Tar: Ostad Morteza Neydavoud
Ostad Morteza Neydavoud , son of zarb player Bala Khan, and grandson of Yahya Khan, was born in 1900 to a family of musicians. Spotting his talent and musical ambition, his father sent him to Ramezan Zolfaqari, a pupil of Aqa Hoseyn Qoli. Morteza Khan studied and practiced for seven months with Zolfaqari, and afterwards he was put under the instruction of Aqa Hoseyn Qoli. With his great master he managed t become the best pupil of Darvish Khan, winning the well-known medal of the Golden Halberd.
Perhaps most music lovers known about his role in developing the art of one of the greatest of all Persian classical singers, namely Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri. Qamar attended his classes in years around 1920 for a period of two or three years. Their debut was in the famous Grand Hotel and Cinema Palace in 1924. Morteza Khan continued this artistic relationship and held close to her until his untimely death. He was present in her funeral attended only by a few.
In 1925 Morteza Khan received an official license for opening his own classes in an institute called by him as "Darvish." His fondness for Darvish Khan was so intense that he held a concert in 1926, i.e. after the master's death, to pay his debts by concerts revenues.
Since its establishment, Morteza Neydavoud collaborated also with Radio and performed live programs with a number of outstanding figures such as Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri, Adib Khansari, Gholam-Hoseyn Banan, Moluk Zarrabi, Ruhangiz, Javad Badizadeh, Ruhbakhsh, Abolhasan Saba, Morteza Mahjoubi, Abdol-Hoseyn Shahnazi, Ebrahim Mansuri, Hoseyn Tehrani, and Habib Soma`i. Some of his outstanding performances have fortunately been recorded by labels such as His Master's Voice, Polyphone, and Odeon.
Pishdaramads in Mahur and Esfahan, "Morgh-e Sahar" (tasnif),"Atash-e Del," and "Bas Kon ey Del" are amongst his masterpieces. He kept on collaborating with Radio until 1955. He gave his last concert in 1959 t the memory of Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri. He has also recorded the whole radif of Persian classical music which has been released by this label. A migration to the United States turned out to be a hard period in his later life. He died in 1990 near San Francisco, and was buried there. May his memory would last forever in the heart of his fellow countrymen!
Published [23/02/2008]
