Hardly could I find any words, for the definition of Alim's voice constantly succeeds to avoid my rational grasp.My only bigger comments would go on behalf of the (surprisingly) stoic and somewhat dull note reading of Kronos people. Of course, their accurate and measured approach worked just fine (even gentle and mystic) with the more westernly classical and modern compositions in the first, "solo" part, but their variable mindscapes could emerge more brightly in the aftermath of the pause, while coinhabiting the extremely acoustic stage with Alim's band. While Qasimov and his daughter, Ferghana, along with the four very "easy" looking azeri musicians (among which the very young drummer holds a special place), constantly deviated (yet faithfully inside the main frame) from the melodic structures, Kronos Quartet remained (or so it seemed) very close with their writings (arranged by Jacob Garchik). On the other hand, there is a way to understand this kind of stiffness. The original harmonic structures came from the azeri music into the classical string quartet posture - and not vice versa, so Alim could behave much more freely with his material, mastered and "distilled" through the ages, as John Harrington would remark.
The best focal point of the concert therefore (also surprisingly) lay on the second part of the first round, when Alim first performed, then still alone with his ensemble. The spontaneus elegance in which he connected the six musician spirits came to its most noteworthy, when his voice pierced the auditorium so ravagely and yet in a sharp manner, that it sometimes totally stunned the eyes and the breaths of the audience. And one did not need to look to see that improvisational lightness came from many years of practice and relentless consecration into the spiritual side of music. Without the inner mounting flame Alim and Fargana's voices posess, all the organic central Asia melodies would be nothing more than some very good folk/sacred music. The best demonstration of it comes when their voices, man and woman (though father and daughter!) combine in a strange dissonance, never out of perfect pitch and sensual strength. Apart from some minor energetic downfalls, their voices have nothing to dispute. It is, however, for a western listener, quite a hefty musical journey to immerse himself into the long azeri compositions, pieces, that combine so many aspects of a human's life it is extremely hard to enjoy them in the first hearing.
Kronos Quartet remained a bit too unresponsive, yet perfectly coherent in their own four voices. Maybe the next cooperation of the two big spirits will bring us even closer to ethereal realms - though this one hardly failed at its best parts.
