Kayhan Kalhor & Rembrandt Trio

Breathtaking encounter between Western and Persian music.

The Iranian great regularly collaborates with musicians from other cultures, such as the Indian sitar player Shujaat Khan, the Turkish saz wizard Erdal Erzincan, the Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté and the American string quartet Brooklyn Rider. His project with the Rembrandt Trio is particularly intriguing in this respect. Kalhor says: 'You can't categorize it, it's not jazz, it's not classical music, it's just something we do with our instruments, where everything revolves around improvisation.'

The instruments chosen are remarkable. Kalhor plays the kemenche, the knee violin, with that expressive straight-to-the-heart sound. Rembrandt Frerichs plays a fortepiano based on a 1790 model, the type of instrument that Mozart played. The sound is somewhere between a piano and a harpsichord. Frerichs says, "I was drawn to it because it can sound like a tar (Iranian long-necked lute) or a santur (Iranian/Indian cimbalom). The instrument has far fewer overtones than a modern piano and therefore sounds more transparent, which gives a lot of space to the other instruments."

This performance is a collaboration between BIMHUIS and the Muziekgebouw.