Sufi's Saraband - La Cité Bleue (2025) - Sufi’s Saraband - La Cité Bleue (2025)

Description

Premiere at the Cité Bleue in Geneva.

On 28 and 29 October 2025, the Cité Bleue in Geneva will host the premiere of Sufi's Saraband, ‘a mystical journey where music, poetry and Sufi dance intertwine to evoke spiritual ecstasy and the quest for the absolute’. Performed by the ensemble The Modal Experience, this creation aims to ‘explore the deep connections between Eastern musical traditions and Western Baroque heritage, weaving a soundscape where Persian modality and Baroque ornamentation respond to each other with grace and refinement.’

The work is based on both the fiery verses of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, a 13th-century Sufi poet, and the committed and sensual writings of Forough Farrokhzad, a major figure in contemporary Iranian poetry, bringing together two sensibilities and two eras in a single celebration of desire, love and transcendence.

On stage, Sufi's Saraband draws its inspiration from the art of samâ, the dance of the whirling dervishes, performed here by Rana Gorgani and accompanied by the deep singing of Aida Nosrat and Eastern and Western instruments – archlute, harpsichord, lyra, santour, zarb and daf.

Under the artistic direction of Keyvan Chemirani, the creation fuses these musical traditions in a free language, where improvisation and rigour come together ‘to carry the audience away into intoxication and ecstasy’. Sufi's Saraband is presented as ‘a celebration of mystical beauty, a spellbinding sarabande where souls dance in unison with those of the artists’.

More information is available on the Opera's official website.