of his opera Omar, which Rhiannon Giddens is presenting these days in Charleston, South Carolina, in the unique setting of the Spoleto Festival USA — theatre, jazz and opera! — we currently only know Julie’s Aria, but that’s already a lot, and that’s all we love about rooted Rhiannon and planetary Rhiannon. In this opera, for which she wrote the music and the libretto (with the help of Michael Abels), the extraordinary Giddens sings the story of a slave of Muslim origin in the nascent 19th century South, Omar ibn Said , writer, theologian, historian with a terrifying but no less astonishing journey, where writing takes the place of freedom. Julie’s Aria, a folk song of exquisite beauty, allows us to enter a largely ignored world, that of African Muslims among the arrivals of slaves in America. Bill Frisell and Francesco Turrisi are at the heart of the performance, where relevance and light come together around this voice she has. The most beautiful voice of our time.
Click here for an excerpt.
To see in video