FULL Ayre (Golijov) Keene NH 2015 Ilana Davidson
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Ayre
- Composer: Golijov Oswaldo
- Libretto: drawn primarily from a large body of 15th century Spanish folk songs
- Venue & Opera Company: Ahavas Achim Synagogue, Keene, New Hampshire
- Recorded: August 15, 2015
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Ilana Davidson, soprano
- Conductor:
- Orchestra: Instrumental Ensemble
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Electric Earth Concerts
- Date Published: 2015
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 3 Audio:3
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
A stunning contemporary song cycle by Osvaldo Golijov for soprano and 11 players that weaves together Sephardic, Arabic, and Spanish traditions. Typical of Golijov’s compositional approach, this piece is about breaking down walls, political, cultural, and stylistic: it’s impossible to label Ayre as coming from any particular genre as it veers from classical to klezmer to pop and back, and therein lies its particular power.
Commissioned by Carnegie Hall at the request of Dawn Upshaw, Ayre — meaning “air” and “melody” in medieval Spanish — is a 40-minute cycle of 11 songs drawn primarily from a large body of 15th century Spanish folk songs. Representing the three prominent cultures in Spain at the time (Christian, Jewish, and Arab), the music is a lush mix of Spanish and Mediterranean influences and reflects a range of human conditions and emotions stemming from the cultural clashes and connections of the time. Tales of love and war, religion and rage are contained in texts sung in Ladino (the lost language of the Spanish Jews), Arabic, Hebrew, Sardinian, Spanish, and even the ancient Aramaic. Scored for clarinet, French horn, accordion, guitar, harp, flute, viola, cello, double bass, percussion, and laptop computer, Ayre’s instrumentation is as eclectic as its languages.
In his review of Ayre, Alex Ross of The New Yorker wrote: Ayre is not only an aesthetically beautiful piece but also a radical and disorienting one. … Golijov has created a new beast, of bastard parentage and glorious plumage.”