Pezhvakha-ye Shiraz / De weerklank van Shiraz / Echoes of Shiraz

This entire recital is dedicated to the poetry of Hafez and Saadi, both from Shiraz. Their poems, written in the 13th and 14th centuries, are still very popular in Iran and surrounding countries. The recital begins with an introduction into the characteristics of the ghazal, the type of poem that we recite. Subsequently the poems will be recited: first the Persian original, then the Dutch translation. All poems will be accompanied by one or more musicians, on various instruments including setar, trumpet and double bass. Between the poems there will be interludes of various musicians.

About the book Pezhvakha-ye Shiraz / De weerklank van Shiraz / Echoes of Shiraz

This book, a short anthology, was specially written for this recital and everyone in the audience will be given a copy. In the book you will find twelve ghazals by Hafez and Saadi, both the original Persian text plus transliteration and the Dutch and English translations. The translations were written by Daniel Gerdes and Ghazaleh Alimardani together. Frans Poolen and Guus de Vries also participated in this cheerful project by commenting on the draft translations.

About this recital

Above all, we hope to create a colourful performance, devoted entirely to the beauty of the ghazals that we recite. There will be a lot of music in order to enjoy the beauty of these poems even more. We also hope to make Dutch readers more familiar with the poems of Hafez and Saadi. And finally, our performance is meant as a cheerful plea for cultural openness.

About the performers

Ghazaleh Alimardani studied dramatic literature. She worked for a long time as a storytelling teacher for minor refugees who have no access to education. She is passionate about photography and literature such as Persian poems and in particular poems of Hafez and Saadi.

Daniel Gerdes works in the field of alternative dispute resolution. Translating poems is one of his hobbies. His book In de roes van liefde en wijn (In the ecstasy of love and wine), with translations of poems by Hafez, was published in 2024 and launched at Theater Perdu in Amsterdam.

Victor Gerdes, internist by profession, has enjoyed music all his life and plays the cello. He has played in various orchestras and bands. He is classically trained but open to all kinds of other music.

Micha Hes focuses in his work on issues relating to waste management and sustainability. His passion is theatre. He acted in several plays in the past and has enjoyed theatre ever since.

Egbert Jas plays the double bass and has been active in jazz and improvised music for several decades. How many decades is information he prefers not to disclose. He studied for some time at the Amsterdam conservatory. He toured with Frans Vermeersen’s All Ears, Stormy Weather, Ingram Washington and the band of Melvin Rosbief. In order to reach even more elevated levels of music, Egbert built his own instrument, an electric bass called The Singing Bookshelf.

Arash Mahdavian, born in Kermanshah in the west of Iran, is a civil engineer. He has been living in the Netherlands since 2011. He loves Iranian classical music. He has played tar and setar (instruments used in Iranian classical music) for more than thirty years.

Frans Poolen, who works as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, is passionate about literature. He is the author of several short stories and translations of prose and poems. Quite special about his translation activities is that he has translated poems by Hafez and Saadi into Maastricht dialect. As far as we know he is the first person in the world ever to do so.

Markward Smit plays the trumpet, the tuba and the trombone. He played in a large number of bands, including the Vivos, the Funfare, the High Society Jazz Band, Piece of Cake Jazz Band, Rainbow Jazz Valentines, Yezz Thats Jazz, Les Finesses, the Amstel Bigband, the Herb Spectacles and the Non Melting Ice Cream Band. He not only plays jazz but also other genres like soul, mariachi, klezmer and classical music.

Guus de Vries, who works as a piano teacher, studied French and conservatory (piano). More recently he studied literary translation at the vertalersvakschool (translation academy). He likes many types of art. In particular music, poetry and other types of literature because all these art forms, each in its own way, tell us a story.