MOSHEH, a videOpera, by Yoav Gal

"[a] compellingly idiosyncratic meditation on Moses"
- Allan Kozinn, The New York Times.

"this multimedia theatrical event will take you on a fantastical journey of the senses"
- nytheatre.com

"Gal's rhythmically intense and beautifully heartfelt music should reward open-minded listeners"
— James Jorden. The New York Post

"Think Robert Wilson...maybe. More to the point, check it out and prepare to be impressed"
— Jon Sobel, Blogcritics Culture

HERE Arts Center, January 26th - February 5th, 2011

MOSHEH - Highlights

 

Credits:

Director Kameron Steele
Music direction and piano Yegor Shevtsov
Mosheh Nathan Guisinger
Bitia Heather Green
Zipporah Beth Anne Hatton
Yocheved Judith Barnes
Miriam Hai-Ting Chinn
Voice of God, Assistant Music Direction Wesley Chin

Flute Margaret Lancaster
Clarinet Alejandro Acierto
Saxophone >Argeo Ascani
Percussion Peter Wise
Violin Olivia De Prato and Josh Modney
Viola Victor Lowrie
Cello Mariel Roberts

Video design by Yoav Gal,
in collaboration with Mirit Tal
Set design by Andreea Mincic and Yoav Gal
Costume design by Yoav Gal,
in collaboration with Heather Green
Projection system design by Mirit Tal
Lighting Design by Ayumu “Poe” Saegusa
Stage Manager Cat Coffey

Orchestral reading by City Opera,
as part of VOX 2009.
May 1 & 2, 2009 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University.

Watch VOX Intro Video:

Hear on WNYC, John Schaefer "soundcheck"

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The new face of opera

The multi-media opera, 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. The work is currently in development at HERE Arts Center in New York, directed by Kameron Steele.

MOSHEH explores some of the more obscure details and 'minor' characters found in the biblical text. Figures such as Moses' sister; his wife; and his two mothers, tell a different version of the story than the one generally known. Ancient, pagan traditions can be glimpsed in the details of the relationship between these mother figures and the evolving leader. Another axis of the work is the relationship of Moses with God, a jealous, fearsome, and at times demonic, father figure. The piece is structured with God as the narrator (sung, chant-like, by an alto and counter-tenor in unison), and the four ‘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. It is also an attempt to open a window into an ancient reality and mind-set that is foreign to our contemporary sensibilities, yet at the same time familiar in its human essence.

MOSHEH had previously appeared in venues such as Merkin Concert Hall, Galapagos Art Space, Makor, Golden Fleece Opera, Ltd., Greenwich House Music School, 14 Street Y, Safe T Gallery and Dance Theater Workshop, as well as in Chicago’s “Ice Fest.”

visit the picture galleries:
- Culturemart 2009
- Culturemart 2008

video demos are available at: http://yoavgal.com/clips.php