Qasida

Rosario “La Tremendita” & Mohammad Motamedi
Flamenco meets Persian classical music

Spanish poet Federico García Lorca described the cante jondo—deep flamenco song—as a “rare example of primitive song whose notes contain the naked and horrific emotion of the first oriental civilizations.” A test of Lorca’s words might be the Qasida project, an extraordinary musical encounter between the young Sevillian cantaora Rosario “La Tremendita” and her Iranian peer Mohammad Motamedi. “More flamenco than La Tremendita is impossible,” the French newspaper Le Monde recently wrote after the presentation of her debut album A Tiempo at the Seville Biennial. In Qasida the singer explores the roots of flamenco in the richly varied poetic songs and improvisations of Motamedi, the young rising star of Iranian classical music. Songs of Spanish folk poetry and Persian high art merge into a musical world in which the “Al-Andalus” of old is perhaps briefly revived.

“The Qasida project, one of the highlights of the third Netherlands Biennale, pursued a vital dialogue of traditions, involving the melismatic vocal techniques of Rosario La Tremendita and Mohammad Motamedi from Iran. The contrast between the sheer beauty of flamenco’s distilled, passionate outpourings of the heart and the more inward, mystical philosophies of Persian poetry met exquisitely in a host of styles that searched for common ground.”—Songlines

$53–$69, CMA members $48–$62

About Rosario Guerrero “La Tremendita” (Triana, Seville, Spain 1984)
Flamenca by tradition. A writer by vocation. An artist out of love. Her jondo quality is congenital. Her curiosity, acquired. Great granddaughter of Enriqueta la Pescaera, grand-niece of La Gandinga de Triana and daughter of José El Tremendo, Rosario caught the singing on the fly and released it from an early age, in fiestas and peñas. Already then her aim was to become a singer, and above all, a lead singer.

For this reason, what was known was not sufficient. She believed it was necessary to explore the origins of this expressive discipline and expand on them. So she conducted her own research on flamenco singing, while studying music theory and piano. As she built knowledge, she developed her reputation in the most important competitions (Nacional de Córdoba, Antonio Mairena, La Unión) and she put her singing direction to the service of the most distinguished dancers (Belén Maya, Rocío Molina, Rafaela Carrasco, Andrés Marín). Singing for dance was another subject in her career and she passed with honors. In 2008, after six years collaborating with dance companies, Rosario eventually decided to capitalize on her artistic career: she invested in herself as a solo artist. This is how she definitely displays her most creative side: that of composer. Today La Tremendita offers and directs shows, and contributes her talent to the creativity of artists such as Rocío Molina or Javier Ruibal. Her first album (A tiempo, 2010) was her first great challenge. And it won’t be the only one.

About Mohammed Motamedi (Tehran, Iran, 1978)
Motamedi started singing and playing ney as an adolescent. In 1997 he started learning the singing style of Seyed Hossein Taherzadeh under the guidance of esteemed artist Hamidreza Noorbakhsh.

Due to his interest in the Esfahan song school, Motamedi has taken as his role models masters such as Taj Esfahani and Adib Khansari, and has benefitted from the guidance of esteemed masters such as the late Dr. Hossein Omoumi and Aliasghar Shahzeidi.

Motamedi has performed with several groups, including the Khorshid Ensembl, Sun Ensembl (Majid Derakhshani), Hamnavazan-e Sheida, Sheyda Ensembl (Mohammadreza Lotfi), Iranian National Orchestra (Farhad Fakhreddini), Hamnavazan-e Mehr, and the Mehr Symphony which he founded.