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© Photo: Federico Buscarino |
© Photo: Federico Buscarino
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Shir del Essalem - Rassegna stampa «EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE BY MONI OVADIA AND HIS GROUP» by Gianfranco Miksa www.edit.hr/lavoce/2007
ABBAZIA – It was a transcendental experience, mystical and moving, which was presented last Wednesday evening for the Summer program at Abbazia. On stage, the serbo-croatian musician Aleksandar Sasha Karlic, director of the Theatrum Instrumentorum, the famous actor and singer Moni Ovadia and the Palestinian singer from the occupied territories Faisal Taher...
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Shir Del Essalem - Rassegna stampa «ECCEZIONALE PRESTAZIONE DI MONI OVADIA E DEL SUO GRUPPO» Un’esperienza emozionante dedicata alla pace dei popoli di Gianfranco Miksa http://www.edit.hr/lavoce/2007/070831/cultura.htm
ABBAZIA – È stata un’esperienza trascendentale, mistica, molto emozionante quella proposta alla Scena estiva di Abbazia lo scorso mercoledì sera. Sul palco il musicista serbo-croato Aleksandar Sasha Karlić, direttore del Theatrum Instrumentorum, il celebre attore e cantante Moni Ovadia ed il cantante palestinese dei territori occupati Faisal Taher. I tre hanno unito le loro forze per realizzare un concerto-spettacolo che ha voluto essere un inno alla pace ed alla tolleranza. Un evento dove le voci degli artisti – di origine, cultura e nazionalità differenti – s’intrecciano per cantare musiche di tre religioni monoteiste, quella ebraica, la cristiana e la musulmana. Un concerto eccezionale, di grande valore artistico, dal titolo “Shir del essalem” che significa “Canti della pace”, che in realtà è un connubio di tre parole ciascuna nella lingua di una delle tre religioni in causa. Tre religioni che in realtà hanno dei punti di contatto molto forti, accomunate da grandi messaggi di pace. |
© Photo: Federico Buscarino
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Shir Del Essalem - Text fragments "For centuries humanity has been divided between the reasons of war and the reasons of peace. No one can indicate to us which path to take. It resides in our hearts and in our minds. No one has the right to proclaim: "God is with us". The Master of the Universe has created all men free, holy, equal, that is, with equal dignity in the face of life. Each of us is responsible for his own acts, his own thoughts.The will of the Supreme Judge cannot be used a s a pretext to saddle him with our own responsibility. Spilt blood is the responsibility of whoever spilled it. The road to peace is not layed out before us, it must be built day by day, every hour, every instant. We men and women of music possess quite a seductive weapon: song. This is its limit and at the same time its power. The song of the people travels through space and time and communicates beyond the differences. The musical journey we propose here comes from a time in Spain, land of coexistence. In that time, the three monotheisms knew how to speak to each other, they listened to each other and loved to live beside one and other, interacting but not conforming, full of respect for each specific identity. To retrace an era of reciprocal acceptance with a universal language, is something necessary to our future. An ancient Indian proverb says: "If you don't know where you're going, turn and look back at where you come from." It is urgent that Europe finds the deep roots of its identity once again, the West must once more welcome its own East, its matrix. |
© Photo: Federico Buscarino
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Shir Del Essalem - Author's notes Ever since the remotest of times, music has had the power to transcend limits of religion culture, geography and ethnicity. This was certainly the case in Spain, where music was the connection between Christian, Jewish and Islamic cultures in ways which still resonate through the centuries. In the second half of the 15th century, the peoples of Spain, Christians, Jews and Muslims, were very much mixed on a level of culture, language and blood ties. Some of the musical fruits of this perhaps unique in history blending, are presented in this concert.For example, according to Mexican writer and scholar Carlos Fuentes, more than a quarter of all current words in the Spanish language have Arab roots. Not to mention contemporary Flamenco music. The "Moors" took their musical instruments to Spain, especially their stringed instruments, and these later became extremely important in their European incarnations, from the Middle Ages to the present. Even today, the influences of the Orient on the musical language, poetic forms and executive practise of the traditional repertoire of the Mediterranean are enormous. The Cantigas de Santa Maria (which narrate the miracles of the Virgin Mary) is the most important collection of courtly monody of Medieval Europe, and came down to us in four 13th century manuscripts. There are no indications as to who the authors might be, but there is reason to believe some of the Cantigas might come from the hand of King Alfonso X "the wise", himself. In any case, the Cantigas are the product of his cosmopolitan court. Enlightened monarch that he was, he surrounded himself with only the best that scientists, literary scholars and musicians of the three religions could offer. The concert proceeds with the cantillation of the Koran and an important genre from classical Arab music called muwashah, which was born in the heart of the Arab-Andalucian school, later widespread through the Middle East. Also performed, are the vocal and instrumental music of the Sephardic Jews, who were expelled from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1508. The heritage of Sephardic song in the Judeo-Spanish language, has received great attention in these past years, especially around 1992, the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of the Jews from all the Spanish crown territories. This interest has fortunately remained high. Sephardic song was born in a Spain permeated with Arabic-Mooresque elements, and proceeded in an exile dispersed across the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, Italy, the Middle East and the Balcanic peninsula. We feel we cannot do without a reference to the the cultures of those times and places. From this perspective, Theatrum Instrumentorum proposes to use a mixed ancient-Middle Eastern instrumentation (and in fact ancient and Middle Eastern are often one and the same) and especially as regards the vocality used, aspire to a "harsher" sound, born from the sea of Mediterranean sound. The intention, after years of accurate and passionate research, is to restore a cultural and timbric originality and to try to revive these musical treasures so that the well-informed listener of today may fully appreciate its strength and its beauty.
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