CHIEF HIJANGUA IN BERLIN - LOOKING BACK AND FORWARD

Martha Mukaiwa (private source)

Namibian-German colonial history in the form of European opera? This is exactly what happens in september 2023 on the stage of Haus des Rundfunks in Berlin, Germany: in a collective effort, the Momentbühne e.V. portrays the reality of Namibia in the early 20th century and proves that the genre of opera can do far more than just string together complicated coloraturas.

The Namibian journalist Martha Mukaiwa accompanied the process and reports on the development process, special encounters and the creation of 'Chief Hijangua'.

For young composer Eslon Hindundu, staging ‘Chief Hijangua’, Namibia’s first opera, at Haus des Rundfunks in Berlin still feels like a dream.

The reality is that, after the Namibian-German co-production premiered at Windhoek’s National Theatre of Namibia last year, 2023 was dedicated to dreaming bigger, working harder and re-imagining the Otjiherero and German opera for the international stage in September.

Composed by Hindundu, co-directed by Kim Mira Meyer and Micheal Pulse and featuring a libretto by Nikolaus Frei, ‘Chief Hijangua’ is a rare gem from a country without a well-established opera or popular classical music scene but with a past inextricably linked to Germany whose colonial rule still ripples through the young African democracy.  

In broad strokes, ‘Chief Hijangua’ tells the tragic tale of a lovelorn, young Namibian prince who leaves the wealth and kinship of his home to seek his destiny. All but delirious in the Namib Desert, he is rescued by a German pastor and his daughter. They spirit Hijangua to a German outpost where he is fully revived and ultimately learns the ways of the settlers before returning to his village to demand what he believes is his.

After a successful premiere in the German capital, the authors and voices of ‘Chief Hijangua’ reflect on its making, its staging and what lies ahead.

“When Eslon and I met, I didn’t have any experience writing scripts for opera so I was very happy that he took me on as a librettist,” says Frei, a German actor and director who grew up with an appreciation for classical music but decided to focus on making film and theatre.

“As ‘Chief Hijangua’ was also Eslon's first opera, I guess we were "innocent" in artistic terms, and I think this was a wonderful constellation for something new to happen to both of us.”

For Janice van Rooy who stars as Matjiua, Hijangua’s already betrothed love interest in the opera, ‘Chief Hijangua’ offers something new to existing opera traditions in various ways.

“The music is different,” says van Rooy who hails from the Namibian town of Swakopmund and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in opera singing at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.

“When you listen to the beginning of the opera, there are parts where you can hear drums. And it’s not the kind of drums as in your typical opera where a timpani plays something, somewhere. Here, you hear actual African drums. The pattern the drummer plays, or the rhythm he plays, is very similar to what you’d hear in Namibia so it is very much our own,” says van Rooy who also finds the opera’s use of two such different languages quite remarkable.

“I haven’t seen that in any other opera yet. Maybe they are and I’m just unaware. Mostly, if an opera is in Italian, it stays in Italian. If it starts in French, it stays in French or German. Those are the three main opera languages,” says van Rooy.

“Even the fact that it’s in Otjiherero and German and it sort of alternates, that’s different in its own way. An opera being in Otjiherero is very different.”

While ‘Chief Hijangua’ generally employs the traditional structure of opera, Hindundu believes that what makes the opera truly distinctive is its Namibian core and musicality.

“The difference comes in with the involvement of Namibian elements such as the folk tunes and the rhythmical patterns I used throughout the different sections of the orchestra,” says Hindundu.

“This, I believe is a new way of composing music in Namibia and a new way of staging an opera. I hope that many scholars someday do research on this and discover the hidden treasure of the opera.”

Reflecting on ‘Chief Hijangua’s’ most recent audiences, Frei and Mira Meyer were both pleasantly surprised by those who showed up to the anomaly of a Namibian opera sung in Otjiherero and German in Berlin.

Janice van Rooy as Matijua, Monde Masimini as Hangane and the choir, Berlin 2023. (c) Stefan Hoederath

“It was nice to see how open and diverse the audience in Berlin was and how many people stayed after the premiere to talk about what they had just seen,” says Mira Meyer.

“The audiences - who as far as I understood were mostly apprehensive - were taken in and, of course, the public support the producers got to make the performances happen was astonishing. Their general reaction was also very positive,” says Frei.

“I hope the experience of the music and the staging will encourage people who saw it in Berlin to understand more about Germany's colonial past - as it is, in public terms, overshadowed by the crimes of the Nazi period.”

The fact that ‘Chief Hijangua’ prompted discussion and seemed to educate many people in the audience is something Hindundu is very proud of along with the opera’s ability to uplift local creatives involved with the production and to inspire Namibian musicians and artists coming up in its wake.

“I had no idea that our current generation both in Namibia and Germany are unaware of the history between the two countries. Some people in the audience got to learn about this history during the performance,” says Hindundu.

“The fact that we came together to share this difficult history with our nations is an accomplishment for me, as one could see how so many people started researching it. The one thing I am proud of is the opportunity that ‘Chief Hijangua’ has created for Namibian artists, especially those that love classical music and opera.”

As a Namibian artist herself, van Rooy can attest to the importance and legacy of the opera.

“I feel very proud and excited. I’m happy, I’m emotional and I’m frustrated because why did it take so long to get here?” says van Rooy expressing mixed emotions as she reflects on ‘Chief Hijangua’s’ Berlin premiere.

“I’m also grateful that it has finally happened and we can say that ‘Chief Hijangua’ is ours. This is what we have, like the rest of the world and their composers and their operas,” she says.

“I think I’m most proud of the German support that the opera has gotten in terms of funding, making it happen in Germany and recognizing ‘Chief Hijangua’ as something worth funding in the first place,” says van Rooy.

“Coming from a country where opera or classical music in general isn’t a culture that we know and understand, if I were the CEO of a company wanting to invest in this project and I knew nothing about opera in Namibia, I would be a little skeptical,” she says.

“But the fact that they gave it a chance and they made this possible is really amazing and I’m proud of the efforts from both sides, Germany and Namibia, to make this possible” van Rooy says. “It took a lot of people. It’s really amazing what has been achieved.”

Though Van Rooy, Frei and Mira Meyer differ in terms of their favourite arias and most memorable momentsfrom ‘Chief Hijangua’s’ three-night run in Berlin, a sentiment that they agree on is the beauty of Hindundu’s music and the significance of his work.

“Eslon's achievement as composer and conductor of the first Namibian opera definitely is invaluable and I hope that he and many more musicians will be able to benefit from it,” says Frei.

“I also hope more people can relate to this work in the future and have their own thoughts, both as artists and as an audience, whether as Namibian, German, or citizen of the world,” Frei says.

“I am proud of Eslon, so proud. It is such an honor that we are such close friends and trust each other, but that was also a long way,” says Mira Meyer. “I am more than sure that Eslon will inspire other artists in Namibia but also in Germany.”

As the team works on a smaller version of the opera they hope to take on tour, back home to Namibia andHindundu dreams of someday staging ‘Chief Hijangua’ in places such as South Africa, Botswana and Angola, the ambitious composer still regards the journey as surreal.

“Who would have ever thought that an opera sung in Otjiherero will ever be composed and performed and staged on an international stages?” he wonders. “Now Namibia is out and has shown that we can do it.”

With ‘Chief Hijangua’s’ international debut complete and the precedent of Namibian opera set, there is much room for dreams, aspiration and thoughts of tomorrow.

“It feels like this is only the beginning for Namibian opera and classical music,” says van Rooy.  

“Because if we can start this strongly then where are we heading to? Isn’t it amazing to think about that?”

Text by: Martha Mukaiwa, 2023.