{"product_id":"artiste-inconnu_binbogalar-mevlana-deniz-kustu_2026","title":"Binbogalar \/ Mevlâna \/ Deniz Küstü","description":"In June 2026, Métier proudly presents the innovative set of Three Transcultural Operas by composer Michael Ellison: Mevlana (Say That I Am You), Deniz Küstü (The Cursed Fisherman), and the bozlak opera Binbogalar Efsanesi (The Legend of the Thousand Bulls), all performed with the Hezarfen Ensemble, the leading Turkish contemporary music ensemble co-founded by Michael Ellison. Ellison spent ten years working in Istanbul and infused these operas with an unprecedented level of integration of Turkish culture, music, and traditional instruments, harmoniously blending them with contemporary music in a unique and personal idiom. Ellison's music is a sung melody, rich in color and contrast, with an evocative atmosphere and emotional breadth, and has been described as \"beautifully crafted, robust, and captivating\" by the American Record Guide. A new high-resolution 2026 edition of Mevlana (originally released in 2014 on Métier) joins the newly recorded representations of Deniz Küstü and Binbogalar Efsanesi to bring together a complete first triptych of operas. In addition to the audio recordings, Métier will release the full digital video productions of the operas Deniz Küstü and Binbogalar Efsanesi recorded at the Istanbul Music Festival. Mevlana (Say That I Am You) was the first opera to include Turkish instruments and vocal styles, blended here with Western operatic tradition and based on the poetry of Rumi, the historical mystic. This hypnotic work dramatically traces the story of the transformation of Jelaluddin Rumi (Mevlâna), from a simple scholar to an ecstatic mystic, at the hands of the wandering dervish Shams-i Tabriz, and features the dynamic vocal ensemble VocaalLAB Nederland alongside the Hezarfen ensemble. Ellison's second and third operas are captivating narratives that resonate with today's global challenges, both adapted from novels by Yasar Kemal and directed by Simon Jones. Powerful and dramatic, Deniz Küstü (The Fisherman Crossed by the Sea) tells the tragic story of Selim, a solitary villager, and Zeynel, an orphaned child, incorporating traditional Turkish instruments, contemporary elements, and Western opera singers. Its shocking events and environmental repercussions reflect our current concerns. The opera also celebrates Istanbul, its seas, and marine life, contrasting the real and fantastical seascape of the Bosphorus with the dizzying, bustling metropolis of Istanbul and a small fishing village. \"The Fisherman Crossed by the Sea is a striking portrait of Istanbul, from its sparkling dawns to its bustling side, and to Kemal... lyrical prose suits the American composer Michael Ellison well...\" — James Imam, Opera Magazine. Powerful and moving, Binbogalar Efsanesi (The Legend of the Thousand Bulls) is based on Yasar Kemal's masterful novel about the decline and disappearance of the last nomads in Turkey, as their millennia-old pastoral way of life is destroyed. The culmination of an 8-year project by the European Research Council, \"Beyond East and West,\" Binbogalar Efsanesi is a unique work, sung in Turkish, that integrates the dramatic and virtuosic style of traditional Anatolian bozlak folk music with contemporary language. Hale Tetik, from Andante magazine, wrote: \"Love, sadness, grief, and rebellion, emanating from the voice of the bozlak singer Fatma Aydogan, were etched in our hearts.\" Michael Ellison has been commissioned and performed by major orchestras and festivals across Europe and the United States, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Variances, Radio France, the Grenoble Festival, the New York Youth Symphony, the Siemens Foundation, among others. He was the principal investigator on the European Research Council project Beyond East and West: Developing and Documenting an Evolving Transcultural Musical Practice (2015-2023) and the lead director of the AHRC-supported Transtraditional Istanbul project. He teaches composition at the University of Bristol, England.","brand":"Artiste Inconnu","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57962677764440,"sku":null,"price":20260601.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/0809730740121.jpg?v=1786660393","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en\/products\/artiste-inconnu_binbogalar-mevlana-deniz-kustu_2026","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}