STATE OF THE ARTS
The following article
was borrowed from
http://www.stateart.com.au/sota/reviews/default.asp?
fid=3813
Ronald McCoy - Diamanda Galás:
Defixiones: Orders from the Dead
10 October 2005
Diamanda Galás dazzled, alarmed and perhaps shocked Melbourne
International Festival audiences when she performed her own composition
Defixiones: Orders from the Dead, which is dedicated to her
Greek ancestors who were victims of genocide in the early 20th century.
A Galás performance is not for the fainthearted. She goes straight for
the psychic jugular and does not let go for the entire event. While this
is confronting emotionally, her artistic honesty is refreshing.
Paying homage to her ancestors by performing in a very modern context,
Galás draws on many languages, forms and texts to compose a vast
soundscape that plumbs the depth of the human psyche – and it’s not a
pretty sight.
The music draws on strong elements from her Greek heritage, not only in
terms of modes and melody, but in the balanced use of music to highlight
text meaning. Even in the moments of almost overwhelming emotional
expression and apparent musical chaos, her composition retains a highly
formal structure, evoking echoes of classical Greek tragedy, a style of
expression well suited to the grand scale of her subject matter.
And the themes are vast: genocide, atrocities, cultural destruction,
betrayal: the sorts of themes that sit uncomfortably in a concert hall
in a Western consumer society where we willingly pay for a ‘nice night
out’ – not to be challenged and pretend that all is peachy in the world.
This is where Galás excels. Through electronic music and virtuosic vocal
technique that is capable of reaching terrifying levels of expressive
anger and defiance, she conveys the horror inherent in her texts,
leaving the listener panic-struck with a devastating view of our own
human capacity for evil.
Although she examines atrocities committed against her ancestors, she
takes no simplistic view of war. Galás looks at all sides of conflict
and portrays the inanity, helplessness and horror of everyone caught in
the midst of war, where no one is a winner.
From a performance event viewpoint, what I found particularly refreshing
was Galás’s level of respect for her audience’s intellect and
understanding, and its capacity to deal with contemporary music and
complex texts in many languages. With the use of excellent program
notes, she does not ‘dumb down’ her approach at any time. Seeing such a
different audience in the concert hall – so many of them young people –
and all totally engaged in tackling what is a potentially difficult and
confronting performance is exhilarating.
But her work has so many levels. You’ll feel uncomfortable, you’ll be
aghast, but you’ve got to experience Galás’s art at least once in your
life.
- Ronald McCoy
More Information:
Diamanda Galás: Defixiones: Orders from the Dead
Until 10 October
Melbourne International Arts Festival
Until 22 October
Bookings via Ticketmaster: 1300 136 166