Repertoire of Resiliency : Gypsy Ensembles From 6 Countries Inject Barclay’s ‘Caravan’ With Indomitable Spirit

For centuries, in country after country, Gypsies have been treated as outsiders. Efforts to repress or even exterminate them date from before the infamous Nazi death camps in which Gypsies, too, were killed. Such efforts also extend to include Ceausescu’s Romania in the ‘70s, Bulgaria in the ‘80s and elsewhere in Eastern Europe in the ‘90s.

Why the aggressors failed, and must continue to fail, was evident in the indomitable vitality of the “Gypsy Caravan: A Celebration of Rroma Music and Dance” program Monday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, sponsored by the theater and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. (The program was to be repeated Tuesday at UCLA’s Royce Hall.)

Beginning with Musafir, an ensemble from Rajasthan, India--the country in which scholars now believe the Gypsy (or, more properly, Rromani) language originated--the program presented groups from six countries.

The others were the Kolpakov Trio from Russia, Taraf De Haidouks from Romania, the Yuri Yunakov Ensemble from Bulgaria, Kalyi Jag from Hungary and the Antonio El Pipa Flamenco Ensemble from Spain.

The program never flagged. It began on a high-energy and artistic level and maintained that astonishing level through all the variety and all the rhythmic and vocal similarities discernible as the diverse Rroma people, who have been assimilated into, and who also transformed, the cultures of those different countries.

One song from the Hungarian group seemed to embody the pain of a people but then shifted into an electrifying affirmation of life. This is a guess, however, because, unfortunately, there were no English translations available of this or the other vocal music performed.

The Romanian group, which suffered initial amplification problems, ended in a burst of music evocative of Enesco’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 but so much more authentic.

The whole program was like that. If they return, go see them.

Carol Silverman, a professor of folklore at the University of Oregon, Eugene, and a singer in the Yuri Yunakov Ensemble, wrote the highly informative and literate program notes.