Voices from the East: Azerbaijan & Turkmenistan

Journeying along an orchestral version of the Silk Road, this series has run through Karabits’ chief conductorship of the BSO, revealing the magical flavours of music from across his native land and its neighbouring countries. For today’s concerts, Karabits has chosen three different groups of composers from contrasting musical traditions: first, composers from the Turkic countries of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. It’s a chance to discover Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s mesmerisingly colourful Nagillar (Fairy Tales) and Chary Nurymov’s idealistic Symphony No.2, written in 1984 in memory of Indira Gandhi after her assassination. To close, the orchestra performs a selection from the Suite from the ballet Seven Beauties by Shostakovich’s pupil Gara Garayev, evoking the exquisite writing of 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi.