It was in 1891 that Ernest Absalon, a craftsman from Molenbeek, moved to rue Saint-Christophe and bought the land just behind it from the City of Brussels in order to build his large haberdashery and hosiery workshop. Part of the design has strong similarities to the old Grand Bazaar Anspach, the work of famous architect Victor Horta. This now deserted building on rue Van Artevelde has been brought back to life as Mercerie – an exciting creative hub for Brussels arts and performance scene.
It is in this beautiful warehouse that mugham singer Parviz Gasimov, winner of the first prize for the famous international music festival Sharq Taronalari 12th edition (Mélodies de l’Orient) held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, will perform for the first time in our country. Parviz Gasimov places himself in a line of well-known Azeri artists such as Gochag Asgarov, Aygun Baylar or Alim Qasimov. Parviz Gasimov, extraordinary singer, will be joined by three of Azerbaijan’s most famous mugham musicians. Malik Mansurov, grand master of the tar, a long-necked lute, is best known in the West as an accompanist to Alim Qasimov, as is his brother Elshan Mansurov, master and soloist of the kamanche, a rustic spade fiddle. Ramin Abdullayev, meanwhile, is one of the most lust-for percussionists for mugham.
Azerbaijani mugham is a form of traditional music that is mainly characterized by a large part being left to improvisation. It is a very complex form of music with specific systems and concepts of musical expression that require a very high level of professionalism from performers. Although mugham is a classical and academic form of music, it is nonetheless based on popular folk melodies, rhythms and performance techniques. There are close links between this mugham, the Iranian-Arab-Turkish maqam and the Central Asian shashmaqam. It goes without saying that mugham is extremely popular in Azerbaijan. It has been recognized as an intangible world heritage by UNESCO since 2003.
This concert will also take place at 6:30 p.m.
Musicians:
- Parviz Gasimov: vocals
- Malik Mansurov: tar
- Elshan Mansurov: Kamanche
- Ramin Abdullayev: nagara (percussion)
