Alim Qasimov is a legendary singer of traditional music whose reputation approaches that of his role model, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. But even outside of this world, he is still held in high esteem by noted musicians: rocker Jeff Buckley recorded a joint concert together with him, and Björk went so far as to name him her favourite living singer. Qasimov, who started preparing to be a singer when he was young, nevertheless does not play the part of the star at all: he is a tradition-minded man with a wonderful sense of humour. Azeri mugham music is characterised by classical poems combined with instrumental and vocal improvisations. While Qasimov is without equal in the authentic interpretation of this genre, he also often boldly departs from tradition. At this concert titled Rabābi, Sufi culture will be nurtured not only from the Azeri side, but from the Iranian one as well, and Alireza Ghorbani, for his part, has visited Müpa Budapest before: he once gave a highly successful concert to a full house at the Festival Theatre. On this occasion, they will combine Persian (Rûmî) and Azeri (Fuzûlî) poetry in their singing, crossing the borders between Persian and Azeri culture with boundary-blurring musicality, contemporary Middle Eastern influences, and two renowned Hungarian jazz musicians, percussionist András Dés and Mátyás Szandai, a double bassist who plays in Archie Shepp's band among his various gigs. Sacred music at its best.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest