AltaiRila: voix mongoles et bulgares

Under the direction of Milena Jeliazkova and Johanni Curtet

From the Altai Mountains to the Bulgarian mountains flows an imaginary river filled with harmonies.

Nearly 6,000 km separate Mongolia from Bulgaria, yet it seems that very ancient ties unite the two territories: traces of the Doulo dynasty attest to the presence of the Bulgarian royal family in Mongolia several centuries before Christ.

The seven artists, from different backgrounds and rich in their traditions, have decided to unite to share their passion and create a performance blending traditional Bulgarian and Mongolian repertoires. Their playground is the voice in all its forms: polyphonic, overtone, clear, guttural, high, deep… As many possibilities as there are landscapes to explore, from one culture to another and at the crossroads of their paths.

The project's objective: to explore the interplay of vocal techniques between Mongolian overtone singing and Bulgarian overtone singing, drawing from the rich repertoires of both vocal traditions to extract their shared symbols: songs of the earth, homage to nature, connection to the natural cycles of Creation, and the inseparable bond between humankind and Mother Earth.

The depth of Mongolian voices meets the delicate vocal textures of Bulgarian songs; the odd rhythms unfold above the riffs of the horse-drawn fiddles, and the percussion of both groups enters a trance-like state to pay homage to Mongolian shamanism and the spirituality of the mythical figures populating the Bulgarian pantheon. The voices of dragons and dryads are juxtaposed,mingled, intersected, and evolved in parallel, respecting the natural rhythms of the Sun and Moon, or, conversely, stretching out like eternity (Bulgarian immeasurable chants), in order to transcend human time.

The repertoire will feature imitations of Nature's sounds, praises to the spiritual entities within it, ritual chants connected to the earth, ancient and contemporary poems, improvisations, all accompanied by nomadic stringed instruments: the morin khuur fiddle, the tovshuur or dombra lutes, jaw harps, and frame drums.

PRICE: CHF 28.- /personRESERVATION REQUIRED: info@tibetmuseum.ch