Alamut
Alamut is an original symphonic work by avant-garde music group Laibach based on a famous story from eleventh-century Persia, as told by the Slovenian author Vladimir Bartol in his eponymous novel. The main protagonist is the heretic Hassan-i Sabbāh, the charismatic religious and political leader of the Nizari Ismailis and the founder of a mysterious Islamic sect known as the Assassins (or the Hashashins), whose name is still feared and respected today. Hassan-i Sabbāh is a self-proclaimed prophet who leads a holy war against the Seljuk Empire from his eyrie – the castle of Alamut.
The project is presented by a/ political, London-based non-profit organisation, and created in collaboration with Iranian composers and performers. The music was composed by Luka Jamnik, Idin Samimi Mofakham, and Nima A. Rowshan.
The RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by the Iranian conductor Navid Gohari. Also appearing are the Human-Voice Ensemble vocal group from Tehran, Gallina Vocal Group, and Disharmonic Cohort – AccordiOna women’s accordion orchestra.
In Laibach’s Alamut, the ideas of radical political and religious nihilism interweave with the classical Persian poetry of Omar Khayyam, the sensual verses of a medieval Persian female poet, Mahsati Ganjavi, blend with minimalist orchestral colors based on Iranian tradition, Hassan-i Sabbāh’s infernal mechanism finds an echo in the industrial principle of the workings of the orchestra and Laibach’s unique sound.
Presented by
a/ pilitical
Project Director
Ivan Novak
Composers
Idin Samimi, Nima Atrkar Rowshan, Luka Jamnik
Conductor
Navid Gohari
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra
Human-Voice Ensemble
Gallina Vocal Group
Otto Lechner, organ
Cohort Accordiona Orchestra
Coordinator
Stanislaw Suchora
for Sonora Music Agency
Sound Engineer
Danilo Zenko, Matej Gobec, Marko Turel
Light Engineer
Tomaz Cubej
Visuals
Komposter
Ljubljana Festival
September 2020
Krizanke, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Premiered
Jahrhunderthalle
October 2023
Frankfurt, Germany
Cancarjev dom
October 2023
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Vatroslav Linski
October 2023
Zagreb, Croatia
IL Rossetti
October 2023
Trieste, Italy