Difference between revisions of "Masque"
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== Performance history in South Africa == | == Performance history in South Africa == | ||
| − | 2005: Presented by [[Cape Town Opera]] [[Artscape]] Theatre (28 October – 5 November) | + | 2005: Presented by [[Cape Town Opera]] in the [[Artscape]] Theatre (28 October – 5 November). With baritone [[FikileMvinjelwa]] as the Griot, a traditional African storyteller, and a cast of 10 white and black singers, six dancers from [[Jazzart Dance Theatre]], the 16-piece [[Cape Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble]], a six-piece Early Music group from Innsbruck and the 11-piece Todi Ensemble. |
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
Revision as of 19:34, 1 March 2025
Masque is an African opera by Hans Huyssen on a libretto by Ilija Trojanow.
Contents
The original text
Commissioned by the National Arts Council and Pro Helvetia. Premiere: Cape Town, 28.10.2005. Masque combines classical, African and baroque ensembles in its scoring, coupled with a cast of European and African singers and masked dancers to portray arts in a multi-cultural setting.
The theme of the opera (based on The Origin of Life and Death - African Creation Myths) revolves around four African masks (The Blind one, the Tired one, the Sad one and Death) placed in a museum that are viewed differently by Western and African people. These masks represent blindness, sleep, sorrow and death, balancing forces sent by God to cure man of his pride. To the Griot (a Mali storyteller) these masks have an emotional attachment and by touching them he brings them to life, thus dispelling the curse that made them lifeless.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
2005: Presented by Cape Town Opera in the Artscape Theatre (28 October – 5 November). With baritone FikileMvinjelwa as the Griot, a traditional African storyteller, and a cast of 10 white and black singers, six dancers from Jazzart Dance Theatre, the 16-piece Cape Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, a six-piece Early Music group from Innsbruck and the 11-piece Todi Ensemble.
Sources
Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.
Ivan Meredith. 2006. 'Opera in South Africa during the first democratic decade'. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Cape Town.
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