Ashura is the tenth of the month of Muharram which marks the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and a number of his followers.
“I discussed the idea with the culture ministry and the deputy culture ministry for artistic affairs last year since the performance of an opera puppet show requires preliminary work including the composition of the musical content,” he told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.
“I will design and perform the opera in such a way that it doesn’t conflict with religious beliefs or the point of view of the ulama,” he noted.
“I hope Loris Tjeknavorian will compose the music for the opera,” he added.
However, he mentioned that he is also prepared to collaborate with other composers on the work.
Tjeknavorian wrote the music for Gharibpur’s opera puppet show, “Rustam and Sohrab”, which has been performed several times in various places.
“The Ashura opera puppet show will be a blend of music, puppetry, poetry, and tazieh (a form of Iranian passion play). I have used this combination previously in the closing scene of ‘Rustam and Sohrab’,” Gharibpur said.
“As the most important and oldest form of traditional play in Iran, tazieh is a good example of combined dramatic forms. In fact, tazieh is an Iranian version of Western opera. China and India also have their own genres,” he explained.
He said that he doesn’t expect a penny for staging the opera.
“I stress that my creation of the Ashura puppet show is only my way of repaying my debt to the profound culture and perfect epic of Imam Hussein (AS),” Gharibpur said in conclusion.
Gharibour is to stage a “Macbeth” opera puppet show at Tehran’s Ferdowsi Hall tomorrow.
The show will be performed in Italian using one of the operatic works of Italy’s famous composer Giuseppe Verdi.
MMS/MA
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MNA