TEHRAN – The 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Iran and Croatia will be celebrated with a concert, which will be performed by the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.

“Zarathustra Spitama”, a symphonic poem composed by Iranian maestro Ali (Alexander) Rahbari who is also the conductor, will be performed at the concert, which will take place on March 4 at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb.

Iranian singer Reza Fekri will sing a tenor solo accompanied by the chamber choir Ivan Filipovic.

Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra Director Mirko Boch met with Iranian Ambassador Parviz Esmaeili on Monday to finalize preparations for the concert, the Iranian Embassy in Zagreb said.

Due to the Persian language of the concert and the Iranian musicians in the concert, Esmaeili called the program unique and said, “It gives me great pleasure to celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations between Iran and Croatia begins with a cultural event”.

Earlier on October 23, 2020, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra also performed “Zarathustra Spitama” to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

In a statement for the concert, Rahbari referenced “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, a symphonic poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1883-1885 philosophical novel, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”, and said : “As for the two greats, Nietzsche and Strauss, I only dared to compose music inspired by the words of Zarathustra in 2018.

“Mr. Barbad Bayat encouraged me to process the words of the great Zarathustra, which ultimately spawned this symphony inspired by Persian music, and after much effort and extensive research, I finally composed an outstanding symphonic poem and extremely melodious on Zarathustra for tenor, chorus and orchestral symphony.

“Spitama is actually the surname of a Zoroastrian family. After finishing the song, I decided to present it to the Croatian people who boast of their Persian origins. My wife, with whom I have four children, is also Croatian and they were all very happy with my decision.

“I would also like to express my satisfaction that this is happening during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Zagreb Philharmonic, which I conducted for many years, and for two years I was its conductor, and the orchestra members were extremely close to my heart.”

Photo: Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW