{"id":50881,"date":"2018-02-07T12:25:03","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T17:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=50881"},"modified":"2018-02-07T12:25:56","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T17:25:56","slug":"primer-everything-you-need-to-know-about-tapestry-operas-new-persian-classical-music-hip-hop-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/02\/07\/primer-everything-you-need-to-know-about-tapestry-operas-new-persian-classical-music-hip-hop-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"PRIMER | Everything You Need To Know About Tapestry Opera&#8217;s Persian Classical Music Hip-Hop Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Does Tapestry Opera\u2019s <em>Forbidden<\/em>\u00a0have the inspiration to make this risky opera work? We think so.<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-50884\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/Forbidden-tapestry-opera.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"724\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/Forbidden-tapestry-opera.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/Forbidden-tapestry-opera-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/Forbidden-tapestry-opera-768x543.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Although the concept of a Hip-Hop Opera is not new, the most famous attempt being <em>Carmen: A Hip Hopera<\/em> starring Beyonc\u00e9, Tapestry Opera\u2019s <em>Forbidden <\/em>may have the inspiration to make this one work.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike <em>Carmen<\/em>, <em>Forbidden <\/em>is a completely original story by librettist and rapper <strong>Donna-Michelle St. Bernard<\/strong> that explores \u201cserious aspects of repression, countered with humorous commentary on human nature\u2019s temptations to explore the forbidden.\u201d This is combined with a newly composed score by <strong>Afarin Mansouri<\/strong>, which symbolically dissolves the boundaries between radically different musical genres including Persian classical music, hip-hop, and opera. In our interview, Mansouri explained that as an immigrant artist she approaches composition in a similar fashion to coming to a new country. It is about creating \u201ca new identity, a new you\u201d by bringing aspects from both worlds and unifying them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZkB1H8uS9dQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h3>Writing Opera versus Theatre<\/h3>\n<p>Nowhere better can this process be witnessed than in the collaborative writing of an opera like <em>Forbidden<\/em>. Writing an opera libretto is still a relatively new skill for Bernard. She first experienced it in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/12\/04\/scrutiny-tapestry-briefs-a-smorgasbord-of-opera\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tapestry\u2019s LIBLAB<\/a>. She claims that the genre is completely different from theatre. In theatre, her writing is considered very sparse. However, in opera, Mansouri \u2013\u2013 who also got her first taste of composing opera in the LIBLAB \u2013\u2013 removed several of Bernard\u2019s lines because they were too detailed. Mansouri argued that in opera the text must be even more immediate than theatre. Although she expressed her regret about having to remove so many of Bernard\u2019s beautiful lines, Mansouri knew that in opera there must be time and space for the music to also carry meaning.<\/p>\n<h3>Bringing Rap into Classical Music<\/h3>\n<p>Although she wrote the text, Bernard was actively involved in shaping the hip-hop sound aesthetic. Normally hip-hop is a spontaneous, somewhat improvised, genre. However, opera is not. To combine the two, Bernard found herself having to come up with many of the elemental aspects in advance \u2013\u2013 unamplified sounds such as stamping or hitting an object in the room \u2013\u2013 so that they could be written in the score for the performers. This was not only new for her, but she found it exerted a lot of extra energy she wasn\u2019t accustomed to during the creation process.<\/p>\n<p>Mansouri\u2019s score also takes creative approaches to showing how the boundaries between these genres can blend. She replaces beatboxing with Persian percussion. Bridging classical music with opera, each of these instruments represents a different character in the opera and what they are experiencing. For example, one represents Lucifer fighting with the ego, while another is what Mansouri described as a watery sound symbolizing Lucifer seducing his victims.<\/p>\n<h3>Artists Inspired by their Own Forbidden Experiences<\/h3>\n<p>The artists in <em>Forbidden <\/em>were inspired by experiences in their own lives that were forbidden. While growing up in Iran after the revolution, where women were not allowed to sing on the stage, Mansouri was forbidden to see opera, the very art form that inspires her today. Having only grown up with opera at home through recordings, she would reclaim the medium by composing a children\u2019s opera based on a Persian story called \u201cMy Little Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Forbidden <\/em>bridges more than musical taboos, but also sexual and cultural ones too. S\u00e4ye Skye, a transgender Iranian rap artist and LGBTQ rights activist, was forced to leave his home and seek asylum, which eventually led him to Toronto. Leading a new hip-hop movement that has its basis in social consciousness, his personal experience will also impact this performance as they explore the changing forms of Lucifer through the combination of these three musical genres.<\/p>\n<h3><em>Forbidden <\/em>as a Model for Today\u2019s Political Climate?<\/h3>\n<p>Having sat in on a rehearsal, I got a sneak peek at how all these aspects come together. Because <em>Forbidden<\/em> is another newly commissioned work by Tapestry, one gets to experience the involvement of the creators in the eventual performance. During the rehearsal, Mansouri gave direction about her vision, and also took feedback from the performers about how to realize this work. Unlike operas composed 200 years ago that we revive, in <em>Forbidden<\/em> we will see a truly collaborative process that brings together musical genres and crosses cultures. Maybe this process can teach us more about how to mitigate differences between people today.<\/p>\n<p>Tapestry Opera will be performing <em>Forbidden <\/em>in the Ernest Balmer Studio in the Historic Distillery District from February 8\u00a0to 11. For details, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/event\/tapestry-opera-tap-ex-forbidden\/2018-02-08\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><b><i>LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i><br \/>\n<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><i>Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews before anyone else finds out? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LudwigVanToronto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span><i>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/i><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LudwigVanTO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span><i><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u00a0<\/span>for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-48756 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 35px) 100vw, 35px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right.jpg 833w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right-768x1213.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right-648x1024.jpg 648w\" alt=\"\" width=\"35\" height=\"55\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"abh_box abh_box_down abh_box_business\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although the concept of a Hip-Hop Opera is not new, Tapestry Opera\u2019s Forbidden may have the inspiration to make this one work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":50884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14761,4967,36,43,4557,15953],"tags":[16479,16473,4699],"yst_prominent_words":[15458,6767,6715,11522,16469,16470,11527,6616,6735,16468,6886,16477,11629,10629,11520,11425,16475,8973,9960,7749],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/Forbidden-tapestry-opera.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-deF","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50881"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50895,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50881\/revisions\/50895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50881"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=50881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}