Julie's Aria

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Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

Rhiannon Giddens performs “Julie’s Aria,” a song from Omar, the new opera she wrote with Michael Abels, on this recording with multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi and guitarist Bill Frisell. Omar is based on the life and autobiography of enslaved Muslim scholar Omar Ibn Said, who was forcefully brought to Charleston, SC, from Africa in 1807. “My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and heard, but that can also add to the conversation about what’s going on now,” Giddens says. “This is a story that hasn’t been represented in the operatic world—or in any world.”

Description

Omar, the opera composed by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, made its long-awaited world premiere on Friday, May 27, 2022, in Charleston, SC, at the Spoleto Festival USA. In the lead-up to this first performance, Giddens released her own recording of the song “Julie’s Aria” that is featured in the opera. Giddens also wrote the opera’s libretto. The recording was recently made by Giddens with guitarist Bill Frisell and her frequent collaborator Francesco Turrisi. (Giddens does not perform in the production of Omar.)

You can hear “Julie’s Aria” below and here, and read about Omar in the New York Times at nytimes.com.

Omar is based on the life and autobiography of enslaved Muslim scholar Omar Ibn Said, who was forcefully brought to Charleston, SC from Africa in 1807. In a statement, Giddens notes: “My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and heard, but that can also add to the conversation about what’s going on now. This is a story that hasn’t been represented in the operatic world—or in any world.”

Other major opera companies will perform Omar as well, including LA Opera in the fall of 2022 followed by Lyric Opera of Chicago, Boston Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, a co-producer of the work (Omar was previously scheduled to debut at Spoleto in 2020 but was postponed that year and again in 2021 due to the pandemic). Giddens worked on the score with composer Michael Abels, who is known for his work on Jordan Peele's films Get Out and Us.

Giddens’ latest album release, They’re Calling Me Home (Nonesuch), won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album earlier this year. She tours throughout 2022 and will release her first book this fall, entitled Build a House. Written as a song to commemorate the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, Build a House is illustrated by painter Monica Mikai and tells the story of a people who would not be moved and the music that sustained them.

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Rhiannon Giddens
reissues?
new-release
Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
FLAC
Price
1.39
UPC
075597908473
Label
MP3
Price
1.29
UPC
075597908480

Track Listing

News & Reviews

  • “This week’s guest is a trailblazer, a musical activist, a multi-disciplinary, multi-genre artist who has truly carved her own path of both honoring and celebrating lineage and creating a new one for generations to come,” Carmel Holt says of the guest on the third-anniversary episode of her show Sheroes. “Now nearly two decades into her career, Rhiannon Giddens has become one of the most awe-inspiring and influential artists of our time.” Holt talks with Giddens—who was also the radio show’s first guest three years ago—about her Grammy-nominated new album, You’re the One, and more. You can hear their conversation here.

  • “Rhiannon Giddens added to her impressive list of accomplishments earlier this year when the Grammy winner and MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant recipient won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music as co-composer of the opera Omar,” Kallao says of his guest on NPR’s World Cafe. “The highly decorated singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, composer, and author is relentlessly busy, so we are thrilled to talk to her about her new album, You’re the One.” You can hear their conversation and a live performance of songs from the Grammy-nominated new album and from earlier albums Freedom Highway and Tomorrow Is My Turn here.

  • About This Album

    Omar, the opera composed by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, made its long-awaited world premiere on Friday, May 27, 2022, in Charleston, SC, at the Spoleto Festival USA. In the lead-up to this first performance, Giddens released her own recording of the song “Julie’s Aria” that is featured in the opera. Giddens also wrote the opera’s libretto. The recording was recently made by Giddens with guitarist Bill Frisell and her frequent collaborator Francesco Turrisi. (Giddens does not perform in the production of Omar.)

    You can hear “Julie’s Aria” below and here, and read about Omar in the New York Times at nytimes.com.

    Omar is based on the life and autobiography of enslaved Muslim scholar Omar Ibn Said, who was forcefully brought to Charleston, SC from Africa in 1807. In a statement, Giddens notes: “My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and heard, but that can also add to the conversation about what’s going on now. This is a story that hasn’t been represented in the operatic world—or in any world.”

    Other major opera companies will perform Omar as well, including LA Opera in the fall of 2022 followed by Lyric Opera of Chicago, Boston Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, a co-producer of the work (Omar was previously scheduled to debut at Spoleto in 2020 but was postponed that year and again in 2021 due to the pandemic). Giddens worked on the score with composer Michael Abels, who is known for his work on Jordan Peele's films Get Out and Us.

    Giddens’ latest album release, They’re Calling Me Home (Nonesuch), won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album earlier this year. She tours throughout 2022 and will release her first book this fall, entitled Build a House. Written as a song to commemorate the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, Build a House is illustrated by painter Monica Mikai and tells the story of a people who would not be moved and the music that sustained them.