mezzo-soprano Alexandra Montano
alto sax José Massarrão
cello Miguel Ivo Cruz
accordion Pedro Miguel
piano Afonso Malão

Tormenta e Harmonia is subtitled “overture, dances and aria” and was written for the choreographer Hillel Kogan

Sung in Portuguese
Poem by Alexandra Montano

Eu sou

Eu sou mulher e sou divina
Sou criatura de sonho e poesia
Quando as minhas coxas se movem
A terra inteira estremece.
Eu sou laranja do Sol
E turquesa da água
De pernas fortes para bailar
Para carregar minhas filhas por onde seja.
Sou para ti noite fresca
E sou dona das estrelas
Sou para ti tua égua selvagem
E sou rainha de todas as brisas.
Eu sou mulher e sou divina
Sou criatura de calor e terra
Sou criatura de sonho e poesia
Sou criatura de amor e vida.
Eu sou mulher e sou divina
Sou criatura de tormenta e harmonia.

(English translation)
I am

I am a woman and I am divine
I am a creature of dream and poetry
When my hips move
The whole earth trembles.
I am orange from the sun
And turquoise from the water
With strong legs for dancing
And to carry my daughters wherever.
I am for you your cool evening
I am ruler of the stars
I am for you your wild mare
I am the queen of all breezes.
I am a woman and I am divine
I am a creature of heat and hearth
I am a creature of dream and poetry
I am a creature of love and life.
I am a woman and I am divine
I am a creature of torment and harmony.

A fascinating and skillful musical mix where various references are crossed (baroque dances, traditional Portuguese music, fado, jazz...) in a subtle and humorous manner. The last section, where the wonderful voice of Alexandra Montano introduces a dream like atmosphere, appears displaced in relation to the character of the previous sections, but, musically, it is a beautiful moment...

Público - Lisbon, May 2, 1999

Live performance at Expo 98, Lisbon, Portugal

mezzo-soprano Alexandra Montano
alto sax Rui Gabriel
percussion Elizabeth Davis
piano Afonso Malão
cello Miguel Ivo Cruz
bass Luís Sousa

Oda al Mar is a group of five songs, with instrumental interludes, based on texts by Pablo Neruda (Odes to the earth, air, fire and sea). It was written for the Fred Darsow Dance Company.

Oda al la tierra (excerpt)

Arida Tierra, mano
sin signos en la palma,
a ti te canto,
aquí no diste trinos
ni te nutrió la rosa
...
a ti te canto
porque el hombre
te hará parir, te llenará de frutos,
...
estrella negra,
a ti te canto.
...
Tierra, me gustas
en la arcilla y la arena,
te levanto y te formo,
como tú me formaste,
y ruedas de mis dedos
voy a volver a tu matriz extensa.
Tierra, de pronto
me parece tocarte
en todos tus contornos
de medalla porosa,
...
y en tu forma paseo
mis manos
hallando la cadera de la que amo,
los pequeñitos senos,
el viento como un grano
de suave y tibia avena
y a ti me abrazo, Tierra,
...
(el agua brota,
el fuego hierve,
el viento lleva)
...
y a ti me abrazo, Tierra,
la tierra entierra rosas.
Tierra de los desiertos,
línea pura,
A ti las escrituras de mi canto
porque pareces muerta
y te despierta
el ramagazo de la dinamita,
y en un penacho de humo sangriento
anuncia el parto
y saltan los metales hacia el cielo.
A ti me abrazo,
Tierra,
...
(el agua busca,
el fuego canta,
el viento lleva,)
...
A ti me abrazo,
Tierra,
junto a ti, duermo,
en tu cintura se atan mis brazos y mis labios,
duermo contigo y siembro mis más profundos besos.

Oda al aire (excerpt)
Andando en un camino 
encontré al aire, 
lo saludé y le dije 
con respeto: 
“Me alegro 
de que por una vez 
dejes tu transparencia, 
así hablaremos”. 

Él incansable, 
bailó.
...
Yo le besé su capa 
de rey del cielo,
...
y le dije: 
monarca o camarada, 
hilo, corola o ave, 
no sé quien eres,
pero 
una cosa te pido, 
no te vendas. 

...
Él incansable, 
bailó.
movió las hojas.
...
No, aire, 
no te vendas, 
que no te canalicen, 

que no te entuben, que no te encajen,
...que no te metan en una botella, 
cuidado!
llámame 
cuando me necesites, 
yo soy el poeta hijo 
de pobres,
...hermano de todos.

Oda al fuego (excerpt)
Descabellado fuego,
Enérgico,
Ciego y lleno de ojos,
Deslenguado,
Tardío, repentino,

Estrella de oro,
Ladrón de leña,
Callado bandolero,
Cocedor de cebollas,
Célebre pícaro de las chispitas,
Perro rabioso de un millón de dientes,
Óyeme,
Centro de los hogares,
Rosal incorruptible,
Destructor de las vidas,
Celeste padre del pan y del horno,
Progenitor ilustre
De ruedas y herraduras,
Polen de los metales,
Fundador del acero,
Óyeme fuego.
Arde tu nombre,
Da gusto
Decir fuego,
Es mejor
Que decir piedra
O harina.
Las palabras son muertas
Junto a tu rayo amarillo,
Junto a tu cola roja,
Junto a tus crines de luz amaranto,
Son frías las palabras.
Se dice fuego,
Fuego, fuego, fuego,
Y se enciende
Algo en la boca:
Es tu fruta que quema,
Es tu laurel que arde.

Oda al mar (excerpt)
Aquí en la isla
el mar, el mar,
y cuánto mar
se sale de sí mismo
a cada rato,
dice que sí, dice que sí,
que no, que no, que no, que no,
dice que si, en azul,
en espuma, en galope,
dice que sí, que no.
No puede estarse quieto,
me llamo mar, repite
me llamo mar, mar,
pegando en una piedra
sin lograr convencerla,
pegando en una piedra
sin lograr convencerla,
sin lograr convencerla,
entonces
con siete lenguas verdes
de siete perros verdes,
de siete tigres verdes,
con siete lenguas verdes,
de siete tigres verdes,
con siete lenguas verdes,
de siete mares verdes,
la recorre, la besa,
la humedece
y se golpea el pecho
repitiendo su nombre.

Quatro Elementos (excerpt from Oda al la fertilidad de la tierra)
La tierra entierra rosas
el viento lleva
el fuego hierve y canta
el agua brota y busca

Oda al Mar can be heard as a cantata for mezzo-soprano and instrumental group, combining stravinskian influences with aspects of the minimalist idiom, marked by it’s rhythmic liveliness and a discourse which mixes the classical-popular coordinates, creating a stimulating no man’s land. In this well crafted work, there are real finds in the instrumental writing and the discourse is at times irresistible.

Público - Lisbon, September 2, 1998

Live performance at the Kitchen in New York City

mezzo-soprano Alexandra Montano
violin Marka Gustavsson
accordion Anne DeMarinis
piano Margaret Kampmeier
bass Richard Sosinsky

 Written for the Fred Darsow Dance Company

Texts by Satu Hummasti

Hours like veils
Why did I linger and fall, wearing the hours like veils?
I've longingly curved for your hand bearing the hours like veils.
I've waited.
I let you come up to me late in the night when love held your eyes, bright as stones.
I fell when I reached for you faded in dark when love fled your eyes cold as stones,
but I'll eat those stones before I cry, I'll eat those stones alone.

I see her waiting every night as the grocer pulls his fruits inside,
she's staring down the street,
I see her waiting every night,
in the pressure of the hours she sits there staring down the street as he brings another flowers.
But she'll eat those stones before she cries, she'll eat those stones alone.

I left when the first light quietly fell finding the street by dawn,
I'll go through the corridor in the dark, and find the street by dawn.
I dreamt of a body carried on my back, the body was my own, I flung it from my skin.
I dreamt of a ship easing into sand tall and full of flight urging me to go, urging me.
I threw my body from my back, I threw me on the deck and left.

In the mirror in the hall I saw the place I left I saw the place I'll always leave fading in the glass.
In the mirror in the hall a stranger urges me to leave and love and always leave to fade into the glass.
I see you in a pool of light fading in the glass.

Flicked in the night by a wind my dress falls and falling does not find you.
In the wind I rise and falling do not find you.
Night held me close like a ghost holds skin I fold into the night.
How will I ever sleep again?
I remember your hand on my waist I fold into the night.
When will I ever sleep again?
Some devil keeps me wide awake waiting for the sun.

I slept and had a dream so sweet a body in a field of wheat.
I wake into the dark alone, gentle in this place and seized, quiet in this place and seized. Some devil keeps me wide awake waiting for the sun.

If I had never seen despair, I would not know you, but you are not a stranger, I feel your skin.

In the mirror in the hall I saw the place I left I saw the place I'll always leave fading in the glass.
In the mirror in the hall a stranger urges me to leave and love and always leave to fade into the glass. I see you in a pool of light fading in the glass.

I've known

I've known, I've known the dead stop night, the humid air, your body next to mine.
I've known the sweet of summer vine curving through the air.
I've heard the perfume running down the street.
The smoke I've seen build up between the walls, the suffocating fire searing through the hall.
I've known, I've known the dead stop night, waiting at each ticking of the clock, no body next to mine.

Sung in Spanish
Poema de la Saeta by Federico Garcia Lorca

I-Arqueros

Los arqueros oscuros
a Sevilla se acercan.
Guadalquivir abierto.
Anchos sombreros grises
y largas capas lentas.
¡Ay, Guadalquivir!
Vienen de los remotos
países de la pena.
Guadalquivir abierto.
Y van a un labirinto.
Amor, cristal y piedra.
¡Ay, Guadalquivir!

II-Noche

Cirio, candil,
farol y luciérnaga.
La costelación
de la saeta.
Ventanitas de oro

tiemblan,
y en la aurora se mecen
cruces superpuestas.
Cirio, candil,
farol y luciérnaga.

III-Procesion

Por la calleja vienen
extraños unicornios.
¿ De qué campo,
de qué bosque mitológico?
Más cerca,
ya parecen astrónomos.
Fantásticos Merlines
y el Ecce Homo,
Durandarte encantado.
Orlando furioso.

IV-Paso

Virgen con miriñaque,
virgen de la Soledad,
abierta como un immenso
tulipán.
En tu barco de luces vas
por la alta marea
de la ciudad,
entre saetas turbias
y estrellas de cristal.
Virgen con miriñaque,
tú vas
por el río de la calle,
¡hasta el mar!

V-Balcon

La Lola
canta saetas.
Los toreritos
la rodean,
y el barberillo
desde su puerta,
sigue los ritmos
con la cabeza.
Entre la albahaca
y la hierbabuena,
la Lola canta
saetas.
La Lola aquella,
que se miraba
tanto en la alberca.

VI-Madrugada

Pero como el amor
los saeteros
están ciegos.
Sobre la noche verde
las saetas,
dejan rastros de lirio
caliente.
La quilla de la luna
rompe nubes moradas
y las aljabas
se llenan de rocío.
¡Ay, pero como el amor
los saeteros
están ciegos!

(English translation:

I-Archers

The dark archers
approach Seville.
The open Guadalquivir.
Broad gray hats,
long slow cloaks.
Ay Guadalquivir!
They come from remote
regions of sorrow.
The open Guadalquivir.
And they go to a labyrinth.
Love, crystal and rock.
Ay, Guadalquivir!

II-Night

Candle, lamp,
lantern and firefly.
The constellation
of the arrow.
Little windows of gold
trembling,
and cross upon cross
rocking in the dawn.
Candle, lamp,
lantern and firefly.

III-Procession

Through the lanes
come strange unicorns.
From what fields,
from what mythological forest?
Nearer,
they look like astronomers.
Fantastic Merlins,
and the Ecce Homo.
Enchanted Durandarte.
Orlando Furioso.

IV-Paso

Virgin in crinoline,
Virgin in Solitude,
opened like an immense
tulip.
In your ship of lights
you go
long the high tide
of the city,
among turbid arrows
and crystal stars.
Virgin in crinoline,
you go
down the river of the street
to the sea!

V-Balcony

Lola
sings saetas.
The little bullfighters
circle around her
and the little barber,
from his doorway,
follows the rhythms
with his head.
Between the sweet basil
and the mint,
Lola sings
saetas.
The same Lola
who looked so long
at herself in the pool.

VI-Early Morning

But like love,
the archers
are blind.
Over the green night
the arrows
leave tracks of warm
lilies.
The keel of the moon
breaks purple clouds
and the quivers
fill with dew.
Ah, but like lovers
the archers
are blind!