Poetry Meets Piano: Dante’s Epic Comes to Tallinn

Composer and pianist Arashk Azizi brings his acclaimed Divine Sonata, originally premiered at Dante’s tomb in Ravenna, to Rüütel & Matilda English Bookshop for Tallinn Fringe.

In an intriguing intersection of monumental medieval poetry and modern harmonic exploration, composer and pianist Arashk Azizi is bringing his multidisciplinary performance “Dante’s Divine Comedy” to Tallinn Fringe Festival. Set in the intimate surroundings of Rüütel & Matilda English Bookshop in Old Town, this one-hour event in Tallinn intertwines live spoken-word recitations with Azizi’s solo piano work, Divine Sonata.

From Ravenna to Tallinn: The Origins of Divine Sonata

Divine Sonata was originally commissioned by Ge.Ne.Ra for the Dante Festival 2024 in Ravenna, Italy, marking the 703rd anniversary of the poet’s death. Azizi premiered the piece on September 26, 2024, at the Basilica di San Francesco, just steps away from Dante’s tomb.

Bringing this piece to Tallinn Fringe, Azizi alternates between recitations from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s celebrated English translation and movements of his piano sonata. Rather than treating Dante’s work as an archaisms-laden medieval artifact, Azizi reframes the allegory to address 21st-century realities:

• Inferno (C minor): Opens with a bitonal collision of A major and C minor before descending into chromatic variations. Incorporating rhythmic shifts (from 4/4 to 13/8 and 12/8) and echoes of Liszt, Rachmaninov, and Verdi’s Dies Irae, this movement translates medieval hell into modern warfare, systemic oppression, and moral collapse.
• Purgatorio (D minor): Characterized by harmonic instability, syncopated rhythms, and Serialist and Expressionist influences. With no fixed tonal center, the unpredictable melodic leaps embody a soul, and a society, restlessly searching for transformation.
• Paradiso (A major): Resolving into bright A major, this movement draws on minimalist clarity akin to Arvo Pärt. Unfolding across seven ascending variations, paradise is recast not as a mystical afterlife, but as a quiet, hard-won sanctuary of human peace.

Event Details & Ticket Information

For audiences interested in contemporary classical composition, literary history, or performance art, Azizi’s Tallinn Fringe appearance offers a compelling look at how 14th-century verse can inform modern acoustic music.

Tickets are available now via Fienta.

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