Novin Afrooz
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Interview Transcript
Part 01
I was born in Tehran in 1941.
I was 4 years old when with my parents and my brother went to Istanbul we stayed
there and we started going to school
This was run by catholic sisters and it was a famous and very strict school.
After some time we went to Italy in Milan for my father’s
business and my parents decided to stay there.
So we attended the French school Jeanne-d’Arc.
Later my brother was registered to a Swiss college in Fribourg.
I started getting piano lessons and my teacher
advised my parents to send me to the Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi.
At the admission exams I got high marks and I could
get to the Conservatory where in that class there were brilliant students like Claudio Abbado,
who became very famous later. At the end of the courses I gave a concert with orchestra
After a few years I graduated with the highest marks
Then the director of the Conservatory invited me to give a concert in a theater called
“Teatro Nuovo”, which means “Nuovo”, like my name
A pleasant coincidence! This was my first public concert, which was
successful and many papers wrote good reviews
After graduation from the Conservatory of Milan I attended the masterclasses
of Prof. A.B.M., who was the greatest pianist of the century
importance to be faithful to the text in the score.
Those times I was going to listen the great artists like Cortot, who
although was very old his playing made so much emotional impression, especially for Chopin
Then I was registered to the Conservatory of Geneva to the Virtuosity Courses of prof.
Hiltbrand. I learned a lot from this professor, technically and musically and
as the philosophy of music
After the virtuosity exams one could feel mature for giving concerts all over the world
After these exams, the first concert I was invited was in London at the Wigmore Hall
This concert hall was famous for being a springboard for the career of an artist,
because, as they say, it could make famous an artist or kill him
The concert was successful and the newspapers The Times and Daily Telegraph wrote
beautiful articles
Afterwards I gave many concerts all over the world
Then I was invited in China and I was the first musician who was invited
in that country to give a concert after the Cultural Revolution
I proposed to play Tchaikovsky’s Second Concerto with the orchestra
I was invited by Mrs. Zhu Enlai, the wife of the prime Minister.
Because when she had heard me she said that she would like that I give concerts in
her country and that the young Chinese musicians hear my concert
There were also the US Congress representatives visiting that
country; they were surprised to know that I am Iranian
I played Tchaikovsky’s concerto
But when I proposed to play this composer I was not sure that they would accept
it because this author was banned in the country because he was “Russian” and “bourgeois”
Then when I went to Russia and I told them that I had played this Concerto in China,
they could not believe it
I had already recorded this Concerto in Nurenberg, Germany,
with the orchestra with A. Rahbari conducting.
In Russia I was invited on tours to different towns, like Moscow and
St-Petersbourg. It was a communist country and I went to towns that people usually did not know
At the Lomosov University I played Prokofieff Sonata Op. 3 and the Toccata.
I also played the Three Preludes by Gershwin
This was the first performance of this American composer in that country,
as it was the period of the Cold War
I was also invited to cities in Asia, like Ashgabad and Alma Ata.
It was interesting because at that time people could not visit those countries
and in historic places like Turkmenistan I gave a recital and
played also with the orchestra
I was also inspired by their national music and composed “Torkeman dances”
But after the concerts I was going around to the shops to try to buy some presents or souvenirs,
because you could not take out their money in Rubles
Yes, I was thinking this is my private life and I had so
many nice and affectionate friends all over the world
Where is my home ? My home is the World! I feel at home everywhere.
When I came to Iran, I didn’t feel I have not been there for a long time.
One of my satisfactions is to give lessons to young people in this country,
especially after the revolution
I was the first person who gave a concert in this
country after the revolution in the Theatre
The young people were hungry for music and I had interesting Masterclasses
And I am happy to be able to contribute also to the culture of my country
Part 02
I was very interested also in painting since my childhood
In Italy I attended the courses of painting but I did not do exhibitions, but very little
In Tehran at the 6th anniversary of UNHCR I had been invited to give a concert at
the Niaveran Cultural Center and on that occasion I put on exhibition also some of my paintings
Another time I organized an exhibition in the penthouse of my home
in the music room, where I intend to organize an academy of music
I was always thinking of organizing cultural events
In my paintings I used a lot of different kinds of colors,
like pastel oil or water colors because I like colors very much
The last 3 and 4 years I used natural colors, like beets, spinach or saffron
I started writing poems in French because since my childhood I had been studying French
Then I translated in Italian and English, as everywhere I was going this
language was spoken, in the international congresses and festivals
Around year 1982 I had been invited to San Francisco for a concert and there UPLI,
a cultural organization on poetry and peace, gave me an award
They used to select every two years a president for organizing an international congress
That year I was elected and I did it in Italy, but unfortunately
there was the war in Iran in that year 1988
I was very sorry that I could not invite some Iranian writer or poet because of the war
The Mayor of Milan has been very helpful. We did the
opening of the Congress on Poetry and Peace in the beautiful palace that the Mayor gave us
Many delegations from different parts of the world attended it, like Korea, Japan, US and Europe
They made speeches and for the closure they gave me the permission
of doing it at the Municipality of Rome, a beautiful and majestic building
There was also the representative of the Vatican, who invited us with all the delegation to attend
the concert of the Russian Choir at the Vatican in the presence of Pope John Paul II
Everybody was very excited, also because it was a historic event
during the communist times. It was a beautiful congress
Once in New York at a convention I read my poem “Hope of Peace”
I had never had the ambition of having my book printed as a poet
Anyway, after I read, an English publisher came to see me and he said
that he liked my poem and he would like to print it with my permission,
together with other poems
That was my first poetry book, with the title “Hope of Peace”.
This was about a flower growing through snow (very symbolic)
When I was writing poetry I was very influenced by Baudelaire, the great French poet
There was war in Iran at that time and all my hope was that this war ends and while
writing these poems I was thinking that they are a message
Then I translated them in Farsi, which was printed in Iran
(“Hope of Peace”)
Later it was printed in Japan. Prof. Chivasaqui, a specialist of Hai Ku poetry,
that I had had the opportunity of meeting in different conventions
read my poetry, translated and published them
He then invited me to Japan for concerts.
He wanted that I give concerts and lectures for the youth
I was the first foreign musician to be invited to China after the Cultural Revolution
I was invited to Bejing, Shanghai, Handjou
This was a very charming and poetic place that impressed me a lot
There was a poetic atmosphere, with a beautiful lake and the summer castle of the emperors
I was inspired and wrote a poem, “Lotus Flower”
It was written in French but it is translated in English and also in Chinese language
A Chinese newspaper wrote an article with the title Novin Afrouz 3P (Pianist, Painter, Poet)
One of my best memories is the Congress in Corfu, where the President was the
famous actress Melina Mercouri (at that time Minister of Culture of Greece)
There I had the opportunity of meeting very important writers and poets, like Senghor, Luzi,
Borges and the representative of the Nobel Prize Academy
the auditorium of the University in Malta and was awarded the Albert Einstein Award for Music
After some time I was awarded the title of Cavaliere Della Repubblica by the President of Italy-
On that occasion the Italian Ambassador gave a reception
In 2018 I printed this calendar with my paintings and poems
Poem “Light in Darkness”:
It is nice / To smile / In misfortune / To love in
disappointment / To build in chaos / To be tender / In hardship / To think / With heart
Part 03
I composed some pieces for piano
One is called “Habanera Rythm” that I performed in my first concert in Tehran after
the Revolution and also in Washington where I played twice and in Italy
An interesting fact happened at the Festival at the Theatre in Tehran
I was invited at the Festival to the concert of Ebil Alioff, virtuose of kemantche
I had never been keen on Iranian instruments; but when I heard him play I was very
excited and had the impression of listening to Paganini
I tried to find out the reason of his wonderful style and performance, like a great western violinist
Then I found out that in Moscow and Azerbaijan they have an Academy for these studies
I was inspired and decided to write a composition for piano and kemanche to be able to play all
over the world where they perform western classical music
In my penthouse, while watching the Alborz mountains I was inspired and
wrote the music for some more
instruments besides kemanche and piano, like tar, kanun and flute.
And this was the Quintett for five western and eastern instruments
The title was “Golestan”
We performed it first privately at home and then when we went to different countries
and festivals, in Switzerland, Germany and Italy
The second piece I think was around 1996
At that time they had not been composing in a classical academic style.
I wrote this piece in a classical academic style, with counterpoint, harmony
It was not unison like Iranian music which has only one line,
even though there are 100 instruments, everybody is playing the same line, in unison
But in this piece each instrument has its own melody, in a polyphonic style
It was not easy also for the performance. It needs about
almost one or two years for musicians to get acquainted with it, at least one year
The second piece is called “The Silk Road”
I had already composed the Turkman Dance which is included in it
This piece is a collection of 5 pieces. The first one is called “China”,
which I did not copy but was inspired by Chinese music
then Turkman Dance, Azerbaijan with a typical
melody, Iran where I tried to write in an epic style and
in the middle there is a cadence with Iranian instruments playing the typical Mahur melody
As Marco Polo had traveled from Italy to China, the last piece is dedicated to Italy,
with the music of Vivaldi “Gloria”
Two years ago with the group composed of Sahar kanun player
Hooman Mahdavian tar, Kaveh Mohammadian kemanche, Romano Pucci flute
we worked together then went to Italy and
gave two concerts in Milan and in a festival in Switzerland
When I was in Tehran I got acquainted with a percussionist through a friend, Prof
Shahshahani, who told me that she was expecting a friend coming from Switzerland
with his motorcycle
I asked her what he was doing; she told me he was a musician,
very fond of Daf and professor of percussion at the Conservatory of Lausanne
I got very curious and invited them for the next day to my house
The day after we sat and talked; I asked him why he came with his motorcycle
He said I am going through the Silk Road, Iran, Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan, to all these countries in motorcycle in order to see them better
I was very excited and told him that in a month we have to go to Switzerland
for performing the Silk Road
I said we also have a percussion in our group
and asked him whether he would like to perform with us
He said yes and promised that he would try to arrive back in Switzerland
before the concert, on time for rehearsing with us
Anyhow, we did not know then whether he would be able to come on time
He arrived. By chance his home was at about twenty-minute drive from the concert place
This was a very interesting coincidence in Tehran
Then I asked him in my piece “China” I would like to have the Gong instrument
he said that he had it; he also had Iranian instruments and tombak that we needed in our pieces
Besides these pieces, I had also transcribed some famous pieces and
I was thinking that would fit the Quintett
like Chorale by Bach, Haydn, Brahms Hungarian Dances
When we performed these pieces at the concert people were amazed and
liked very much, as they had never heard these Iranian instruments
They liked very much and were impressed to hear this music with these instruments played
in a western style
It was not easy you see the performance, the sound, the polyphonic style
This book has been published in Belgium in 6 languages.
The great Italian actor Sbragia has recited them and I played the piano
it won prizes and was presented in different places like Japan, Washington and Italy
The Iranian Shepherd
The song of your flute
Is already a dream ?
Mystic happiness
Has turned to dispute ?
Mounts were listening
To velvety sound
Vibrate in pure air
Now rifle cracking
I did also an interesting work, while there was war in Iran
I had been invited by this famous actor and theater director who was willing to do a performance
about the Sonata Kreuzter, a well-known novel by Tolstoy
When Beethoven read it he was inspired and composed the Sonata Kreutzer for piano and violin.
He had in mind to recite the whole novel in the theater while we would perform
the piece by Beethoven
Actually that was a rather difficult work and I was reluctant to accept it
But everybody encouraged me and said I should do it because he is a great artist.
We started and the success was great
We performed about 200 times, from North to South Italy, Leningrad
(as St-Petersbourg was called then), Paris
It was a very interesting time; people from different countries were coming to see this performance
also from the USA like the congressman I had met in China.
He came one day to Rome to see me and I invited him to the theater
Sbragia was very amazed to those connections and said “if you didn’t exist we should
have invented you!”
In Paris I introduced him to Count Tolstoy, a cousin of the great writer
and President of the Tolstoy Foundation
The Swiss TV had broadcast it and also RAI in Italy
Yes, I have composed two pieces for piano and soprano, “Venice” and “Lily” on my poems
After the war, when I came here, I composed a piece for orchestra and choir
I was invited to the Festival of Lugano as a jury and to perform a concert
Right after the war I invited there some young Iranian musicians.
At that time it was so difficult to leave the country
I wanted them to participate and see the world, international musicians and come to my classes
I also invited two young conductors to participate in
the master classes of the director of the Festival
I was also invited to the international piano competition at Rottach-Egern
next to Munich in Germany
I held master-classes and was a member of the jury as well as giving a concert.
My students came from Italy, Japan
I gave master-classes and was member of the jury at Barcelona in Spain
Then in Crans-Montana in Switzerland , where I invited also some
students from Iran, who did great progress
Part 04
What is music ?
Music is the expression of myself about what I think, what is in my heart.
Music is a message. I have been asked how come you have been following music ?
I answer: “music followed me”. Well, when I started my studies
I tries to improve and do the best possible
I don’t try to be satisfied but I analyze and think of how I can do better.
The key to success ? It is trying to be better.
I never said I am very well and be satisfied.
There are always new ideas and ways to more improvement
For example, after graduating from the Conservatory of Milan, which was very good.
Some students either stop or just stay and continue at that level.
I wanted to improve and went to Geneva
I attended more advanced courses and did more difficult exams and
this opened a wider horizon in my mind, as I realized later
I would like to transmit it to my students.
The problem for them is that they like compliments and young
students think they play very well
But in Europe or Russia or USA they take it more seriously and are more critical and
this criticism is positive
it is for improvement and here they should accept more criticism and
they should not expect just praises
I don’t mean to put them down , they should be encouraged
naturally but the weak points and things they should learn and discipline should be accepted.
Now young people are interested in world music
But I realized that the quality of sound is very important
For example, when a singer is singing or studying it needs
years of work on the quality of the sound
Likewise, it needs years to improve the quality of the sound for a musician
or any instrument, be it piano or kemanche. It is a question of technique of music
They should be more sensitive and work on the quality of the sound and
not just make any sound for a note, but how this note should be with which color
What do you dislike ?
I hate the war anywhere in the world
I would like peace, I like the people, I like helping.
I am not upset only when bad things happen in my surroundings but anywhere,
in my country, or see a misfortune
It depends on the character and the personality. Everybody is different, they couldn’t be like me
You see a musician is not just a player of notes, he can learn this and also the style
But it is important that he acquires a humanistic maturity, personality,
the relation between the world, the people, inner spiritual maturity
Life is not easy. In life one should take advantage of every moment
one should have some philosophy and wisdom.