Newsday: Lydians Present Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's 'Hiawatha's Wedding Feast'

[Hiawatha's Wedding Feast; Petite Suite de Concert; Bamboula; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; 

Malcolm Sargent, Conductor; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Kenneth Alwyn, Conductor; 

EMI Classics for Pleasure 5870242 (2005)]

Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday
Hiawatha
Saturday, October 4 2008
THE STAGE of Queen’s Hall was transformed into a Native American Village as the Lydians with Steel, presented Scenes from the Song of Hiawatha, a trilogy composed by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Directed by Pat Bishop, it is the story of Hiawatha’s wedding to Minnehaha, who left her tribe, the Dakotas, to marry Hiawatha, an Iroquois. Then follows the heartbreaking tale of Minnehaha’s death, as famine and disease ravage the tribe; and finally Hiawatha’s prophecy of the future devastation of his people, and his departure “to the Land of the Hereafter”. There are few, if any, operas set in the New World that speak of the people of the First Nations and this is really the story of a great leader. 

To add more drama to this local operatic event, Thursday’s opening show was preceded by a smoke ceremony performed by the Carib Community of Arima. Ricardo Bharat-Hernandez, the leader of the Trinidad Carib Community presided over a shortened version of the ceremony. The music for the production is colourful and conjures up great imagery associated with feasting, landscape, and climate. It features strong rhythms throughout the saga and recalls to audiences their childhood images of North American Indians. The production features mainly choral performance and provides a great setting to display a range of solo performances, featuring better-known and newer Lydian voices. Among the lead performers are Edward Cumberbatch, Joanne Pyle, Glenis Yearwood, Camille Seejoor, Adafih Padmore, Garnet Allen and Benedict Rousseau. 

Joining the Lydians for the colourful dramatic production were Xavier Phillip and his African drummers and the Malick Tassa Drummers. Choreography was by Adele Bynoe and Allison Seepaul and musical accompaniment was provided by Lindy Ann Bodden-Ritch and Myrtle Cumberbatch. Adding authenticity to the production were the costumes, designed by mas veterans Lionel Jagessar. The complete trilogy The Wedding Feast of Hiawatha, The Death of Minnehaha, and Hiawatha’s Departure was first conducted in 1900, and comes from the epic 22 canto poem of the famous American poet Henry Woodsworth Longfellow, based on the legends of the Ojibway Indians, published in 1855. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was the first major black English musical composer and conductor. [Full Post] [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]