Mastan Ensemble to Perform ‘Hallaj’ Opera

Mastan ensemble (also known as Homay & Mastan), led by singer and songwriter Parvaz Homay will be on stage at the Iwan-Attar outdoor venue in Sa’dabad Complex in Tehran.

The band’s first program is set for August 6. A large group of actors and Sufi whirling dancers will join the musicians on the stage, Iran Art reported on its Persian website. It did not provide details.

Titled “Hallaj”, the opera will be telling the story of Mansur al-Hallaj (858-922 AD) a Persian mystic, poet and teacher of Sufism.

He is better known for his saying “I am the Truth” (Ana ‘l-Haqq in Arabic), which many saw as a claim to divinity, while others interpreted it as an instance of mystical annihilation of the ego which allows God to speak through the individual. Fearing Hallaj’s thoughts and ideas and the growing number of his followers, Al-Muqtadir Caliph of Baghdad executed him after an extended period of incarceration on religious and political charges.

Although most of his Sufi contemporaries disapproved of his ways, Hallaj later became a major figure in the Sufi tradition.

Parvaz Homay, 38, also known by his birth name Saeed Jafarzadeh, is the founder of Mastan Ensemble. He specializes in Persian classical music.

His group has performed at prestigious venues across the globe. He has performed several music concerts in collaboration with symphony orchestras in opera format in Belgium, Los Angeles and Toronto, including “Moses and the Shepherd” at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, conducted by Shahrdad Rouhani; as well as “Love, Wisdom and Man” at Tonhalle, Dusseldorf, at Palais Des Beaux Arts Bruxelles, Barbican Hall in London and the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto.

Homay & Mastan ensemble came to prominence after the release of their album “Meeting with Sinners Among the Flames” (2006), written, composed, and sung by Homay.

Their albums include “In Che Jahanist?” (what a world is this?), “Khoda dar Roustaye Mast” (God is in our village), “Jedal-e Aql va Eshq” (battle between intellect and love), “Sarbazan” (soldiers), “Banou-e Irani” (Iranian lady) and “Divaneh cho Divaneh Bebinad” (when a maniac meets a maniac).

Sa’dabad complex is at the northern tip of Sa’dabad Street and accessible through Zafaranieh Street near Tajrish Square.