The London scene turns its eyes to Latin American history, through this new piece celebrating the best of both cultures through the merge of European classical music and Indigenous folklore. Guillermo Nazara chats with one of its lead performers, to learn all the fun facts about this montage where past and present blend together in hopes for a better future.
How does it feel to be bringing a show that celebrates such a big part of your cultural heritage to the London scene?
I am proud of this, and l am curious to know how people react. For me and for many Latin American professional musicians, there is not really a boundary between Early Music and what in Europe would be called “World Music”. I hope that this production will open minds among London audiences so that they don’t see such boundaries where they really don’t exist. To understand other cultures and their cultural products we need to be helped to see things more from their point of view and less from ours. I hope this production brings empathy, opening, and acceptance.
For centuries, there’s been this traditional depiction of European and indigenous cultures clashing with each other. How does this show achieve the opposite effect?
Expressing the issue as a clash of cultures is a point of view that assumes equal power and influence in both cultures. My point of view is more one of Western dominance and sense of superiority, which still does not give place to Indigenous people in all kinds of ways, including in a musical culture which either excludes Indigenous music or “Westernizes” it, making it almost unrecognisable to the Mestizo or Indigenous people for whom it was written and first performed it. Fortunately, there are also enlightened European artists and cultural actors who wants to learn from the Indigenous cultures and accept our cultures as they are, at the same level. For this reason I am very happy to see in this production a meaningful collaboration between Latin American and British artists.
How do Western and indigenous artistry merge together in your case?
l come from a family of musicians. My father was from Potosi, Bolivia and he played the charango very well. My mother was school director but also a soprano singer. I grew up with the Indigenous and Mestizo Andean music, surrounded by Guarani sounds in San Pedro de Jujuy. When l went to the university, l thought that opera was for white people and audiences, l was afraid of it not being my place. In Latin America at that time, Mestizo or Indigenous singers such as me were pushed towards World Music because of the cultural assumptions prevalent in the Western World which had also infected the artistic elites of my country. For example, Ima Sumack, a famous Indigenous soprano, was not allowed to sing at a famous Opera House, even though she could sing the Queen of the Night arias effortlessly.
When l auditioned at the Conservatoire Nacional in Córdoba, Argentina, l was surprised that my Spanish teacher pointed me towards chamber music. I very quickly learned the Lieder of Mendelssohn and Schumann. We had ONLY European classical music and some Argentinian composers of European background. Such composers were very much looking towards Europe as the focus of culture and music. Many Latin American classical musicians and singers still are focused on Europe and as a result their knowledge of our own culture, ourselves, is lacking. We should celebrate the unique mixed cultures in Latin America and less try to copy or sound like a British singer. What is the point? We Latin American singers need to more own our voices and hearts in the music.
My artistic history and identity merges these two worlds, where l feel as a bridge in between the two cultures. I have the swing of the Indigenous musician and l have studied classical singing in Argentina and later in Switzerland. I am also a coach for people who want to learn for instance Latin American baroque music, which I have studied extensively.
Does this piece pose any particular challenges for you as a performer?
The first challenge was to propose a set of musical pieces for this production which reflects the breadth of styles prevalent in 18th Century Latin America. I researched widely and found two wonderful works, among others, that were able to suit Michael Walling’s vision for this production. One work is definitely baroque music, played with European instruments but written by an Indigenous composer in the Chiquitano language. It is what l call Indigenous Baroque because it was written in the Missions and the musicians and composers were inspired by Indigenous rhythms in some numbers. The Jesuit missions, where these works were written, were mainly inhabited by Indigenous people, only the small number of priests and religious were Europeans.
Set against this Indigenous Baroque, I selected the Codex Martínez Compañón. This is a mixture of Mestizo, Creole and Indigenous music, one of the first Spanish compilations to document the music of our culture in styles which would be described by many Westeners as World Music.
To show these two worlds as part of one world is normal for me and the challenge is to bring to our performance the characteristics which will help the audience to also see them as one, and not as a Westernized half and an exoticized “native” half. Perhaps this is more difficult in a culture where until recently there was hardly any mixing of the races, with its consequent cultural mixing and blurring.
My ensemble, El Parnaso Hyspano, works precisely to show that these two musical worlds live together in harmony. I choose carefully the repertoire for my ensemble, which is unique in London. We sing in indigenous languages as well, which l am happy to coach to European singers.
Has this particular mixture of styles implied further research or preparation from a singing perspective?
Yes, l have worked to recreate a more authentic Indigenous way of singing, based on an understanding and close experience of the local way of singing this music written for my ancestors, and which I heard sung from childhood, both in churches and also in family gatherings.
l am also a voice coach, with a German certificate by the Landemusik Akademie NRW. I don’t aspire to be compared with British or European singers and their way of singing, but present a sound world which reflects a real difference, and respects the indigenous voice of my people. I hope this will engender curiosity, attention and respect.
What, would you say, defines the essence of this piece and its message?
This is really something on which Michael Walling (Artistic Director of Border Crossings) must have the last (and primary) word, as this is a multi-componential work, involving dance, drama and visual elements, which are joined together in his overall artistic vision, and in which I play my assigned role. In these pre-production weeks, my deep engagement has so far been limited to the music that will be sung and played. I look forward to learning more about, and hopefully contributing to, Michael’s vision – by participating in the rehearsal period which has not yet started.
For me, the essence of any such piece of artistic work is to demythologise and “de-other” Indigenous cultures, so that Indigenous culture moves from being an exotic spectacle for European audiences towards being one integral part of a multicultural society where no particular tradition is either privileged or deprivileged.
Why come see The Mouth of the Gods?
Because people can experience one of the richest compilations of Early music from Latin America that London has seen. They will learn a lot, but will hopefully be moved and inspired by it. On top of that, the production involves many different groups from the London community, working alongside professionals – and it’s free!
The Mouth of Gods will play at London’s Hoxton Hall from 27 November to 1 December. Tickets are available on the following link.