Maria Farnatour and Cihan Turkoglu figure if politics can’t get Greeks, Armenians and Turks together, maybe music will. The Greek earth-toned vocalist joins with Anatolian Cihan Turkoglu on sax, kopu and voice along with Armenian Meri Vardanyan/kanon(zither), Anja Lechner/cel, Christos Barbas/ney and Izzet Kizil/perc on music that spans the Eastern Mediterranean.
The allure of this music as at its height when it is unrushed, thoughtful and contemplative, and that is the atmosphere here. Brooding strings are plucked and bowed along with pastoral flutes with rich nasal voices on the flowery “Trinatafylia” while meditative reflections evoke images of Byzantine icons during “Wa Habibi.” Earnest singing rich on “Dyo Kosmoi Mia Angalia” while seductive percussion travels like a caravan with flutes during “Drama Koprusu.” Timeless and reflective like light shining through a stained glass window.