Enemy Slayer Buzz Around the Internet
Rene Gutel from Performance Today has completed a preview of Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio. She talks with composer Mark Grey as well as librettist Laura Tohe and plays excerpts from Grey's synthesized demo of the piece. You can listen to the segment online at the link below:Phoenix Symphony Debuts Navajo Oratorio by Rene Gutel for KJZZ.
Also, don't miss the feature article from AZCentral released today online, "'Enemy' oratorio sidesteps cultural taboo in updated Navajo creation tale".
Want even more background? Then you'll want to read the synopsis of the "Twin Heroes" story which serves as inspiration for Enemy Slayer. You can find it at AZCentral entitled, "In the beginning . . . Twins are heroes in Navajo creation story".
3 Comments:
A great deal of thanks should be extended to arts/music critic Richard Nilsen for his article. I am now prepared for a MODERN libretto instead of what I expected to be a "traditional" fairy tale piece incorporating Navajo instruments. With the projected images, this will be like a concert at the LA Philaharmonic with Salonen or the Brooklyn Philharmonic with Christie.
If I understand correctly, you will be recording the concerts LIVE at Symphony Hall. Will the large TV screens on the sides of the stage tell us to "Be Quiet... Cough between movements... and applaud two seconds after the music stops?" Can I be the first "Bravo!" on the recording?
This Navajo Oratorio alone cannot fill a CD. What else will be included? The Grand Canyon Suite? Too bad the Native American flute pieces have already been released on another CD. I'm extremely excited.
Thanks, Sonny. We will be making very specific announcements about what we need the audience to do during the recording of the performances. We are already planning say what you've written and a bit more. This is a new experience for all of us, I hope people enjoy it!
You are quite correct about the Navajo not filling all of the available space on a CD. The Oratorio itself is quite long so we are going to wait and see how much time is left and see where we go from there.
Enemy Slayer was a perfect synchronisity of emotion of the senses. The incredible story modernized, the voices, symphony, and beautiful photography of O'Grady made for a feast last night. Congratulations to the Phoenix Symphony for such an unusual undertaking!
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