Concert by Shahram Nazeri
by Sandman on 5/7/24Lincoln Theatre - WashingtonMr. Nazeri is a well-known and much liked master musician, singer, and composer among the Traditional Music (Sonnati) artists and Iranians both in and outside the country respect and admire him. I remember his last performance in this area but in another venue where he created lots of excitement and the audience were on their feet. Lincoln Theater is an old concert hall but renovated and is liked by many. However, since it lacks parking, it creates a challenge for the patrons. The concert started at least 20 minutes late with no program to tell us who the artists are and what works they are presenting. I noticed some ticket holders are still coming in and filling in the empty seats even after 30 minutes past the start. We need to do better as an audience. The first two works were contemporary poems put to traditional style of music not so commonly experienced by an average listener. Was it an innovative way of expression? Perhaps a program could have helped us to have a better understanding of the intent or feelings related to creat those works. The musicians were highly talented, and they presented enjoyable moments during the performance. Mr. Nazeri's solo singing in "Kordi"with his own playing of Setar created some excitement among the audience members more familiar with the style and the dialect. I wish those pieces would have been played by the ensemble, which probably would have needed more practice time. Also, in my opinion, the sound system was not the best, especially the voice of Mr. Nazeri, which was louder at times, separated him from the ensemble. This issue was somewhat improved during the performance. Unfortunately, he mentioned that he was ill with the flu, which I assume made a difference in the quality of the program. Once, he and the ensemble were a bit unsure about what piece to play next and made some of the selections on the stage. That could have also been due to requests made by some audience members. Practice time is always a concern when such artists arrive from overseas to join musicians who already live in various states in the US. The musicians playing in this concert are among some of the best and live in the US and play in perfect harmony together, which showed in the instrumental piece they played at the end of the first hour. Luckily, there was no intermission for this 2 hour program with a lobby not large enough to hold everyone during the break. Unfortunately, I did not see or feel the expected excitement from the audience during this program. There was lots of applause, and show of appreciation for Mr. Nazeri and the artists but no encore was requested, and none was presented. Perhaps encores are no longer part of the traditional programs because the pieces are usually too long compared to other styles. In the end, one of my friends and I were somewhat disappointed, but another friend seemed to have enjoyed the program. Was the concert worth the price of admission and the experience, probably not. However, this was somewhat a historical performance, and many of us didn't want to miss it.