 Listen to samples at Musicline. Click here ..."Bach would have turned in his grave. Then he'd have stepped out, dusted himself and
paid attention … The songs were most haunting when vocalist Fadia el-Hage reverted to
Arabic. At those times, perhaps, Bach also wept." The Business Times, 14.06.2007
„It is
Vladimir Ivanoff's strong point, to join cultures and to build musical bridges between
orient and occident. With the «Arabian Passion» … he succeeded in a brilliant way. Heart,
mind, gesture and communication with the other artists were merged into an intensive
whole. … I could not have imagined more beautiful music for Good Friday.“ Franz Szabo,
Salzburger Nachrichten, 4/2006
Nobody ever has pictured human suffering, represented by Jesus Christ, as impressively
and as fervently as J. S. Bach in his Passions. An Arab-European cast of musicians and
masters of European jazz transforms sound icons of classical music into a present-day
statement on humanity. In a world marked by differences, this musical collaboration
creates an intense and contemplative space for peace and respect. Adapted from Bach’s
Passions, the spirit of Baroque is intertwined and reinterpreted with the living musical
traditions of the Middle East together with the improvisations of Jazz. One of the most
famous singers of the Arab world, Fadia el-Hage, reprises Bach’s arias as healing songs
bridging the conflicts and differences between the Arab world and the West, between
different faiths, between believers and non-believers, between modernists and
traditionalists. "An Arabian Passion" evokes a musical plea for peace, with projections of
photographic art depicting the ordinary people of Iraq taken by ‘unembedded’
photographers Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Kael Alford, Thorne Anderson and Rita Leistner
(unembedded.net). They serve as a pressing reminder of the human ordeals of our
contemporary times. The suffering of modern-day Iraqis gives new context and coontent
to Bach's Passions.
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