GILGAMESH epic

For his Gilgamesh opera, Zad Moultaka chooses musicians from the Mediterranean basin that represent the countries of origin of all the epics of antiquity: from Homeric Greece to the Italy and Virgil’s “Aeneid”.

Vangelis Paschalidis’ santur, an ancient instrument, weaves together many Near East traditions, Harris Lambrakis’ ney and Evgenios Voulgaris’ yaylı tambur denote the Orient, while Stefanos Dorbarakis’ kanun represents Greek tradition. Sokratis Sinopoulos’ Constantinople lyre spans the banks of Bosporus, while Andreas Linos’, Christina Plubeau's violas da gamba and Claudio Bettinelli’s drums define the western borders. Their music and physical presence, not the human voice, will tell us the story of Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk, a Sumerian city on the banks of the Euphrates; he was two thirds god and one third human.

The epic tells us the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, his wild adversary, created by the gods to keep him from oppressing the people of Uruk. But Enkidu eventually becomes Gilgamesh’s ally. They take a six-day trip to cut down the Holy Cedar and kill its guardian, Humbaba the Terrible. As a result, the gods kill Enkidu. In the second part of the work, Gilgamesh, devastated by his friend’s death, seeks the secret of eternal life.