El Cimarrón at the Grace Rainey Rodgers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — a spellbinding performance https://www.ft.com/content/5b3add84-7633-11e9-b0ec-7dff87b9a4a2
‘El Cimarrón’ and ‘Murasaki’s Moon’ Reviews: Opera in a Temple of Art Henze’s 80-minute chamber piece for voice, flute, percussion and guitar was a tour de force for the mesmerizing bass-baritone Davóne Tines, who recounted Montejo’s story with a deliberate, matter-of-fact cadence that belied its horrifying content. Much of the text was spoken, and when, in moments of rage or other extreme emotion, Mr. Tines veered into song, it was often falsetto, as though the storyteller were somehow possessed. The musicians, Emi Ferguson, Jonny Allen and Jordan Dodson, built atmosphere under and around the voice. A huge percussion array, with dozens of instruments including marimba, steel drum, melodica
Henze, who met Montejo in Cuba, described “El Cimarrón” as a “recital for four musicians,” here the bass-baritone Davóne Tines, the flutist Emi Ferguson, the percussionist Jonny Allen and the guitarist Jordan Dodson. They brought to life the political, emotional and musical threads that run through this riveting work, in a simple yet effective production, developed by the American Modern Opera Company and directed by Zack Winokur. And they conveyed the quality suggested in Henze’s intriguing description of “El Cimarrón” as more like a collective recitation than a dramatic piece for an accompanied singer. As written, the three instruments often appear to be speaking or mingling with the solo
