Rahmatu’llah Badi’i
Biography
Badi‘i, Rahmatullah (1936-)
Violin instrumentalist and teacher and one of the most powerful violinists performing Persian classical music alive today. He received his preliminary musical education under the tutelage of Rubik Gregorian (1912-1993) and soon attained to remarkable mastery in performing works of Western classical music. Subsequently, he attended music classes held by Abu’l-Hasan Saba, as a result of which by the age of twenty he became recognized as the best performer of Maestro Saba’s works and even became nicknamed ‘the second Saba.’ Although he performed in many different orchestras from 1952 onwards, it was when playing in the orchestras conducted by Husayn Dihlavi and Faramarz Payvar that he reached the zenith of his mastery, a mastery manifested in many performances where he played both violin and kamanchih. He participated in the Gulha programmes under the directorship of Hushang Ibtihaj, performing in the Gulha orchestras in the Gulha-yi rangarang and Gulha-yi taza series both as a soloist and accompanist to other instrumentalists and the vocalist. There are also numerous recordings of his performances with other orchestras, most notably that of the National Instrumental Ensemble (Guruh-i sazha-yi milli) conducted by Faramarz Payvar. He taught at the Conservatory for the Advanced Study of Music (Hunaristan-i ‘Ali-yi Musiqi) in Tehran. After 1979 he continued with his Persian music teaching activities in the West, receiving a fine position as first violinist of the Grand Orchestra of the Netherlands. Since his retirement there, he has enjoyed a flourishing career in music enjoyed by almost no other Iranian instrumentalist living abroad. Few of his works have been released in Iran, though his works in the forms of CD albums and books are available in Germany and Austria. His works include a book entitled Rakha dar Dastgah-i Mahur (Rak’s in the Mode of Mahur,” Cologne: Kanun Farhang-yi Ava 1996).
Sayyid ‘Ali Riza Mir‘alinaqi
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