TEHRAN – The Tehran Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra will perform several concerts in honor of Team Melli, Iran’s national football team, in Russian during the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament.

Two songs have specifically been composed for the performances, which will be held in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Kazan, Ali-Akbar Safipur, the director of the Rudaki Foundation that is the main organizer of the concerts said during a press conference on Monday.

The lyrics for one of the songs has been composed by Ehsan Afshari while Babak Zarrin has put it to music. Vocalist Salar Aqili is scheduled to perform the song along with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra.

The other song is from poet Saed Baqeri and Shahrdad Rohani, the conductor of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, has set it to music. Vocalist Alireza Qorbani will sing the piece.

Safipur said that Fereidun Shahbazian, the conductor of the National Orchestra, is also composing music for a poem by Abdoljabbar Kakai, which will also be performed in Russia. The singer of the piece will be announced later.

Earlier last week, former Tehran Symphony Orchestra conductor Ali Rahbari who has worked with over 100 European orchestras criticized the decision to perform the concerts in Russia.

He described the decision as taking coal to Newcastle and said that the performance would not get any public welcome in the country, which is home to numerous professional orchestras.

Rahbari also called the musical program costly for Iran and asked the Culture Ministry to stop it as the country is suffering a deep recession. 

Photo: Conductor Shahrdad Rohani and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra acknowledge the audience after a performance at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on May 11, 2017. (YJC/Alireza Farahani)
    
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