Eastern Voices

In Eastern Voices, co-directors Frank Scheffer and Günter Wallbrecht document preparations for a concert incorporating traditional music from Central Asia and the Middle East at the 2009 Morgenland Festival Osnabrück. Event director Michael Dreyer matches up a German chamber orchestra and an Iranian conductor and composer with singers and players from Iran (husband and wife Salar Aghili and Harir Shariatzadeh), Syria (Nouri Iskandar, Ibrahim Keivo), Azerbaijan (father and daughter Alim and Fargana Qasimov), and Uzbekistan (Yulduz Turdieva Ensemble). Iskandar feels that the strength of traditional Syrian music comes from its twinned roots in Christian and Muslim traditions, suggesting that he's already bringing a hybrid form into the equation. Says German player Stefan Mertin, “We play different music, and we play music differently,” but he looks forward to seeing what results when these divergences come together. As it turns out, the process yields both frustration and enlightenment as discipline meets instinct (the Germans prefer scored music, the guest musicians do not). There's also a more spiritual dimension to the Eastern works, whose players view themselves as communicating with a higher power. Nonetheless, Christian Heinecke says, “I found the rehearsals more interesting than the concert”—which could also speak for the documentary as a whole, since the final performance itself is not part of the program. However, DVD extras do include separate appearances by the Qasimovs, Keivo, and Aghili and Shariatzadeh, all featuring traditional lyrics and keening vocals over spare percussive or drone-based instrumentation. Presented in DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo, this is recommended. (K. Fennessy)