Postcards from the Road

FRANCE
Villecroze Retreat
August 15-21, 2007

Fourteen Silk Road Ensemble artists met at the Academie Musicale de Villecroze for musical development on several fronts. In a picturesque setting in the countryside of Provence, the Ensemble enjoyed a reunion in a private workshop atmosphere.

During the Villecroze retreat, the Ensemble focused on the following areas:

• developing a new chamber arrangement of the classic Arabian epic, Layla and Majnun
• rehearsing repertoire for the upcoming Lucerne concerts
• working on the new multimedia piece, Blue and White
• meeting with “Arabian Waltz” composer Rabih Abou-Khalil
• presenting a concert at the village chapel on the last evening

Participating Silk Road Ensemble artists

Jeffrey Beecher, contrabass
Nicholas Cords, viola
Jonathan Gandelsman, violin
Rauf Islamov, kemancheh
Colin Jacobsen, violin
Wu Man, pipa
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Ali Asgar Mammadov, tar
Alim Qasimov, mugham vocal
Fargana Qasimova, mugham vocal
Shane Shanahan, percussion
Mark Suter, percussion
Kojiro Umezaki, shakuhachi
Wu Tong, sheng

The first full run-through of the chamber arrangement of Layla and Majnun took place in the pressoir – a converted olive oil pressing facility at the Academie Musicale de Villecroze. With mugham vocalist Fargana Qasimova performing therole of Layla and her father, Alim Qasimov, in the role of Majnun, this classic Arabian epic, which is often compared to Romeo and Juliet, tells a tragic story of love, madness and death. Alim brought the piece to the Silk Road Project in 2006 and worked with Johnny Gandelsman to adapt the three-hour opera score by Azeri composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov for the Silk Road Ensemble. Johnny has created a 35-45-minute chamber arrangement, which the Ensemble is trying out during the Villecroze retreat.

Alim spoke of the challenge of transforming the piece from its opera origins. “Layla and Majnun is such a magnificent work – it’s very difficult to choose just a few scenes to tell the story. The audience must listen with an open heart.”

A first audience had a chance to do that on Monday, August 20, when the Ensemble performs excerpts at a concert for the Villecroze community in the village’s 12th century Chapelle Saint-Victor.

	The village of Villecroze click the photo to enlarge
	The Silk Road Ensemble’s concert took place in the 12th century Chapelle Saint-Victor, in the village of Villecroze click the photo to enlarge
	A quiet corner of the garden at the Academie Musicale de Villecroze click the photo to enlarge
	The Ensemble read through the new Layla and Majnoun arrangement click the photo to enlarge
	The Ensemble rehearses "Turceasca" in the Chapelle Saint-Victor click the photo to enlarge
	Johnny and Wu Man consulted on the new chamber arrangement of Layla and Majnun click the photo to enlarge
	The Ensemble on the steps of the Chapelle Saint-Victor click the photo to enlarge
	Le Pressoir, a former olive oil pressing room, where the Ensemble practiced click the photo to enlarge
	Ensemble members Shane Shanahan and Mark Suter accompanied Lebanese composer and master oud player, Rabih Abou-Khalil, who visited the Academie Musicale de Villecroze during the Ensemble’s retreat. Abou-Khalil is the composer of "Arabian Waltz," featured on the Silk Road Ensemble's latest album, New Impossibilities. In Villecroze, the composer heard the Ensemble's interpretation of "Arabian Waltz" for the first time. During his visit, he also participated in workshops on rhythm, tonality and mugham. click the photo to enlarge

All photos by Isabelle Hunter.