[CUE:MUSIC: “Sunrise”]
Terrance McKnight: Growing up, I had so many friends, so many family members who were always around - spent a lot of time together. At school, after school, church on Sundays doing everything together. But after a while, some of my friends started doing things I knew my parents wouldn't allow me to do, and I'd say, come on, mom. So-and-so is doing it.
My friends are doing it. She would say, use your own brain, Terrance. Just because your friends are doing something or like something doesn't mean you have to like it, too. I thought about my mother's words when I went to see an opera with a group of colleagues. So the subtitles are scrolling across the screen and I'm thinking, do they see what I see?
Because everybody looked so content, so pleased, nodding their heads in approval applauding. And I'm thinking, “Use your own brain, Terrance. Just because your friends like it doesn't mean you have to like it too.”
If you've been to an opera, you know the scene in an opera house doesn't really reflect the richness of our beautiful cultural diversity.
So in this series, we're looking at representations of Blackness in opera. So hold your applause and use your own brain, cuz that's what I'll be doing.
[CUE:MUSIC: “Every Voice Shout”]
Terrance McKnight: This is “Every Voice with Terrance McKnight.” It's a new podcast from WQXR where we interrogate the culture of our classical music scene, and we look at ways to make it more beautiful for everyone. Many cultures, many voices, one people.
In a previous episode of this podcast, mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis talked about feeling some discomfort at a read through of an opera by Mozart. She was stunned when certain words about being Black from the opera’s libretto were sung.
Raehann Bryce-Davis: And I was just like, GASP
Terrance McKnight: That was like my experience. But I was at a performance.
[CUE:MUSIC: “Roderigo, Ebben, Che Pensi?]
Terrance McKnight: I'd gone to see Othello.The Moor of Venice.
I was so relieved that the opera house had finally thrown in the towel on blackface. But then I'm looking at the subtitles and I'm starting to feel like Raehann
Raehann Bryce-Davis: As like the only black person in the room, I like looked around like GASP... is everybody equally appalled?
Terrance McKnight: I'm looking around and everyone is just sitting there as if these words never appeared.
[CUE:MUSIC: “Roderigo, Ebben, Che Pensi? cont.]
Terrance McKnight: “I hate the Moor!”, Iago said. Then, called him a savage. A thick-lipped savage.
Now I'm looking around, tucking in my lips, feeling self-conscious. Who wants to buy a ticket to go see something that's gonna make him feel bad about who they are?
Everyone around me looks so pleased. So content, my mother's words came to mind. “Use your own brain, Terrance. Just because your friends like it doesn't mean you have to like it too.”
[CUE:MUSIC: “Otello - Preludio”]
Terrance McKnight: William Shakespeare wrote Othello, the stage play in 1603, as England was ramping up its campaign to invest in the slaving industry in Africa. So Shakespeare wrote a story As entertainment for some of the architects of the slaving business in England. Centuries later, Arrigo Boito, a playwright, adapted that story for an Italian opera to be set to music by Giuseppe Verdi.
The opera debuted in Milan in 1887. So the story of Otello accompanied two major movements of black exploitation: Number one the Atlantic slave heist, and number two, the Berlin Conference in which European nations colonized the African continent. Verdi’s Otello came to New York in 1888. The very next year after its debut in Milan, it was performed at the Academy of Music.
Now, at the time, New York was a hotbed for minstrel shows. So another performer in blackface was just another performer in blackface.
[CUE:MUSIC: “Tito’s Wisdom”]
Terrance McKnight: In the story of Otello, Otello is a Moor - a black man. He was a general of the Venetian army, which made him a novelty. The Venetian people adored and celebrated Otello because he fought their battles and won. He defeated the infidels, the Muslims. But wait…Otello himself was a Moor.
Sylvia McNair: The Moors were the people from North Africa, predominantly Muslim. They were dark-skinned, and therefore, in Central Europe, they personified bad things.
Terrance McKnight: So if the Moors represented bad things, What made Otello different? How was he accepted and then ascended to the ranks of general in the Venetian army?
[MUSIC SWELLS]
Terrance McKnight: Otello drank all the Kool-Aid of Western European worldview. He accepted and used a Venetian name, denounced Islam, got himself baptized as a Christian. And he was very proud of all the Muslims that lay left in his wake.
Given all those things, he thought he would be fully accepted. And so he ran off and eloped with the senator's daughter, Desdemona. Shakespeare began working on Otello while working under Queen Elizabeth I. And you know, her entertainment had to match her politics and social economic agenda.
At the end of the 16th and start of the 17th centuries Elizabeth the First issued a number of proclamations to rid England of black people: this one came in 1601, just two or three years before the first performance of Othello.
[CUE:MUSIC: “Otello - Preludio”]
Tony Phillips: In 1601, Elizabeth issued a proclamation in which she declared herself highly discontent to understand the great numbers of Nagars and Blackmores, which as she's informed, are crept into this realm.
Who are fostered and relieved (i.e. fed) here to the great annoyance of her own liege people that want the relief (food) which those people consume. As also for that, most of them are infidels, having no understanding of Christ or his gospel.
Terrance McKnight: Working for Queen Elizabeth Shakespeare wasn't about to write a play about the glory of the Moors. He had to portray them in keeping with her agenda.
And so given that, there weren't many good outcomes for Muslims in her realm, including Otello on her stage.
[CUE:MUSIC: “Otello - Preludio”]
You're listening to Every Voice with Terrence McKnight. We'll be back after this break.
[MIDROLL BREAK]
[CUE:MUSIC: “Otello - Preludio”]
Terrance McKnight: Otello became a hero in Venice because he was a warrior, a fierce defender of Christian values against the Turks, the Muslims. His very first line in the opera boasts of his divine victory against them. “Rejoice. The Muslim pride is buried in the sea. Ours in heavens is the glory. After our arms, the storm has conquered it.”
Muslim pride, what's he talking about? Earlier in this podcast and in previous episodes, it was stated that the Moors represented bad things. Well, the truth is, they had a lot to be proud of.
[CUE: HARP MUSIC]
Terrance McKnight: The Moors brought a robust culture, science, and industry to Europe. They were in that region now known as Spain for about 800 years, and they developed elaborate irrigation systems. They manufactured wool, cotton, silks, glass. They built 70 libraries, mosques that are still standing. They brought sugar cane, lemons, figs, peaches. You like guitars? Well, they brought guitars. You like the violin? Well, they brought the precursor to the violin, the lute. And their education system was so impressive how it was available to so many of their citizens. And this was the case until they were expelled from Spain by the Christians in the late 15th century.
That's the Muslim pride that Otello talked about.
Kevin Maynor: Otello is gullible…
Terrance McKnight: Bass-baritone Kevin Maynor
Kevin Maynor:…and can be fooled easily. His ego can be easily bruised.
Terrance McKnight: I imagine his ego was easily bruised in a not so former life. Otello had been in chains. He was enslaved, and he told Desdemona about it, and she didn't look down on him.
Every Voice Groove
Terrance McKnight: She was sympathetic towards him. She made him feel safe. There's a scene while in her embrace, he says that he could just die right there and be fine. He couldn’t imagine life without her. She didn't see him as a savage or a servant. She saw him as a vulnerable warrier, an incredible human being. Now, who wouldn't want?
In this podcast, we bring the past into the present and the stage into the streets where we all work, walk, live, and love together, trying to make things a little more beautiful. Whether it's a stage play or an opera, the role of Otello is very demanding for an actor or a singer, you have to really know your craft and you have to show up focused.
Limmie Pulliam is a tenor who sings the role of Otello, and he shared with us that there have been times where he's shown up to work. And this happens…
[CUE:MUSIC: “Orchestra Rehearsal Sound”]
Limmie Pulliam: So many times, I'm the only person who looks like me in a room for weeks at a time. There are so many incidents that can happen, whether it’s in a rehearsal room – there have been times where I've been in the backstage area of the theater or a concert hall or something of that nature and just in regular street clothes or, or something, and someone would come up and say, “oh, you know, um, so something's been spilled in the restroom.Could you have somebody you know, go take care of that?”
Terrance McKnight: I want you to hear this man sing. This is Limmie Pullium in our studio, sitting down singing a little bit of music from Verdi’s, Aida.
[CUE:MUSIC: “Limmie Singing Tomb Scene”]
Terrance McKnight: Limmie Pulliam. Just warming up in our studio. Giving us a little music from Giuseppe Verde's tomb scene in Aida. Just warming up.
About this singer, former first Lady Michelle Obama tweeted, “Limmie, I’m so glad you’re performing again at the opera. Your story and your incredible voice will inspire so many people around the world.
Limmie Pulliam will join us in our next episode in the role of Otello. We’ll see you then.
We're looking at representations of blackness in opera. We'll delve more into Otello in the next episode.
[CUE:MUSIC: “Every Voice Shout”]
This episode of “Every Voice with Terrance McKnight” was produced by David Norville. Our research team includes: Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. This episode’s sound design and engineering is by Alan Goffinsk.
And our original music was composed by Brother Jeremy Thomas and featuring vocals by Papa Titos Sompa and harpist Dr. Ashley Jackson.
Our project manager is Natalia Ramirez, and Tony Phillips is our executive producer. Elizabeth Nonemaker is the executive producer from WQXR Podcasts and Ed Yim is the chief content officer at WQXR.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. You can find more information on the web at arts dot gov.
Special thanks to Met Archives for some invaluable research statistics.
If you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
I’m Terrance McKnight. We’ll see you next time.
You’re listening to Every Voice with Terrance Mcknight
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