Shur / Kyurdi Ovshari / Gyulistan Bayati Shiraz / Azerbaijan Capriccio

"Born in 1922 in that part of the Soviet Union we know recognise as Azerbaijan, Fikret Amirov was one of the first composers to marry his native folk music into a classical symphonic concept. The accompanying booklet details the source of his inspiration based on free and highly improvisatory material, a mood we hear through all four works. Put this to the back of your mind and you will find four pieces in the shape of symphonic poems and couched in orchestrations familiar from the highly coloured scores of Rimsky-Korsakov. You could well imagine the opening work, Shur, being used as a ballet, dance rhythms being a major input into a score that includes melodies western ears would describe as 'oriental'. Amirov must have been well acquainted with Khachaturian, his energetic Kyuradi Ovshari, so indebted that it could well have come from the famous composer. Gyulistan Bayati Shiraz was a much later work dating from 1971 and employs a piano as soloist, the music's general texture initially cast in an aggressive modernism before returning to Amirov's familiar style. The short Azerbaijan Capriccio, with its lazy seductive opening dance, ends a finely played disc, the conductor, Dmitry Yablonsky, well-versed in Azerbaijan music. Very punchy sound ideal for the music." David's Review Corner, March 2010

A prolific composer in many genres, including operas, musical comedies, songs, orchestral works and stage and film music, Fikret Amirov came to prominent public attention at the age of 26, when his two symphonic mugams, Shur and Kyurdi Ovshari, were first performed in Baku in August 1948 to popular acclaim. Based on the Azerbaijani mugam, a highly improvisatory form of folk-music which alternates song and dance-like episodes, Shur and Kyurdi Ovshari, together with Amirov's third symphonic mugam from 1971, Gyulistan Bayati Shiraz, sparkle with brilliant orchestration, rich melodic invention and expressive instrumental solos. The Azerbaijan Capriccio, a thrilling example of orchestral pyrotechnics, also has its roots in folk-music.