{"id":31907,"date":"2019-02-22T03:59:42","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T11:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=31907"},"modified":"2019-02-21T10:04:23","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T18:04:23","slug":"putting-hemingway-to-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/02\/22\/putting-hemingway-to-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting Hemingway to music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turning Point Ensemble performs The Old Man and the Sea<\/em>, directed by Idan Cohen, March 9 and 10. (photo by Tim Matheson)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something that I really love about these kinds of projects and the agenda that Turning Point holds \u2013 creating an operatic experience that is contemporary and designed to communicate music in a truly creative way. I hope this will attract not just the core of new music and opera lovers, but also those of us who are passionate for the arts and want to experience something different. This is what opera is truly about,\u201d said Idan Cohen about Turning Point Ensemble\u2019s Words & Music, which is at the Annex March 9-10.<\/p>\n

The collaborative endeavour features the theatrical mini-opera The Old Man and the Sea<\/em> by Rita Ueda, and Bee Studies<\/em>, created by poet Ren\u00e9e Sarojini Saklikar and composer and musician Owen Underhill. Choreographer and opera director Cohen is directing The Old Man and the Sea<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past summer, I was invited by Rita Ueda and Mark Armanini, who run the AU Ensemble, to stage their concert at the Podium Mozaiek in Amsterdam,\u201d Cohen told the Independent <\/em>about how he met Ueda. \u201cI had a wonderful time working with the ensemble and found the work they do highly inspiring. Rita\u2019s work is very immersive and, in her scores, the musicians play a significant role as characters, fully engaged and active on stage. We found a deep foundation of understanding, and so Rita introduced me to Turning Point. It\u2019s an honour to be working on such a beautiful piece alongside such an exquisite group of artists and musicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Old Man and the Sea<\/em>, composed by Ueda with a libretto by Rod Robertson, is based on the short novel by Ernest Hemingway. The story centres around Santiago, an aging fisherman, who battles with a marlin. In the concert, baritone Willy Miles-Grenzberg sings the part of the Old Man (Santiago) and Turning Point co-founder and trombone soloist Jeremy Berkman musically plays the marlin.<\/p>\n

\u201cRita and the librettist Rod Robertson have created a highly poetic rendition of Hemingway\u2019s novel,\u201d explained Cohen. \u201cIt\u2019s quite condensed and, at the same time, leaves a lot of room to reflect on its different topics and themes. It creates a rendition of the story that is almost abstract \u2013 I love this quality in opera, when the poetic aspects of a story are drawn out through the layered richness of the written word, music and live performance. I connected to it on a very deep level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Choreographer and opera director Idan Cohen focuses \u201con body language and sensitivities that are dance-related\u201d in The Old Man and the Sea. (photo by Or Druker)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The work is so expressive, said Cohen, \u201cand focuses on the journey of Santiago \u2026 and his connection to the sea. There are beautiful moments that \u2018paint\u2019 that through the language of music. Unlike my other work, there won\u2019t be any dance in this production, but I do focus on body language and sensitivities that are dance-related. Santiago is a humble man, full of wisdom, close to the end of his days, and Willy Miles Grenzberg, portraying him, embodies the part beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen hopes that this staged concert will appeal to a wide audience \u2013 \u201cwhether you\u2019re a new music lover, a literature, theatre or poetry enthusiast, there\u2019s going to be something there for each and every one of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This type of production can be somewhat complex to direct.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy role is often to bring different elements together in order to create the operatic experience,\u201d said Cohen. \u201cBy nature, music is abstract and, since the musicians are so valuable in this opera and play a significant role, I wanted to come up with creative ways to support this special vision. Drawing that vision from the mind of the composer and librettist to the experience of the viewers can be quite a challenge at times, but the musicians of Turning Point are truly exceptional, best in their field, and they do wonders.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the power of the music, The Old Man and the Sea<\/em> has many powerful \u2013 and universal \u2013 themes. Cohen described it as \u201ca story about human determination, strength and faith but, most of all, it is about fragility and humbleness. It reflects on our connection to nature, and that is very valuable in our times, when there is so much denial and violence in the way the human race treats its surroundings. Robertson relates to this in a rich way and creates a very relevant testimony. The opera reflects on these important topics through the drama of the music, to expose an extreme human condition. It is powerful in a way that I find not just poetic, but also very emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the performance of The Old Man and the Sea<\/em> is the premi\u00e8re of Bee Studies, which includes texts from Sarojini Saklikar\u2019s Listening to the Bees, a book of science and poetry, and features soprano Dorothea Hayley.<\/p>\n

According to the press material for Words & Music, a \u201cspecial bonus of the evening is a performance of some witty and rarely heard songs from the 1930s, Duet for Duck and Canary and Frogs by the great unheralded Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, plus his most-heralded work, Ocho por Radio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for Words & Music, March 9-10, 7:30 p.m., at the Annex are $33 ($20 for seniors and students) and can be purchased at turningpointensemble.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turning Point Ensemble performs The Old Man and the Sea, directed by Idan Cohen, March 9 and 10. (photo by Tim Matheson) \u201cThere\u2019s something that I really love about these kinds of projects and the agenda that Turning Point holds \u2013 creating an operatic experience that is contemporary and designed to communicate music in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[788],"tags":[8721,8112,6540,4398],"class_list":["post-31907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-hemingway","tag-idan-cohen","tag-opera","tag-turning-point-ensemble"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}