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Café Antarsia Ensemble
PRESS
“Stories sung, wonders performed.
Beautifully rendered…intricate and intriguing, this understated show
enthralled. The depth of tradition was palpable. Part opera, part folk
concert, part performance art piece, this show kept us watching, kept
us believing. Folk music's power to cross national and linguistic
borders is well known, and the universality of this music and its setting
was wonderful. While sung in English the connectedness with an
international aspect of the traveller meant that the tradition was upheld
by this piece. As with the best of contemporary performance, this work
worked from its tradition, while finding new articulations and ideas
within it. ~ UK National Art Service’s
The Observatory (London) ~ May 23, 2008
“…Tightly-rendered performances. Principal singers Nikos Brisco and
Ruth Margraff both have attractive voices… Striking in its immediacy
are songs which mix exotic, evocative lyrics (in English) with vigorous
strummed guitars, undulating rhythmic grooves, and catchy vocal
choruses. Café Antarsia Ensemble may is a tight unit with compelling
material of wide-ranging appeal.”
~ Sequenza21
Imaginational Anthem Vol. 3 ~ June 8, 2008
“Eastern folk…a churning, rhythmically sumptuous stew…gives a
modern edge to the gypsy-folk feel…with great finesse so you can
either dance away or feast your ears on the details. And the band
members have such varied ethnic and professional backgrounds that
Cafe Antarsia's adventurous crossbred sound seems perfectly natural
and rings authentic.”~ City Music /Greater Rochester’s Alternative
Weekly ~ June 11-17, 2008
“An astonishing, well-crafted odyssey… world hybrid style of art that
spans the continents… such passions vicariously open the deeper
questions of life… CAFÉ ANTARSIA seeks to commemorate forgotten
people as colossal and important. Margraff and Brisco push their
boundaries into a new hybrid art form. They update the 1980s idea of
hybrid multimedia theatre by merging East with West, the ancient with
the avant-garde….graced with history, drama, poetry and extraordinary
music.” ~ Red Snap Magazine ~
“Audaciously original…the new Bob Dylan”
~ The Moscow Times ~
“C’est de la véritable musique du monde (this is truly world music)”
~L'argenteuil News (Montreal)~
The English lyrics in 9/8 rhythm remind you somehow of the acoustic
moments of an Orphaned Land. Worth our attention is the ease with
which the voice of Ruth Margraff runs through and expresses
successfully the origin and form of every song. One rare instance
where “folklore” is not torn to pieces.
Radiophone Greece: !"#$ µ%&'()*+ 2008 (Greece)
Enough frissons for a full novel written in verse...
potently hewn piece of rural American mythology.”
~Dallas Observer~
“Brilliantly performed...layer after layer of richly textured emotion...imminent
danger...with precision of cadence and inflection.”
~The Dallas Morning News~
“Margraff stretches the bounds of opera” ~Providence Journal~
“An album length play... hypnotic...brutal...a baptism of fire.”
~The Austin Chronicle~
"This is cabaret theater as damnation tongue in chic...with everything from
breathy love songs to darkly urgent ballads with a Balkan flavor."
~ New York Village Voice~
“Greek yet inescapably modern sound”
~Talkin Broadway.com~
“Composer Brisco has written a melodic score full of gypsy
influences…Special mention must go to Orpheus’ four-piece band: guitarists
Brisco and Ron Riley, percussionist Rami El-Aasser, and accordion player Ruth
Margraff all perform beautifully.”
~ New York Theater.com ~
“A mix of Balkan, Greek, Texan and rock sounds. These faintly exotic melodies
make for a most unusual soundscape. As befits the underworld, the songs are
lamentations, full of keening and pain.”
"Nick has written a body of work that stretches from jazz to folk, across the lap
of the avant garde and into rock and roll. He's on the edge of being found like
some rare coin in the dust."
~George Gimarc author of The Punk Diaries and musical historian
“From the enchanting lilt of librettist Ruth Margraff’s voice…the
gorgeously poetic dialogue with which Margraff has endowed her
libretto, the intoxicating Balkan rhythms composer Nikos Brisco has
laced through his score for a feisty gypsy band, and the historic subject
matter complete with warring factions, bloodthirsty brothers, and
dangerous seduction, it seems that…the duo may have a little
masterpiece on their hands.”
~Arts Cure Magazine ~
“Ruth Margraff is a performance artist who looks like Shirley Temple,
sounds like Marilyn Monroe and has the mentality of Thomas Merton
eating alive William S. Burroughs. She’s got a savage imagination and a
very sweet affect.”
~New York CurtainUp ~
Harmonies as sweet as the juice of a pomegranate.”
~New York OffOffonline.com~
“Ruth Margraff is a distinguished innovator capable of bending
boundaries in opera and musical theater. Her newest work HARLEQUIN
is a pre-911 story of a poet who meet and falls for the leader of an Iraqi
opposition group in New England…Margraff’s latest promises to be
lyrical and sensual, providing a reminder of the world’s shape during the
last decade of the previous century.”
~ City Pages (Minneapolis) ~ March 14, 2007
~National Public Radio “All Things Considered”:
Rebellion in the Regional Ranks~
"Brisco's voice is exactly what country songs need, letting simple country
songs live breathe and cry and die."
~ Dallas Observer ~
“A vital voice in shaping the future of American theatre…
a warrior writer riding the vanguard of New Wave opera, pushing the
boundaries of the stage. To the prosaic ears of an American, Margraff's
language might sound like music. It works on you like a song, the way a
song can take you from one emotion to another between one note and
the next. It works on you like a dream...
She travels everywhere, like an electrifying idea.
~The Austin Chronicle~
“The new Bob Dylan.. Brisco's music is as tough and gnarly as it is tender and
mournful, mixing the intimate and the epic
with strains of folk, blues and a bit of rock wafting through like hot and cold
breezes. It's an incantation of sorts -- a promise and a reminder that the only
way worth doing anything is to do it all the way.”
~The Moscow Times~
the observatory
May 26, 2008 12:11 PM
http://www.nationalartservice.org.uk/observatory/2008/05/cafe-antarsia-review-230508.html
UK National Art Service (London, UK)
CAFÉ ANTARSIA REVIEW – MAY 23, 2008 BY JAMES GROGAN
STORIES SUNG, WONDERS PERFORMED.
CAFÉ ANTERSIA ENSEMBLE PERFORMED A BEAUTIFULLY RENDERED PIECE OF STORYTELLING AS PART OF
THE ACCIDENTAL FESTIVAL 2008. TAKING FOLK TRADITIONS FROM AMERICA, GREECE, THE BALKANS
AND THE MIDDLE EAST AND INFUSING THEM WITH PERFORMANCE GENTLE, INTRICATE AND INTRIGUING,
THIS UNDERSTATED SHOW ENTHRALLED. THE DEPTH OF TRADITION WAS PALPABLE. SINGING FOLK
SONGS WHICH FEEL ROMANIAN, GREEK OR BALKAN IN ENGLISH IS A BOLD MOVE, THE CLOSENESS OF
MEANING IS SOMEHOW UNCOMFORTABLE, BUT HERE IT WORKED. PART OPERA, PART FOLK CONCERT,
PART PERFORMANCE ART PIECE, THIS SHOW KEPT US WATCHING, KEPT US BELIEVING. THE HONESTY OF
THE STORIES ENSURED WE STAYED WITH THE PERFORMANCE, STAYED WITH THE SONGS, AND BELIEVED IN
THEIR RELEVANCE. RUTH M ARGRAFF'S PLAYFUL INNOCENCE AND JOY IN HER TONED AND MEASURED
PERFORMANCE: THROWING CARELESSLY (AND YET SO VERY CONSIDERED) PEACOCK FEATURED MASKS
TO THE GROUND; MORE PEACOCK FEATURES IN A FAN, FLUTED AND GENTLE. PAINTING A CHILD'S
PAINTING WITH BRUSHES DIPPED IN BEER, THIS SUBTLY SELF-AWARE PERFORMANCE, INNOCENT AND SHY
IN ITS OWN WAYS, REALLY BROUGHT A WHOLE NEW TEXTURE TO THIS PIECE. ONE FELT THE NEED TO BE
SAT AT A TABLE IN A COUNTRY KITCHEN, OR A DARKENED SNUG IN SOME STONEWALLED PUB IN A
BLACKNESS OF A LATE SUMMER'S EVENING. FOLK MUSIC'S POWER TO CROSS NATIONAL AND LINGUISTIC
BORDERS IS WELL KNOWN, AND THE UNIVERSALITY OF THIS MUSIC AND ITS SETTING WAS WONDERFUL.
NICKOS BRISCO'S COMPOSITIONS FUSED THE SOUTHERN DRAWL OF AMERICANA, WITH THE HAUNTING
RHYTHMS OF GREEK AND BALKAN MUSIC. HE SPOKE THE LANGUAGE OF FOLK IN TONES AND TEXTURES.
WHILE SUNG IN ENGLISH (A STRANGELY DISTANCING LANGUAGE FOR FOLK MUSIC) THE CONNECTEDNESS
WITH AN INTERNATIONAL ASPECT OF THE TRAVELLER MEANT THAT THE TRADITION WAS UPHELD BY THIS
PIECE. AS WITH THE BEST OF CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE, THIS WORK WORKED FROM ITS TRADITION,
WHILE FINDING NEW ARTICULATIONS AND IDEAS WITHIN IT.
SEQUENZA 21:
IMAGINATIONAL ANTHEM
VOLUME THREE VARIOUS
ARTISTS
POSTED BY:
CHRISTIAN CAREY
JUNE 8TH, 2008
CAFÉ ANTARSIA ENSEMBLE
SONGS OF THE TABLE
INNOVA RECORDS (WWW.INNOVA.MU)
Christian Carey is an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Music Composition, History,
and Theory at Westminster Choir College of
Rider University. Degrees: Juilliard School
(B.Mus. in Voice), Boston University (M.M. in
Composition), and Rutgers University (Ph.D. in
Composition and Theory); his teachers included
Charles Wuorinen and Lukas Foss. Dr. Carey’s
research focuses on contemporary American
music and he has written about Babbitt,
Wuorinen, Rakowski, and Feldman, and is
currently at work on an article about the late
works of Ralph Shapey for Contemporary
Music Review. His articles and reviews have
been published in Signal to Noise, Muso, Musicworks, Sequenza 21, Copper Press, All
About Jazz, Pop Matters, and several other publications.
His compositions have been performed by the New York New Music Ensemble, the Cassatt
String Quartet, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Ionisation, and the Helix New Music
Ensemble, at Lincoln Center, the June in Buffalo Festival, the Music Academy of the West,
the Aspen Music Festival, Two River Theater Company, the Montclair Art Museum, the
Progressions Series in Baltimore, Maryland, and Music ‘99 at the University of Cincinnati.
Mourning Madrid, a work for orchestra and live locomotive, was commissioned by the
Music Festival of the Hamptons and performed in July, 2004 by the Atlantic Chamber
Orchestra and the Long Island Railroad in Bridgehampton, New York.
Innova presents Mediterranean-pop fare
http://www.sequenza21.com/carey/
Innova Records primarily releases contemporary classical music, but
the imprint also supports crossover recordings that are consonant with
the adventurousness of their other programming. An American quartet,
the Café Antarsia Ensemble plays Mediterranean-influenced pop that is
convincingly faithful to its folk origins while placing them firmly in a
new hybridized context.
Featuring instruments such as bouzouki, lute, riq, and tzouras as well as
guitar and accordion, Antarsia weaves multi-textured arrangements in
tightly-rendered performances. Principal singers Nikos Brisco and
Ruth Margraff both have attractive voices and take turns leading the
songs; percussionist Rami El-Aasser and guitarist Ron Riley provide
strong vocal support, allowing the group to periodically break into fourpart harmonies. Striking in its immediacy are songs such as “White
Tortoise Lute”, “Jasmin’s Veil” and “Book of Tea” which mix exotic,
evocative lyrics (in English) with vigorous strummed guitars,
undulating rhythmic grooves, and catchy vocal choruses. Café Antarsia
Ensemble is a tight unit with compelling material of wide-ranging
appeal.
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Radiophone Greece: About Music
It is rare for foreign musicians to have “thank you” liner notes that are directed to
Greeks. And even more strange that these musicians live in the USA but they play
bouzouki, baglama, tzoura, laouto instruments and write lyrics for Crete. Leading the
band is the Texan Greek - Nikos Brisco - in whose compositions you hear melodies with
gypsy, Cretan, Balkan and American traditional motifs. The English lyrics in 9/8 rhythm
[such as “Kill Me Standing”] remind you somehow of the acoustic moments of an Orphaned
Land. Worth our attention is the ease with which the voice of Ruth Margraff runs through
and expresses successfully the origin and form of every song. With their very strong
relation to our land they write sophisticated lyrics, addressing them to our relative
audience. One rare instance where “folklore” is not torn to pieces.
(translated by the Greek painter Artemis Schwebel)
http://www.radiophone.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=255&catid=35:2008-05-03-09-28-03&Itemid=43
Foaia Transilvana
Cotidian Editat La Cluj-Napoca (ROMANIA) 3 junie 2008
Ruth Margraf !i concertul artelor mar"iale
Galerie foto: 1 fotografii Foto: Un articol de Horatiu Damian 03.06.2008
89 vizualizari
* Inova"ie. Cînd opera devine folk
* Artista american# vrea s# reformeze opera clasic# într-o manier# spectaculoas#
Într-o !ar" în care a merge la teatru a devenit mai mult o obliga!ie social" („mergem c" a#a se cade”) artele
a#a zis clasice-teatrul, opera, baletul-au r"mas închistate într-o estetic" pr"fuit" de secol XIX, f"r" nici o
speran!" de schimbare în bine. Încerc"rile de revitalizare ale operei prin decoruri #i costuma!ie futurist" (sau îndr"znea!") r"mîn simple
paliative. Workshop-ul- conferin!" „Proscenium Delirious” sus!inut azi #i mîine la Teatrul Na!ional prezint" solu!ii pentru ie#irea din acest
impas.
Karate opera
Artista american" Ruth Margraff, î#i va prezenta, azi, 3 iunie, #i mîine, 4 iunie, propriile încerc"ri în acest sens. Solu!ia pare simpl": dac" tot
ne delect"m cu mîncare chinezeasc", am putea încerca #i opera chinezeasc", a#a, ca o schimbare. Ast"zi, de la ora 19.00, în studioul
Euphorion al Teatrului Na!ional, artista va împ"rt"#i publicului experien!ele care urm"resc s" transforme opera, a#a cum o #tim de la t"tuca
Verdi, într-o desf"#urare spectacular", în genul operei chineze#ti. Ruth Margraff a lucrat cu jazz- man-ul sino-american Fred Ho pentru
integrarea artelor mar!iale în spectacole conceptuale de „folk opera” adic" operete populare, plecînd de la mituri #i tradi!ii asiatice, ca #i de la
tradi!iile #i problemele clasei muncitoare.
Spectacol conceptual
Mîine, tot de la ora 19.00, trupa „Café Antarsia” va prezenta spectacolul conceptual „Cîntecele mesei” (Songs of the Table). Ansamblul
reprezint" o materializare a inten!iilor artistei, care a produs o trilogie de opere populare: „Café Antarsia”, „Judges 19” #i „Wellspring” , dar #i
spectacole ca „Stadium Devildare” inspirate de animé-ul asiatic. Proscenium este acea parte a unei scene de teatru mai avansat" spre public
decît restul spa!iului de joc. „Proscenium delirious” urm"re#te, a#a cum îi arat" #i titlul, s" apropie arta spectacolului de oper" de spectatori,
propunînd solu!ii adînc înr"d"cinate în cultura pop modern".
~ L'ARGENTEUIL NEWS (Montreal) ~
Les Concerts à l'Anglicane de Lakefield: Une deuxième saison qui s’annonce spectaculaire May 23 2007 by Francis Legault
Sans tambour ni trompette, le producteur des Concerts à l’Anglicane de Lakefield, Marc Morin, a récemment dévoilé la
programmation de leur deuxième saison qui commencera le 16 juin prochain. Une nouvelle année qui s’annonce encore une
fois spectaculaire.
Fort du succès de la première saison, les Concerts à l’Anglicane de Lakefield récidivent cette année avec des artistes de réputation
internationale qui ne manqueront pas d’attirer les foules. L’an dernier, ce sont plus d’une centaine de personnes qui étaient venus
semaine après semaine voir les quatre concerts offerts. «Il y a même eu quelques soirs où on a fait salle comble!», s’exclame le
producteur et résident de Gore, Marc Morin.
C’est à ce dernier que l’on doit l’idée derrière ces concerts. Musicien depuis plus d’une dizaine d’années, Marc Morin voyage
beaucoup dans le monde avec son groupe de guitaristes, MG3, qui était d’ailleurs venu offrir un spectacle dans le cadre des Concerts à
l’Anglicane l’an dernier. Il a donc pu établir de nombreux contacts avec des artistes d’ici et d’ailleurs, ce qui lui permet d’en inviter
quelques-uns pour les concerts à Lakefield. Résident de Gore depuis environ sept ans, Monsieur Morin désirait offrir à Argenteuil un
endroit pour la production de spectacles avec des artistes venant de l’extérieur de la région. En même temps, l’église anglicane Holy Trinity de Lakefield, un joyau patrimoniale de
la région qui date de 1859, avait quelques difficultés financières. Monsieur Morin a donc joint ses efforts à ceux de Hugh Mitchell, membre de la très petite communauté anglicane
de l’endroit, afin de faire un projet-pilote de spectacle dans ce bâtiment. Le succès du spectacle du Corona Guitar Kvartet de Copenhague en avril 2006 a donné le coup d’envoi à
la création de la série de concerts estivale.
Des spectacles de haut calibre
La deuxième saison des Concerts à l’Anglicane de Lakefield débutera le 16 juin avec le groupe new-yorkais Café Antarsia. «C’est un groupe à la musique difficile à décrire», lance
Monsieur Morin. Il est vrai qu’un quatuor fondé par un Texan d’origine grec qui compte un percussionniste égyptien dans ses rangs et une artiste pluridisciplinaire risque de
donner une musique vraiment éclectique. Bouzouki grec, tzouras, baglama, guitare gitane, luth crétois et autres percussions du Moyen-Orient font partis de l’arsenal du groupe.
Petite anecdote: Marc Morin a rencontré Café Antarsia alors qu’ils voyageaient ensemble en autobus en plein cœur de la Transylvanie roumaine. Bref, c’est de la véritable musique
du monde.
La naissance d’une institution?
Marc Morin est très heureux de la popularité grandissante des spectacles à l’église Holy Trinity. «C’est un très bel endroit, très beau, avec une excellente acoustique», lance-t-il en
rappelant que beaucoup de personnes de la région ont découvert l’endroit grâce à la série de concerts. La programmation très éclectique des Concerts à l’Anglicane de Lakefield
lui permet d’espérer que cela va donner goût aux gens d’ici d’aller découvrir d’autres styles musicaux. «Mais ce qui est intéressant, c’est le sentiment de fierté qui se dégage des
gens de la région avec la venue de ces artistes reconnus mondialement», poursuit-il. D’ailleurs, si la demande de la population pour ces spectacles va en grandissant, il n’exclut pas
d’ajouter plus de concerts pour les prochaines éditions. Les billets pour chacun des spectacles de cet été à l’église anglicane Holy Trinity de Lakefield sont disponibles au bureau
municipal de Gore au 9, chemin Cambria, dans le secteur de Lakefield. L’église Holy Trinity est quant à elle située au 4, chemin Cambria. Les billets sont également disponibles à
la porte le soir de l’événement. Il est de plus possible d’acheter un abonnement donnant accès aux quatre concerts de la saison. Pour informations et réservations, appelez le 450
562-2025.
CINCINNATI, OHIO Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
alteractive series presents
DUETS FROM THE CAFE ANTARSIA ENSEMBLE
February 13, 2006
Rosenthal Plaza, Playhouse
(513) 421-3888 Tickets $12, $8 students
www.cincyplay.com
New York based punk-poetic playwright Ruth Margraff and Greek-Texan composer
Nikos Brisco will perform intimate and acoustic duets of lyric music from the Café
Antarsia Ensemble trilogy of world folk operettas. Combining Balkan gypsy music and
Greek blues-inspired music influences from the end of the Ottoman Empire, the duets
are inspired by travels and touring all over the world and are played on gypsy guitar,
Greek bouzouki, tzouras, accordion and Cretan lyra, among other instruments.
The Café Antarsia Ensemble tours regularly from New York City to music and theatre
venues in Romania, Russia, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Czech Republic, India,
Japan, Turkey and Great Britain. Recent performances include the 2005 Festivalul
International de Teatru de la Sibiu in Romania and the 2005 Karantena Performing Arts
Festival in Croatia, as well as performances at The Public Theater, BAM Café Series
and 2005 Culturemart Festival.
CINCINNATI
PLAYHOUSE IN THE
PARK
962 Mt. Adams Circle
Cincinnati, OH 452021593
According to The Austin Chronicle, Ruth Margraff is “a vital voice in shaping the future
of American theatre … a warrior writer riding the vanguard of New Wave opera,
pushing the boundaries of the stage with wildly imaginative prose and … finding
inspiration in sources as far-flung as martial arts, stealth bombers, crusader art, Evel
Knievel, punk music, traditional carols, Times Square erotica and Emily Dickinson.”
Best of Cincinnati for
Pushing Boundaries -
August 7, 2007
Playhouse's 'alteractive' offers another season of outside-the-box performances
By Rick Pender
If you're tired of the same old same old, the Cincinnati Playhouse has a prescription for your mid-winter blahs. As
they've done since the year 2000, the Playhouse is presenting "alteractive," a series of six Monday evening performances
that push at the boundaries of traditional theater. Alteractive productions include monologists, poets, musicians and a lot
of the space in between. If you've become a fan of the outside-the-box performances that populate Cincinnati's annual
Fringe Festival (coming up in June), then you need to check out alteractive.
But if you want to be among the leading edge in 2006, you'll have only one chance to catch each alteractive
performance, beginning Feb. 13. Shows happen in the intimate Rosenthal Plaza between the Playhouse's two theaters,
with cabaret-style seating. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. on the designated Mondays; performances start around 7 p.m.
This year's series offers an Obie Award-winning play, a Grand Slam Champion poet, a pop culture princess, an
internationally renowned storyteller, Peruvian dance and an edgy new wave folk opera.
Duets from the Cafe Antarsia Ensemble (Feb. 13): New York-based Punk-poetic playwright Ruth Margraff and
Greek-Texan composer Nikos Brisco will perform duets of lyric music from the world-traveling Cafe Antarsia Ensemble.
They'll offer a trilogy of world Folk operettas. Combining Balkan gypsy sounds and Greek blues-inspired musical
influences from the end of the Ottoman Empire, the duets are inspired by travels and touring all over the world and are
played on gypsy guitar, Greek bouzouki, tzouras, accordion and Cretan lyra, among other instruments.
Opera review
Café Antarsia
Performed at: HERE Arts Center Reviewed on 01/14/05 by Celeste Sunderland
Greek Guitars and Turkish Twirls Embellish a Mystical Libretto
From the enchanting lilt of librettist Ruth Margraff’s voice …the gorgeously poetic dialogue with which
Margraff has endowed her libretto, the intoxicating Balkan rhythms composer Nikos Brisco has laced
through his score for a feisty gypsy band, and the historic subject matter complete with warring
factions, bloodthirsty brothers, and dangerous seduction, it seems that…the duo may have a little
masterpiece on their hands.
The setting is 19th-century, Ottoman-occupied Crete. Greece has been ruled by the Ottoman Turks since
1453; the island, able to hold out against the invaders until 1669, now bristles with unrest as
revolutions ensue. The young and intoxicated rebel Thanassos (Raul Julia) tries to spark up a tavern
uprising, but he is helpless without his brother, Captain Michales, to lead him. Ed Vasallo plays Michales
with a quiet stoicism, yet the dark gleam that flashes from his eyes whispers of passions bubbling
beneath the surface.
The performance opened with mysterious glances and hyper-awareness that culminated in a superbly
violent chain of events that displayed the actors' fine acrobatics… Themes of loyalty and honor were
explored as we see a woman clothed in white alternately praying, singing, and weeping, surrounded by
candles and religious icons...We’re also introduced to Roxelana, played by Reema Zaman. The beautiful
wife of Turkish leader Pasha Cengiz, she dances for Michales, undulating her sinewy body before him,
and appears to fall in love with him. With a fanciful cast that includes the sprightly Phil Ristaino as
Karaghiozis, a sly, half-Greek, half-Turk rebel, a jaunty band with two bouzoukis and an accordion, and
dialogue that conjures mystical encounters and mythological images…Act I provided a savory taste—
especially with that complimentary shot of grappa.
(Updated on 6/8/05)
REDSNAP MAGAZINE, ISSUE 2, 6926 FOURTH AVENUE, BROOKLYN,
NEW YORK 11209, INFO@REDSNAP.ORG WWW.REDSNAP.ORG
CAFE ANTARSIA:
MARY ELIZABETH SHANAHAN INTERVIEWS RUTH MARGRAFF AND
NIKOS BRISCO ABOUT THEIR NEW WORK SET IN CRETE IN 1889.
Ruth Margraff, an acclaimed punk-poetic playwright, met GreekAmerican composer, Nikos Brisco in Dallas, Texas in 1998. Margraff is a leader of
the new opera, music/theatre movement in America. Brisco is a master of many
exotic Balkan and Greek stringed instruments including Gypsy Guitar, Greek
trichordo bouzouki, Greek mainland laouto, tzouras, baglama, Croatian tamburitza,
Turkish oud, etc. These two artists worked together for the first time in Texas during a production of Margraff's operetta,
WALLPAPER PSALM, where Brisco played the evil punk rock perpetrator. In 2001 they collaborated again, creating the
first part of a trilogy of world folk operas with JUDGES 19: BLACK LUNG EXHALING. Unlike most American musicals
with happy endings, the JUDGES operetta began with a coffin and ended with a gang rape and beating of a woman who
crawls back to the grave.
CAFÉ ANTARSIA, the second opera in the trilogy, is set in a mythic taverna in Crete. It tells a
story from the late Ottoman occupation of Crete, a historically rich island that served as a
coveted passageway between the Balkans, Asia Minor and North Africa for centuries. The time
capsule of CAFÉ ANTARSIA begins in 1889 when Greece had been occupied for nearly 400
years and moves to the 1940's when Hitler's paratroopers fell from the sky. The final opera of
the Margraff-Brisco collaboration is WELLSPRING: AN AMERICAN OPERA BOX FOR THE
BALKANS, portraying the disappearance of a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The entire trilogy of JUDGES, CAFÉ ANTARSIA and WELLSPRING is an astonishing, wellcrafted odyssey representational of Grecian, Balkan and neo-biblical rebellions. Works from this trilogy have been
performed in Texas, New York, New England, Great Britain, Belgrade, Moscow, Greece and Turkey. To understand the
artistic endeavors behind the Margraff/Brisco trilogy, one must look to rebetiko music, modern Greece and the Ottomans.
The rebirth of rebetiko followed World War II and the Greek Civil War of 1946-1949. This time, the chords and orchestrations were more elaborate
and mainstream culture could not defy rebetiko's originality and beauty. Greece fell in love with composers such as Theodorakis and Hadjidakis
who introduced the bouzouki, a string instrument, to the songs of rebetiko. Tsitsanis’ songwriting carved a path for Modern Greek music to thrive
upon. (See also, Gail Holst‚ Road To Rebetiko and Ed Emery‚ Songs Of The Greek Underworld.)
In recent decades, artists have combined tradition with experimental sounds in
various styles that heighten their appreciation. Playwright and librettist Ruth
Margraff, and composer Nikos Brisco do just this in their world hybrid style of art
that presently spans the continents.
So what does "rebetiko" mean to Ruth & Nikos? Ruth says, “It’s time to reveal
another side of Greece than just the ancient. Americans are obsessed with adapting
ancient Greek drama and myths, but ignore entire centuries of a modern dilapidated
Greece that has become almost Balkan due to the Ottoman impact.”
Such passions enable Ruth to vicariously open the deeper questions of life and the world in her lyrics and music. She
continues, “I think it’s important also to push the form of opera in an Eastern direction and go beyond the bourgeoisie. To
humanize poor people, and to dignify folk forms of music as virtuoso too.”
For Nikos Brisco on the other hand, rebetiko is genetic. To him, the only thing that CAFÉ ANTARSIA has to do with
America is that he was born and raised in Texas. He grew up on western music. Yet his Greek roots nudged him to dig into
his heritage of Grecian traditions, history, religion and music he became influenced by Greek composers Vamvakaris,
Tsitsanis and Papazouglou, and Balkan composer Bregovic‚s Rroma music. "Americans have an older history that they can
either research and honor or bury,” Nikos believes, “I think the only way to grow and exist in a positive way with the entire
world is to embrace how wide and varied we all are in the richness of our past and present."
CAFÉ ANTARSIA seeks to commemorate forgotten people or stories as colossal and important. "We honor the workingclass,” Ruth says. “There are regions of the world and history that are invisible. We try to give them stature.”
The operatic trilogy of CAFÉ ANTARSIA is theatre structured with rebetiko music. Margraff and Brisco push their
boundaries into a new hybrid art form. They update the 1980s idea of hybrid multimedia theatre by merging East with
West, the ancient with the avant-garde. Research and a fascination with Greece and the Ottoman Empire are inherent in
an opera that is graced with history, drama, poetry and extraordinary music.
CAFÉ ANTARSIA truly is a -world folk opera and historical epic. Tinella! (that's Greek for Bravo!)
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY September 2005
CAFÉ ANTARSIA EUROPEAN TOUR
A38 is the reincarnation of a Ukranian stone-carrier ship.
With its inauguration on 30 April 2003, it started a new life on
the Danube in Budapest as a cultural venue. Since its
opening it has become one of Budapest's most important
venues, and according to artists' feedback, one of Europe's
coolest clubs. By its first birthday on 30 April 2004 - which
happens to be the day when Hungary joins the EU - the A38
team will have managed about 200 events out of which
approximately will have been international.The name comes from
Artemovszk 38, which is the name of a ship prototype and the reminder of a
period of design and industrial history on the verge of extinction. A Ukrainian
stone-carrier ship, built in 1968, was tugged through international waters in
order to receive a complete makeover and an infusion of new life. The
building project lasted for one and a half years. Architects, ship engineers,
acoustic designers, electricians, musicians and promoters contributed their
skills and experience to make it an understated but elegant, artist and
audience friendly place with a concert venue, bars, rooms and a restaurant.
Reshaped, rebuilt and rehabilitated, A38 has become Budapest's new
industrial, trendy venue, overlooking a beautiful view, with the touch of
nature and the memories of old and contemporary history. The A38 ship has
become one of the most important and best equipped cultural venue in the
11th district of Budapest therefore it agreed to provide public services for the
local district...
2005.09.08 Thursday 20:00h
Café Antarsia (USA) Kampec Dolores
Hungarian experimental buddha-funky, GreekAmerican rock ballads, wonderful vocalists, a
performance in folk and rock dressing. Advance
booking:1000
HUF A
38
Zászlóshajó Kft.
H-1085 Budapest, Horánszky u. 13. II./19.
Ruth Margraff
performing “Three Graces” at A38
H-1507 Budapest HUNGARY
Café Antarsia
(USA) live in
Budapest
2005.09.08 Csütörtök Café Antarsia (USA)
A Café Antarsia egy 4 f,s akusztikus zenekar,
amely eredeti balkáni, görög és roma world-folk
zenére épül, blues dalokat ad el,, csipetnyi
rock-kal f-szerezve. 1998 óta a zenekar két
kulcsfigurája - Ruth Margraff és Nikos Brisco - 5
teljes folk-operát írt meg, melyekkel
körbeutazták a világot és mindenütt nagyon
pozitív visszhangot nyertek, - közönségt,l és
kritikusoktól egyaránt. A Café Antarsia
el,adásmódja szenvedélyes és teátrális,
merészen eredeti, intim és epikus, felkavaró és
artisztikus. A new yorki National Public Radio
szerint "Ruth Margraff egy olyan el,adó
m-vész, aki úgy néz ki mint Shirley Temple,
úgy hangzik mint Marilyn Monroe, és olyan a
mentálitása mintha Thomas Merton élve
boncolná William S. Borroughs-t. Édesen vonzó
vad képzelet…"
SUPPORTED IN PART BY THE TRUST FOR
MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF NEW YORK
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY September 2005 http://www.educafe.hu/index.php?cikk=5523
Beszélgetés az amerikai színházról 2005. augusztus 30. 15:51
Educafe
A Dinamoban szeptember 10-én, délután kett! órától kerül sor a Beszélgetés a New York-i alkotókkal cím" rendezvényre, aholszó lesz az amerikai és Magyar
színházról. A nem mindennapi találkozóra minden színház iránt érdekl!d!t várnak.
Résztvev,k: Ruth Margraff (drámaíró), Nikos Brisco (zeneszerz,) és társulatuk, a CAFÉ ANTARSIA ENSEMBLE (zenei színház)
Helyszín: DINAMO, 1094 Budapest, T-zoltó u. 22.
Id,pont: 2005. szeptember 10. 14h
A beszélgetés célja: találkozás és eszmecsere magyar színházcsinálókkal.
Szeretettel várunk minden rendez,t, színészt, dramaturgot, zeneszerz,t, énekest/zenészt, drámaírót, aki szívesen osztaná meg velünk nézeteit, elképzeléseit arról, hogyan, milyen technikákkal
lehetne a szület, darabokat eredetibbé, egyedibbé és ötletgazdagabbá tenni.
Ruth Margraff, CAFÉ ANTARSIA ENSEMBLE
Ruth Margraff, Nikos Brisco és társulatuk a drámaírás, az el,adásmód és a zeneszerzés új tendenciáiról fognak beszélni, melyek jelenleg meghatározzák a new york-i színházi szcénát.
Ruth Margraffot (PROSCENIUM DELIRIOUS) az amerikai zene/színház és az új opera mozgalom egyik vezéregyéniségeként ismerik el. New York és Amerika-szerte számos színház és fesztivál
adott helyet munkáinak, pl. Kitchen, NYTW, Guggenheim Museum, Apollo Theater, stb.
Budapesten 2005. szeptember 8-án az A38-on mutatkoznak be.
http://underground.pcdome.hu/cikk.php?id=4306
A Trafó Kortárs M"vészetek Háza szeptemberi programja
Trafó, Budapest, IX. Liliom u. 41 HUNGARY- Trafó.Hu Szeptember 10. (Szo) 14h Beszélgetés new york-i alkotókkal az amerikai színházról
Résztvev,k: Ruth Margraff (drámaíró), Nikos Brisco (zeneszerz,) és társulatuk, a Café Antarsia Ensemble (zenei színház)
A beszélgetés célja: találkozás és eszmecsere magyar színházcsinálókkal.
Dinamó (1094 Budapest, T-zoltó u. 22.)
A szervez,k szeretettel várnak minden rendez,t, színészt, dramaturgot, zeneszerz,t, énekest/zenészt, drámaírót, aki szívesen osztaná meg velük nézeteit,
elképzeléseit arról, hogyan, milyen technikákkal lehetne a szület, darabokat eredetibbé, egyedibbé és ötletgazdagabbá tenni.
Ruth Margraff, Café Antarsia Ensemble Ruth Margraffot (Proscenium Delirious) az amerikai zene/színház és az új opera mozgalom egyik vezéregyéniségeként ismerik
el. New York és Amerika-szerte számos színház és fesztivál adott helyet munkáinak, pl. Kitchen, NYTW, Guggenheim Museum, Apollo Theater, stb. Ruth Margraff,
Nikos Brisco és társulatuk a drámaírás, az el,adásmód és a zeneszerzés új tendenciáiról fognak beszélni, melyek jelenleg meghatározzák a new york-i színházi
szcénát. Budapesten 2005. szeptember 8-án az A38-on mutatkoznak be.
http://underground.pcdome.hu/UNDERGROUND
ZENEI KULTURALIS MAGAZIN
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Mozaik
A Trafó Kortárs M-vészetek Háza szeptemberi programja
Beszélgetés new york-i alkotókkal az amerikai színházról, Ruth Margraff, Café Antarsia Ensemble, Tasnádi István:Phaidra, Frenák Pál
Társulat: Fiúk... (Les Hommes cachés), Párbeszéd, Szabó Réka: Véletlen, Reading in Absence
Folytatás >>>
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Budapest kulturális kínálatából, melyekre mi is elmennénk (alattuk általában azt is megindokoljuk, miért):
http://www.
naprolnapr
a.hu/?d=2
005.09.08
20:00
A38 hajó 1114 Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány Tel: 464-3940 web: www.a38.hu
CAFÉ ANTARSIA (USA) KAMPEC DOLORES
"A Café Antarsia egy 4 f$s akusztikus zenekar, amely eredeti balkáni, görög és roma world-folk zenére
épül$ blues dalokat ad el$, csipetnyi rock-kal f%szerezve. 1998 óta a zenekar két kulcsfigurája - Ruth
Margraff és Nikos Brisco - 5 teljes folk-operát írt meg, melyekkel körbeutazták a világot és mindenütt
nagyon pozitív visszhangot nyertek, - közönségt$l és kritikusoktól egyaránt. A Café Antarsia
el$adásmódja szenvedélyes és teátrális, merészen eredeti, intim és epikus, felkavaró és artisztikus. A
new yorki National Public Radio szerint "Ruth Margraff egy olyan el$adó m%vész, aki úgy néz ki mint
Shirley Temple, úgy hangzik mint Marilyn Monroe, és olyan a mentálitása mintha Thomas Merton élve
boncolná William S. Borroughs-t. Édesen vonzó vad képzelet" Jegyár: 1.000,-
BELGRADE (SERBIA-MONTENEGRO) October 2005
(and program from 2001 Belef Festival)
Oktobar 2005.http://www.rex.b92.net/oktobar05.html
.etvrtak, 13. Oktobar, 20:00 SONGS OF THE TABLE koncert CAFE ANTARSIA ENSEMBLE
The Cafe Antarsia Ensemble je nastao
kroz saradnju avangardne spisateljice i
izvo/a0ice Ruth Margraff i
kompozitora i rok legende Dalasa
gr0kog porekla Nikosa Briscoa. Iz te
neuobi0ajene saradnje rodio se bend
koji svira novu world muziku. Njihovo
izvo/enje predstavlja strastveni
muzi0ko pozori1ni performans obojen
elementima gr0ke, romske i turske
tradicionalne muzike. Tekstovi ve2ine
pesama inspirisani su neuspelom
kritskom pobunom, gr0kim buesom i
kritskim pobunjeni0kim pesmama pod
okupacijom Otomanskog carstva.
Umetni0ki duo Margraff/Brisco poznat
je beogradskoj publici po svojoj
eksperimentalnoj operi koju su izveli
na BELEFu 2001. Ovog puta dolaze u
Beograd kao gosti Dah Teatra, a pravo
sa nekoliko zna0ajnih festivala:
Karantena, Festivala scenskih
umjetnosti u Dubrovniku, Next Wave
Festivala iz Praga, kao i nastupa na
brodu/kulturnom centru A38 u
Budimpe1ti. Prodaja karata na ulazu,
sat vremena pre po0etka koncerta.
http://www.danas.co.yu/20051013/kultura1.html
KULTURA
#etvrtak, 13. oktobar 2005.
ARTI$OKE
PESME ZA STOLOM - SONGS OF THE TABLE - koncert Cafe antarsia ensemble ve&eras od 20 sati u
beogradskom Kulturnom centru B92 "Rex. Cafe antarsia ensemble nastao je kroz saradnju jedne od najzanimljivijih i
najtalentovanijih savremenih spisateljica i izvo'a&ice Ruth Margraff i kompozitora i rok legende Dalasa gr&kog porekla,
Nikosa Briskoa. Njihovo izvo'enje nove "world music" predstavlja strastveni muzi&ko pozori(ni performans obojen
elementima gr&ke, romske i turske tradicionalne muzike. Umetni&ki duo Margraff/Brisco poznat je beogradskoj publici
po svojoj eksperimentalnoj operi koju su izveli na Belefu 2001. Ovog puta dolaze u Beograd kao gosti Dah Teatra sa
kojima sara'uju poslednjih nekoliko godina. jknezevic@beograd202.co.yu
RADIO B-92 BELGRADE (SERBIA-MONTENEGRO)
VODIM VAS U GRAD ZA E
TVRTAK 13.OKTOBAR
Vodim vas u grad
$etvrtak,13.oktobar
JELENA KNE%EVI&
ZANIMLJIVOSTI - e tvrtak, Oktobar 13, 2005 11:49 R202
Promocija video-materijala i konecrt Vasila Had)imanova je u Bitef art cafeu od 22.00.
«Pesme za stolom» naziv je koncerta koji %e biti odr&an u Rexu,a u
izvo'enju Cafe Antarsia Ensemble.Po(etak je u 20.00.
A vi svoj peva&ki talenat mo)ete pokazati u zemunskom Festu jo( ve&eras.
U galeriji Ozon od 21.00 je baletski performans koji izvode Igor *iromajer i Brane Zorman.
U Club Usje + Festival 'Ovo Je Tvoj Grad' . Slu(a,emo New Wave Nemanja
Jehli&ka,Trole,Fraky,Nikolica,Ewox,FlipRahmane.
PlasticElectric Factory NightEf +-s+ Izlozba Monike Lang.Po&inje u 21h. Kragujevcu u Clubu Connect je True
House subotu nas u beogradskom Domu omladine o&ekuje konecrt beogradske grupe Tibia.
Sistem Vesti Radio-Televizije Srbije. Verzija 2.1 Powered By FORMS Web Solutions ©MMII. Autorska
Prava RTS - Radio-Televizija Srbije, 2002. Sva Prava Zadr1ana. Copyright - Serbian Broadcasting Corporation,
2002. All Rights Reserved.
Deveta Karantena – Dubrovnik, CROATIA
September 2005
Ned > 04.09. > 21.00 h > Lazareti
Cafe Antarsia Ensamble Songs from the Table
Tekst: Ruth Margraff Kompozitor: Nikos Brisco Pri&a se zbiva na Kreti 1889, pod okupacijom Otomanskog carstva, a
inspirirana je neuspjelom kretskom pobunom, gr&kim buesom i kretskim pobunjeni&kim pjesmama s kraja Otomanskog
carstva
U Dubrovniku se od 24. kolovoza do 5. rujna 2005. odr&ava deveta Karantena – festival suvremenih izvedbenih umjetnosti.
Kao i prethodnih godina, posve%en je suvremenoj neovisnoj izvedbenoj produkciji, a ove godine predstavlja najbolje od mlade hrvatske plesne
produkcije i produkcije suvremenog kazali)ta – Fractal Falus Teatar (Split), Badco (Zagreb), K.O. (Zagreb), Banana Guerilla (Zagreb), OOUR (Zagreb).
Tako'er, kao doma%ina programa perfomansa Karantena dovodi slavnog performera Tomislava Gotovca, koji %e kroz nekoliko ve(eri predstaviti svoje
filmove, performanse i druge radove te razgovarati s umjetnicima i publikom. U muzi(kom %e se dijelu programa predstaviti Orkestar za ubrzanu
evoluciju svojim kombiniranim nastupom free jazza i video projekcija, Dra&en Franoli% i Dra&en Franoli% & Nimai Roy te Cafe Antarsia njujor)kih
umjetnika Ruth Margraff i Nikos Brisco.
PROGRAM: sri > 24.08. > 21.00 h > Lazareti
Mini teater gostuje v
Dubrovniku CROATIA
Prva stran >> Novice >> Arhiv novic >> Mini teater gostuje v Dubrovniku
Na 9. mednarodnem festivalu alternativnih scenskih umetnosti Karantena v Dubrovniku tudi dve slovenski predstavi.
DUBROVNIK - 9. KARANTENA V Dubrovniku do 5. septembra poteka 9. mednarodni festival alternativnih scenskih umetnosti Karantena, ki ga 3e devet let
organizira Art radionica Lazareti in njen voditelj Slaven Tolj. Festival je tako kot v preteklih letih posve0en sodobni neodvisni produkciji, letos pa posebej
predstavlja najbolj1e od mlade hrva1ke plesne produkcije in produkcije sodobnega gledali10a – Fractal Falus Teatar (Split) ter zareb1ke skupine BADco, k.o.,
Banana Guerilla i nOOUR. Kot gost festivala bo v programu performansa nastopil svetovno znani umetnik Tomislav Gotovac, ki bo v ve0 ve0erih predstaviti svoje
filme, performanse in druga dela ter se pogovarjal z gledalci. Na Karanteni bo sodeloval tudi Mini teatar iz Ljubljane s Pu1kinovimi "malimi tragedijami", Teatar
Lero iz Dubrovnika, Tanja Dabo, Jusuf Had3ifejzovi2, Ivan Maru1i2 Klif... V glasbenem delu programa se bodo predstavili Orkestar za pospe1eno evolucijo – s
svojim kombiniranim nastopom free jazza in video projekcij, Dra3en Franoli2 in Dra3en Franoli2 & Nimai Roy, ter Cafe Antarsia njujor1kih umjetnikov Ruth Margraff
in Nikosa Briscoa. Festival se je odprl z premijerno izvedbo Fractal Falus Teatra »Jeziki/Inetgrali« po tekstih Sama Sheparda in Sre0ka Kosovela, 24.avgusta ob
21 uri v Lazaretih in se nadaljeval naslednji dan v Umetni1ki galeriji Dubrovnik s predstavo »Fleshdance« skupine BADco. V petak je bil v Lazaretih predstavljen
Mali filmski festival in poletna filmska 1ola na 4ipanu, v sobotu nastupajo Selma Banich in Sandra Bani2 (OOUR – orangecut), v nedeljo pa Forum Ljubljana s prvo
virtualno lutkovno predstavo »Pal0ica« Roberta Waltla ter Teatar Lero s predstavom »Ru3e s juga« Samuela Becketta. Mini teater bo Pu1kinove "male tragedije"
odigral v Lazaretih v 0etrtek, 1. septembra ob 21. uri. Predstavo, ki je premiero do3ivela 25.avgusta letos v okviru Mini poletja v Ljubljani je re3iral beloruski re3iser
Aleksej leljavski, v njej pa nastopajo Ga1per Jarni, Marko Plantan in Igor 4tamulak.Natisni
CAFÉ ANTARSIA ENSEMBLE
in PRAGUE, Czech Republic 2005
and MOSCOW, Russia 2003
JUDGES 19, first collaboration of CAFÉ
ANTARSIA ENSEMBLE toured Austin &
Dallas, Texas, Providence, RI, Serbia, Russia,
Greece and to Culturemart/Here Arts
Center’s Winter Festival in NYC