FULL Nazım Oratoryosu (Fazıl Say) Aspendos 2005 Güvenç Dagüstün, Zuhal Olcay, Kansu Tanca
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Nâzım Oratoryosu
- Composer: Fazıl Say
- Libretto: Nâzim Hikmet
- Venue & Opera Company: Roman Theatre of Aspendos, Turkey
- Recorded: 2005
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Güvenç Dagüstün, Zuhal Olcay, Kansu Tanca
- Conductor: İbrahim YAZICI
- Orchestra: Bilkent Symphony Orchestra
- Chorus: Ankara State Polyphonic Choir
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Fazıl Say
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Broadcast
- Quality Video: 3 Audio:3
- Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
The work composed by Fazıl Say under the title of “Nazım” uses the expressive possibilities of a large mixed choir and symphonic orchestra, as well as singers and a poetry presenter, while sometimes including a softly announced lyrical atmosphere and sometimes a loud vocal outburst. The music undertook to emphasize both the intense expressive power of the poems and represented emotional elevation on its own. “Nazım” is similar to stage music such as opera and oratorio, but it differs from them in its structure and content. The work, consisting of five interconnected sections and lasting approximately 70 minutes with its “free form” structure, generally benefits from the colors of our folk music with modal, tonal and atonal techniques, and reflects the magnificent combination of poetry and music.
According to the composer, creating the atmosphere of “Nazım Hikmet” as a poet and drawing a portrait of him with music depends on expressing the depth of expression in the poems with the language of music. The atmosphere that will arise from the intertwining of poetry and music can be created with the sincerity of the interpreters. Genco Erkal, who sensitively expresses the strong expressive features in the poems, will feel the breeze of the music behind him at every moment, and Zuhal Olcay, who merges poetry and melody with the songs she sings, will integrate with Fazıl Say’s piano accompaniment. The rich sound color possibilities of the mixed choir and symphonic orchestra will completely combine the poetic and musical meaning. Just like the inner voices and half-rhyme yeast in Nazım’s verses integrate the poem… Just like a poem that swells with enthusiasm and flows loudly and sweeps you away…
The expressive possibilities of the vocalists in the work are used to varying degrees according to the flow of meaning contained in the poems. In some places, a girl comes out alone and speaks with all her purity and naturalness, telling the tragedy of “Hiroshima”, and in some places, the mixed choir and orchestra staff express the polyphony of life with magnificent sonority. Among all these voices, the leading role was given to Genco Erkal, who presented the poems. Because in such musical forms, the “word” is the backbone of the work.
The “Nazım” oratorio was performed many times in various cities of Turkey. Each time, the audience watched the work with pleasure, and after the performance was over, they stood up and applauded for minutes with an unprecedented enthusiasm. In order to respond to the interest of tens of thousands of listeners, mass venues such as magnificent ancient theaters in Anatolia and sports halls of large cities were used in these concerts. This enthusiasm also found an echo abroad, and suggestions were received from European countries. It was not easy to implement these suggestions at first glance: The burden of transporting a large vocal staff consisting of 200 artists, including choir, orchestra and soloists, to foreign countries, as well as the inviolability of prosody created by music composed on Turkish poems, were among the problems that had to be overcome. Now we see that, along with human ideals such as friendship between peoples, dialogue between cultures and the desire for permanent peace, such technical details can be easily overcome.