TEHRAN – Iranian singer and composer Abodolvahab Shahidi, who was also an oud and santur virtuoso, died of heart failure at Tehran’s Resalat Hospital on Monday. He was 99.

He was admitted to the hospital on Sunday due to some heart problems, his grandchild Ali Kheradmand announced on his Instagram and added that his grandfather received his first dose of a COVID 19 vaccination five days before his death.

Born in Meimeh, a small town near the central Iranian city of Isfahan, he began learning songs and playing the oud and santur from maestro Esmaeil Mehrtash.

His love of playing oud led him to compose the albums “The Mystery of Oud” and “Farewell My Oud”.

He recorded ten albums, the last of which was “I Can’t Live My Life in Solitude without You” in 2014.

With over 230 performances, Shahidi was the most prolific singer in Golha, a professional music program of Tehran Radio that had many top musicians. 

In his collections, Shahidi worked with great composers and performers of his time such as Jalil Shahnaz, Faramarz Paivar, Ali-Asghar Bahari, Hossein Tehrani, Rahmatollah Badiei, Hassan Nahis and Mohammad Esmaeili.   

The Persian literary monthly Bokhara in collaboration with Iran’s House of Music honored Shahidi in May 2015 for his lifetime achievements during a ceremony, which was attended by numerous top musicians, including vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian and ney virtuoso Hassan Nahid.   

In his brief speech at the ceremony, Shajarian said, “I always hid myself behind this great man and I always learned from him how artistic behavior must be.”

Nahid briefly expressed his respect for Shahidi and said that he has seen nothing but kindness from Shahidi.

“Shahidi is the image of a musician I always wanted to be: a high-minded man without greed. He gave me this hope that one can possess pure art, be a generous and kind person and do worthy artwork,” he added.

Photo: Iranian vocalist Abdolvahab Shahidi in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW