美国国家公共电台 NPR--The debut of 'Omar,' a thoroughly American opera

The debut¹ of 'Omar,' a thoroughly² American opera

Transcript³

A new opera tells the true story of an enslaved man taken from his home in what is now Senegal and trafficked to South Carolina. The opera premiered at the Spoleto Festival USA, less than a mile down the road from where the man was sold and after which he spent five decades on plantations⁵, including the one at which he wrote his autobiography⁶ — the only known, surviving slave narrative⁷ written in Arabic.

Julie, an enslaved Black woman, is a fictional⁸ character that Rhiannon Giddens created for this opera. When Julie first met the newly enslaved man, she later tells him, he reminded her strongly of someone else: "My daddy wore a cap like yours," she sings. She's referring to the kufi that many Muslim men and those from the African diaspora wear.

The opera Omar is a broadly American story. But history hangs particularly heavy and close in Charleston, S.C., where the opera had its debut in late May. The real man on whom this opera is based, Omar Ibn Said, was a Muslim man who became a slave in Charleston, like about 40 percent of other Africans who were forced into North America. Said then spent five decades on a plantation⁴ in Fayetteville, N.C., where he wrote his life's story.

"It was shocking," Giddens says of learning of Said's autobiography, "Somebody or an event that's from my home state that's massive, such a huge story. And I've never heard this story, having lived the majority of my life in North Carolina." Trained in college as an opera singer, Giddens is best known as an American roots musician, a singer and songwriter who wields⁹ a mean banjo and makes her viola croon. More than that, she says, "I guess I look for overlooked stories to tell."

Said was a well-educated Fulani, one of the largest groups of people scattered¹⁰ throughout the Sahel and West Africa, and had studied the Qur'an intensely. At age 37, he was captured during a war and sold into slavery. He then endured the Middle Passage over what he called "the big sea."

Said escaped his first slaveholder, but was captured again in North Carolina. While jailed there, he began writing on the walls in Arabic, the language of the Qur'an. His literacy in Arabic and his religious piety¹¹ became objects of fascination¹² to his second owner, a plantation owner named Jim Owen whose brother John became the governor of North Carolina.

During his time enslaved in Fayetteville, Said appears to have converted to Christianity. And he wrote his autobiography at his owner's behest, says Michael Abels, who co-composed the opera with Giddens. Best known for his scores to the films Get Out and Us, Abels provided Omar its lush orchestrations.

"On the one hand, while they had respect for his abilities," Abels notes, "They certainly had no intention of ending his enslavement as a result of that. They were more interested in having him perform and having him convert to Christianity to make them feel better."

Ala Alryyes is a professor of English at Queens College, the City University of New York. He also translated the real Omar Ibn Said's autobiography from Arabic into English — and was brought in as an advisor¹³ on the opera project. He says Said's work shows up the lie that enslaved Africans were ignorant, illiterate¹⁴, and in need of conversion¹⁵.

"It demonstrates a cultural background and literacy that a slave brought with him to the United States and did not really acquire here," Alryyes says. "Our understanding of American slavery has been American-based, and ignores the background that these enslaved persons brought with them from Africa, whether they were Muslim or not, whether they spoke¹⁶ Arabic or other languages. It opens our eyes to the fact that their cultures were obviously, within a few generations, lost."

Enlarge this image

Said's autobiography was the inspiration for the opera, explains Michael Abels. "The opera tells the story of his journey — but also his spiritual journey as he was confronted with the challenges of being enslaved and the challenge of being asked to give up his spiritual identity as well as his freedom," he says. "And when you think about what's not stated — that's what's powerful about it ... the things that are left as clues that show you what it's like to have your every move watched, to need to tell your story in a way that's going to be approved."

Hussein Rashid is a scholar specializing in Muslims in U.S. popular culture. Like Alryyes, he was an advisor on this opera. Rashid says that in his autobiography and other writings, Omar Ibn Said offers some coded language and certainly ambiguity¹⁷ in his actual beliefs. Rashid points to one chapter from the Qur'an that Said quotes in the autobiography that addresses God's power and sovereignty: the Sura al-Mulk.

"The way I understand this, and the way several other scholars understand this," Rashid explains, "is that this is Omar talking about being enslaved, recognizing that it is other human beings playing at power, playing at having sovereignty, playing at having authority over other human beings. And he is saying, 'No, you don't actually know what power is, you don't know what sovereignty is, you don't know where my allegiance is.' And I think this is really a spiritual nourishment¹⁸ for Omar."

Omar's quest to preserve himself, when every force connived¹⁹ to take away everything that belonged to him, is the crux²⁰ of this project, says the opera's director, Kaneza Schaal.

"I'm interested in the contest of languages and Omar's life — the spiritual languages, the spoken languages, the material languages, the cultural languages — and ultimately how he ends up holding all of those languages simultaneously," she says.

The creative team cleverly interpreted those interweavings of language and belief on the opera stage. Said's manuscripts in both Arabic and English are projected onstage; the opera's characters literally²¹ wear various languages on their clothing.

Rhiannon Giddens says that Said's life story presented lots of creative opportunities to flow between musical languages as well. Giddens composed most of the music for Omar on the banjo and integrated her deep knowledge of folk music into the opera. But the music also morphs and transforms to meet the characters – in scenes set in Senegal and in Said's imagination, a harp²² evokes²³ a West African kora, for example, while music for the white slaveowners and slave auctioneer thud along in boomy, declarative Western harmonies and cadences²⁴. Singers in the production complimented Giddens and Abels for writing arias²⁵ and choral sections that were a pleasure to perform.

"Look, I'm a banjo player," Giddens says. "If somebody said, 'Oh, your opera is accessible, I'm like, 'That's the highest compliment ever!' What I do is bring in these connections to deep, deep vernacular²⁶ and folk traditions from American culture. I'm really hoping that it also adds to the narrative of who gets to be called a composer, who gets to create these large-scale works."

The opera stage is a space that still often leaves out Black creators and stories of the Black experience. Giddens hopes that Omar forms a pathway — and it looks as if Giddens has succeeded. Omar is already scheduled to be staged at other opera companies across the United States, including in Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and in Chapel²⁷ Hill, N.C. — close to where the real-life Omar Ibn Said was enslaved for 50 years.

Said died in 1863, at age 93, in the middle of the Civil War, and was buried on one of Owen's plantations. There is no marker for his grave. There is a mosque²⁸ in Fayetteville named for him, however: the Masjid Omar Ibn Sayyid.

With special thanks to South Carolina Public Radio for providing the music from Omar, which was recorded at the opera's dress rehearsal²⁹ at Spoleto Festival USA on May 24.

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

5 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

6 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

7 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

8 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

9 wields   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• She wields enormous power within the party. 她操纵着党内大权。
• He remains chairman, but wields little power at the company. 他还是主席，但在公司没有什么实权了。

10 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

11 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

12 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

13 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

14 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

15 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

18 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

19 connived   

v.密谋 ( connive的过去式和过去分词 )；搞阴谋；默许；纵容

参考例句：

• Her brother is believed to have connived at her murder. 据信她的哥哥没有制止对她的谋杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The jailer connived at the escape from prison. 狱吏纵容犯人的逃狱。 来自辞典例句

20 crux   

adj.十字形；难事，关键，最重要点

参考例句：

• The crux of the matter is how to comprehensively treat this trend.问题的关键是如何全面地看待这种趋势。
• The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed.问题的要害是人们的态度转变了。

21 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

22 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

23 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。

24 cadences   

n.（声音的）抑扬顿挫( cadence的名词复数 )；节奏；韵律；调子

参考例句：

• He delivered his words in slow, measured cadences. 他讲话缓慢而抑扬顿挫、把握有度。
• He recognized the Polish cadences in her voice. 他从她的口音中听出了波兰腔。 来自辞典例句

25 arias   

n.咏叹调( aria的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Can you pick out the operatic arias quoted in this orchestral passage? 你能听出这段管弦乐曲里有歌剧式的咏叹调吗？ 来自辞典例句
• The actions are large and colour, there are arias and recitatives. 动作夸张而华美，有唱段也有宣叙部。 来自辞典例句

26 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

27 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

28 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

29 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。