 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
For more information or
assistance, contact:
Director of Marketing
312.236.3681 ext. 1555
Ravinia took a risk opening its centennial season in 2004 with the American premier of "Princess Magogo," billed as the first opera in the Zulu language.
Its rousing success prompted management to present "uShaka" Thursday, another American premiere by the same composer and librettist, Mzilikazi Khumalo and Themba Msimang.
But the 90-minute account of 19th Century Zulu King Shaka's life demonstrates the perils of searching for a viable hybrid between African and Western classical music: What you choose to sacrifice from your own traditions is even more critical than what you decide to incorporate from the new.
The oratorio is a revisionist account of Shaka, generally viewed by historians as a formidable military strategist and brutal dictator. Khumalo and Msimang emphasize the former while tempering the latter, believing he was well on his way to unifying many warring tribes before his assassination in 1828.
The finest parts of "Magogo" were those that retained key components of South African music, including traditional percussion instruments. Inexplicably, those instruments and the vibrant, quasi-improvisational style associated with them were left out of the mix in "uShaka."
The singing veers closer to Western operatic style than to the Zulu idiom, and while some of the nuance of the latter is missed, the solo and choral forces still were uniformly splendid.
The vast majority of the work is in a minor mode (including the entire first two parts), and without enough variation in other areas, a certain lethargy set in that was not justified by the sprawling libretto. A welcome exception was actor Bheki Mkwane's narration, a kind of unpitched recitative accompanied by nothing more than a gentle timpani roll. Mezzo-soprano Sibongile Khumalo was back with a much smaller, but no less intoxicating, role than her earlier princess.
Bass Kaiser Nkosi and soprano Angela Kerrison would be the envy of many a conventional opera company.
Conductor Leslie Dunner led his forces confidently, and the Chicago Sinfonietta gave a vivid account of the score. One could hardly imagine a more powerful and authoritative reading than that of the Gauteng Choristers.
Copyright © 2006 Chicago Tribune
Two years ago, singers and dancers from Opera Africa warmed up Ravinia Festival audiences shivering through a late-spring cold snap with rousing performances of the 2002 opera "Princess Magogo,'' the first Western-style opera written in the Zulu language.
Last week, the company's soloists and chorus were back with another Western-style piece sung in Zulu, "uShaka,'' an epic cantata about a legendary Zulu king by composer Mzilikazi Khumalo and librettist Themba Msimang, creators of "Princess Magogo." The weather was equally frigid Friday night, but a large, bundled-up audience turned out to hear the work, which had its premiere in 1996 in Johannesburg.
The experience was more subdued than "Princess Magogo.'' Cantatas don't have opera's visual drama, and only the impassioned poet/narrator Bheki Mkwane, outfitted like a Zulu warrior, wore an obviously theatrical costume. There were no dancers or sets, though the projected English supertitles shared space with sophisticated graphic designs in the style of wood-block drawings by Andrew Verster. The women of the 60-member Gauteng Choristers wore turbans and long skirts while the vocal soloists wore understated variations of traditional African dress.
The Chicago Sinfonietta, also the orchestra for Ravinia's performances of "Princess Magogo,'' was ably conducted by Leslie B. Dunner, music director and principal conductor of the Joffrey Ballet.
Khumalo composes in a thoroughly Western style, but the Zulu musical scale and its emphasis on music for massed voices makes for a smooth blend of traditions. At times "uShaka,'' especially its choral numbers, brought to mind the melancholy solemnity of 19th century Russian opera as well as strong hints of heroic Verdi. With its evocations of otherworldly spirits and poetic language, Msimang's libretto carried tinges of a sacred, chant-filled litany.
The story line was as out-sized as any opera, with an outcast child seeking revenge and ultimately using the battlefield to build a mighty empire. Scholars argue about uShaka's brutal methods, but they do agree that he united South African tribes into a powerful nation at the end of the 18th century, one that was fatally weakened by his assassination in 1828.
As with "Princess Magogo,'' the performers were spectacular. Kaiser Nkosi possesses the kind of profoundly dark yet clearly articulated, flexible bass that would make him a chilling Boris Godunov. Soprano Angela Kerrison looked seductive in a long, shapely pleated skirt, and her singing was crisp and rich. In the solo "Nandi's Love Song,'' she brought voluptuous warmth to the high, sustained melodic line. Tenor Themba Mkwani sounded strained at times, but mezzo-soprano Sibongile Khumalo, who appeared in the title role of "Princess Magogo,'' sang with dignity and passion.
The chorus was as much a character in the drama as any chorus in a Bach Passion. Khumalo used few overtly African instruments in "uShaka,'' but the chorus' expertly blended textures and powerful rhythmic drive evoked an unmistakable sense of a historic time and place.
Copyright © 2006 Chicago Sun-Times