Click below to view video clips from Culturemart 2008:
MOSHEH re-enacts the biblical saga of Moses as an ancient-futuristic ritual.
Created by Yoav Gal, whose style has been termed “Indie Opera” by New York Times’ critic Anne Midgette, this work presents the new aesthetic in the realm of opera. It has evolved in small spaces and with limited means, and draws on a wide palette of genres such as performance art, video art, minimalism, modern dance and virtuosic singing.
MOSHEH highlights some of the more obscure details and 'minor' characters found in the biblical text. Moses' sister, his wife, and his two mothers (biological and adoptive) present a version of the story that is different then the one generally told. Ancient, pagan traditions can be glimpsed in the details of the relationship of these mother figures and the evolving leader, in protective acts such as giving up a child for a river-bank adoption, or performing a blood-ritual circumcision in the desert.
Another axis of the work is the relationship of Moses with God, a jealous and fearsome father figure. The piece is structured with God as the narrator (sung, chant-like, by an alto and counter-tenor in unison), and the ‘mother figures’ each with her own tableau. The role of Moses is performed by a dancer.
The work does not attempt an over-arching narrative, rather it is a personal depiction of the leader in his early years, internalized and re-imagined by the creator in his own environment of contemporary, ‘grungy’ Brooklyn, New York, as well as in Israel, the creator’s homeland. The work is an attempt to open a window into a reality that is foreign to our contemporary sensibilities, yet familiar in its human core.
“Music that is drawn to what’s next, not what has been… since the performance I’ve been curious to hear the rest of the work."
--Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
“Composer Yoav Gal Takes the most traditional Passover story, and turns it on its head.” -- John Schaefer, Soundcheck, WNYC
"The singer’s piercing voice and facial expressions, costume — purple and accordion-like — and spiky hair captured the audience’s attention as a video played on a wall behind her. Many in the audience had positive things to say about what they heard."-- Lizelle A. Vibar, New York Network, (nynewsnetwork.com) Audience Explores Young Composers’ Music.
"a simple and lovely take on the story of Moses...gives a great tribute to the matriarchy so vital to Jewish tradition and lore, an idea often lost in the pop culture of Charlton Heston and “Let My People Go.” ...Add visually striking costumes...think Julie Taymor meets the Bauhaus, and some layered video effects and Mosheh shows much promise...[exploring] the melding of body, space, music, and imagination."
- OBSCENE JESTER
"I highly recommend that readers see the full-length production as soon as it opens... the seamless combination of pedestrian movement, video projection, and virtuoso singing...was unforgettable...[creating a] surreal atmosphere that blurred the boundaries between space and time, and provided a temporary respite from normal life. At the same time, the hybridity... facilitated a humanistic exploration of spirituality. I am eager to experience the full-length opera."
--Eric Miles Glover, The New Theater Corps.
"Gal’s diverse education allows him to do it all – composing, costume design, video art. All that combined has led to the recent creation of a fresh new opera for a small number of musicians and singers… to give the audience a different sort of opera experience.”
- Asi Weinstein, El Al Magazine
