
3. Violin Concerto '1001 Nights in the Harem': III. Andantino
4. Violin Concerto '1001 Nights in the Harem': IV.
5. Alla Turca Jazz, Fantasia on the Rondo from the Piano Sonata in A major K331 by Mozart
6. Patara Ballet
7. Summertime Variations

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin (1-4)
Fazil Say, piano (5-7)

Lucerne Symphony Orchestra
John Axelrod, conductor

Date: 2008
Label: Naïve Classique

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Review

PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: ****

Fazil Say is an accomplished and acclaimed pianist, but the main focus here is on his composing talents. Not so long ago there was a craze for late-18th and 19th-century music that mingled European styles with Turkish traditions. Say demonstrates that this kind of fusion remains fertile in the 21st-century.

His Violin Concerto, written for Patricia Kopatchinskaja who performs here, is colourful and constantly engaging, filled with ear-catching textures, rhythms and melodies. As with Sheherazade, the violin unspools fascinating tales, linking the movements with cadenzas which, as Say says, bind them into an ‘intensely atmospheric unity’. The orchestra match Kopatchinskaja’s vigour and suppleness with incisive playing.

The sleeve, booklet and label go astray on the track order from here. On the disc, Summertimes, a set of cool jazz-flavoured solo piano variations on the Gershwin classic, follows the Concerto. Say displays his technique as well as his understanding of piano-jazz history.

Similarly, on his 110-second alla Turca Fantasia, he mingles Mozart with stride and boogie, but it hardly stands up against Brubeck’s masterpiece Blue Rondo à la Turk! The lovely, evocative and lyrical Patara, also Mozart-inspired, is here performed by piano, soprano, ney (Persian flute) and percussion, forming a magical core for the programme.

--  Barry Witherden, BBC Music Magazine

More reviews:
https://www.allmusic.com/album/fazil-say-1001-nights-in-the-harem-mw0001404815
https://www.thestrad.com/say-violin-concerto-1001-nights-in-the-harem-alla-turca-jazz-patara-ballet-summertime-variations/4738.article
https://www.amazon.com/Fazil-Say-1001-Nights-Harem/dp/B001JPB9LO

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Fazıl Say (born 14 January 1970 in Ankara) is a Turkish pianist and composer. He began studying piano at age 3 and wrote his first piece – a piano sonata – at the age of 14. Say attracted international attention with the piano piece Black Earth (1997), and since then has increasingly turned to the large orchestral forms. In 2007 he aroused international interest with his Violin Concerto 1001 Nights in the Harem, and after that scored further great successes with his symphonies. On 15 April 2013, Say was sentenced to 10 months in jail for his crime of "insulting religious values". The conviction was reversed on 26 October 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faz%C4%B1l_Say
https://fazilsay.com/

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Patricia Kopatchinskaja (born 1977) is a Moldovan-Austrian-Swiss violinist. She was born in Moldova and comes from a family of musicians. Kopatchinskaja studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and the University of the Arts Bern. has played with most of the important European orchestras including Vienna, Berlin and London Philharmonic. She regularly plays in Japan and Australia and recently also extended her activity to the United States, South America, Russia and China. She plays a 1834 violin by Giovanni Francesco Pressenda, and a 1780 violin built by Ferdinando Gagliano.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Kopatchinskaja
https://en.patriciakopatchinskaja.com/

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