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"Shalimar the Clown tells the story of Shalimar and his beloved Boonyi, who have grown up together in a pastoral Kashmiri village, making people laugh as acrobats and dancers in a traditional folk theater. Though one is Muslim and one is Hindu, they fall in love – and despite all odds, their village embraces their marriage. But when a new American ambassador sees Boonyi dance, dark clouds gather. The promise of a new life tears their love apart and sends Shalimar down a path of revenge. Steeped in the rich operatic traditions of Rigoletto and Pagliacci, Mr. Perla’s score resonates with the musical traditions of Kashmir, using tabla drums and sitar as the heartbeat that underscores this poetic and powerful story."
— Backstage Pass with Lia Chang “Shalimar the Clown,” which had its world premiere at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on Saturday, succeeds at being topical, literary and theatrical. Mr. Joseph and Mr. Perla have fleshed out Mr. Rushdie’s characters, making their anguish vividly personal while still profoundly symbolic.” — Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal “But with the shock of the recent massacre in Orlando still in my bones, I experienced “Shalimar” and “Macbeth” as a dark double bill that demonstrated opera’s ability to force a listener to contemplate uncomfortable questions. Genuinely out-of-the-box composing, like the sharply drawn duel of wits between Boonyi (Andriana Chuchman) and the cunning, blackmailing schoolteacher (Geoffrey Agpalo).” — Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times “Giuseppe Verdi knew a thing or two about creating powerful operas around credibly human characters thrown into violent conflict. So, as it turns out, does the creative team responsible for adapting Salman Rushdie's "Shalimar the Clown" for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. New operas come and go, but "Shalimar" is a keeper. As is the case with "Klinghoffer," a deep sense of our common humanity resonates across the narrative, splendidly performed in a brilliant staging by James Robinson. His score incorporates the local color of Indian ragas, played on the sitar and tabla, conspiring with Joseph's taut libretto to invest Rushdie's heartbreaking lament with the dramatic resonance of modern Shakespearean tragedy. A most accomplished piece of music theater.” — John von Rhein, The Chicago Tribune |
“Shalimar is a subcontinental Romeo and Juliet in which an appeal to shared regional identity triumphs briefly over religious division. It includes in Act I a rejection of fundamentalism, set by Perla in soaring choral music. It’s an Orfeo of the twentieth century. Shalimar feels rooted in the operatic tradition it acknowledges and subverts. Joseph neatly compressed Rushdie’s novel for the stage in Act I, retaining much of its plot and themes without being their slave. The story loses some of its complexity and thus its depth, but Perla compensated, letting the music fill in the blank spaces, integrating reflective arias into the propulsive plot with the finesse of Puccini.”
—Henry Stewart, Opera News |
“A remarkably nuanced and complex musical palette, with scenes that have some of the interwoven thematic density of Western serial style, and others that sound like an Indian-inflected pastoral. The hybrid of musical elements allows Perla to chart, in clear musical terms, how the young Shalimar—a Muslim boy in love with Boonyi, a Hindu girl—becomes the older, vicious Shalimar of the opening scene. After the explosive and richly chromatic depiction of the murder, the musical language shifts to something far simpler, and hypnotic—a juxtaposition of musical elements repeated throughout the opera. Perla’s musical vocabulary also allows him to tell the deeper story of Rushdie’s novel, about the loss of paradise, the corruption of stable multicultural and interfaith communities, and the dead-end seductions of religious fundamentalism. Verdi insisted that the essence of an operatic subject was strongly defined characters and intense, violent conflicts. Shalimar provides both. It belongs to a new and evolving meaning of “operatic” that encompasses works such as “The Death of Klinghoffer”, and Steve Reich’s “Cave”. And now, one can add Blanchard’s “Champion” and Perla’s “Shalimar”. Operatic, in this sense, is more than drama on the boil; it is drama with a purpose—drama that can function only through the multivalent, polyphonic possibilities of music.”
—Philip Kennicott, Opera News
“Composer Jack Perla is a jazz musician as well as a composer of opera, chamber and symphonic music. His beautifully orchestrated score for Shalimar reflects all of these genres as well, of course, as a strong thread of northern Indian music. In the final moment as Shalimar and the illegitimate daughter, India, stand armed and poised to kill each other these instruments engage in a supremely intense raga that supports the conflict beautifully. There are fine arias and duets and there are gorgeous numbers for the chorus. The musical and vocal virtues of Shalimar the Clown are enough to make it deserve the thunderous applause with which the curtain call was met.”
—Steve Callahan, KDHX
“This riveting new work by composer Jack Perla and librettist Rajiv Joseph is not so much a towering achievement, as another astonishing over-achievement from this committed and tireless company. A restless, unnerving score replete with profound dramatic declamations but also colored with serenely beautiful melismatic phrases. Like OTSL’s Champion and 27 before it, Shalimar the Clown seems destined for further greatness. Perla has masterfully crafted a score that truly sings, and which sounds like nothing else in the operatic canon. The piece is beautifully, virtuosically scored, showcasing a rich palette of the “usual” operatic band ably augmented by the addition of a sitar (Arjun Verma) and tabla (Javad Butah). The choral writing was simply splendid and under Robert Ainsley’s tutelage, the cast excelled in countless moments of incomparably beautiful ensemble singing. Composer Jack Perla has crafted a uniquely atmospheric score using tonal palettes and instrumental effects that run the gamut from soothing to shocking to pleasing to disturbing to violent and back again.”
—James Sohre, Opera Today
—Philip Kennicott, Opera News
“Composer Jack Perla is a jazz musician as well as a composer of opera, chamber and symphonic music. His beautifully orchestrated score for Shalimar reflects all of these genres as well, of course, as a strong thread of northern Indian music. In the final moment as Shalimar and the illegitimate daughter, India, stand armed and poised to kill each other these instruments engage in a supremely intense raga that supports the conflict beautifully. There are fine arias and duets and there are gorgeous numbers for the chorus. The musical and vocal virtues of Shalimar the Clown are enough to make it deserve the thunderous applause with which the curtain call was met.”
—Steve Callahan, KDHX
“This riveting new work by composer Jack Perla and librettist Rajiv Joseph is not so much a towering achievement, as another astonishing over-achievement from this committed and tireless company. A restless, unnerving score replete with profound dramatic declamations but also colored with serenely beautiful melismatic phrases. Like OTSL’s Champion and 27 before it, Shalimar the Clown seems destined for further greatness. Perla has masterfully crafted a score that truly sings, and which sounds like nothing else in the operatic canon. The piece is beautifully, virtuosically scored, showcasing a rich palette of the “usual” operatic band ably augmented by the addition of a sitar (Arjun Verma) and tabla (Javad Butah). The choral writing was simply splendid and under Robert Ainsley’s tutelage, the cast excelled in countless moments of incomparably beautiful ensemble singing. Composer Jack Perla has crafted a uniquely atmospheric score using tonal palettes and instrumental effects that run the gamut from soothing to shocking to pleasing to disturbing to violent and back again.”
—James Sohre, Opera Today
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Shalimar the Clown
Opera in Two Acts Libretto by Rajiv Joseph Commissioned by Opera Theater of St. Louis Duration ca. 120 minutes Cast Boonyi/India (Soprano) Peggy (Mezzo Soprano) Firdaus/Blind Woman (Alto) Shalimar (Tenor) Gopinath/Bombur/Zahir (Tenor) Max (Baritone) Pyarelal (Baritone) Iron Mullah (Bass-Baritone) Abdullah (Bass) Chorus SATB Instrumentation 2 Flutes, Flute 2 doubling Piccolo 2 Oboes, Oboe 2 doubling English Horn 2 Clarinets in Bb, Clarinet 2 doubling Bass Clarinet in Bb 2 Bassoons, Bassoon 2 doubling Contra Basoon 4 Horns in F 2 Trumpets in Bb Tenor Trombone Bass Trombone Tuba Timpani (2 drums) Percussion, Two Players Harp Keyboard, One Player: Celesta, Piano, Harmonium, Santoor & Tambura (sampled/synthesizer) Strings |
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