TEHRAN-The celebrated Iranian conductor Ali Rahbari held a concert at the world-famous Mariinsky Opera and Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 18.

At the concert titled “Transfigured Night: Masterpieces from the Turn of the Century,” the Mariinsky Orchestra performed pieces by the Austrian-American composer and music theorist Arnold Schoenberg, Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg, French composer Claude Debussy, and French composer and pianist Maurice Ravel, IRNA reported.

The pieces included Schoenberg's “Transfigured Night,” Grieg’s “Peer Gynt Suite No. 1,” Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” and Ravel’s “Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé Boléro”.

It was the 18th time that Rahbari conducted the Mariinsky Orchestra. In July 2022, he made his debut at the Mariinsky Theater and since then, he has been a regular on the Mariinsky stage.

Rahbari, 76, embarked on his musical journey at the age of five, learning to play the violin. He graduated from the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts in 1971, specializing in composition under the tutelage of Gottfried von Einem, and completed his conducting studies in 1974, guided by Hans Swarovsky. He is a laureate of international conducting competitions, securing the gold medal in Besançon, France (1977), and the silver medal in Geneva (1978).

He has conducted over 120 orchestras worldwide, including Orchestra della Svizzera Romanda, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, French Chamber Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and Prague Symphony Orchestra. 

He has served as the principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, receiving the Dvořák Medal in 1985 for his collaboration with the ensemble, and also led the Belgrade Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Belgian Radio and Television Orchestra (later becoming its principal conductor from 1988 to 1996).

Rahbari was the principal conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virtuosi di Praga chamber orchestra. From 2000 to 2004 he was the chief conductor and musical director of the Malaga Symphony Orchestra, Spain.

In 1997, Rahbari formed the Persian International Philharmonic Orchestra in Bregenz, Austria, by bringing together 60 Iranian musicians from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S. With this ensemble, he recorded Rimsky-Korsakov's “Scheherazade,” Khachaturian's “Violin Concerto,” and his own violin concerto, “Nohe Khan,” and was later awarded by the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts.

He has released over 250 compact discs, with his recordings of operas by Verdi and Puccini under his direction gaining particular popularity.

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