From the Steppes to the Stage

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2018

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Internationally-acclaimed opera star Ariunbaatar Ganbaataar was born into a family of nomadic herders on the immense Mongolian steppe. In this hypnotic audio portrait, journalist Kate Molleson visits his family's ger to discover whether Mongolia's unique traditional culture – perhaps even its landscape itself – is the secret of his extraordinary vocal alchemy. Kate is treated to a performance of Mongolian longsong - the nation's traditional classical singing art - as well as joining Ariunbaatar on horseback to hear the songs he sang as a young boy, alone in the vast wilderness.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello from the BBC World Service and welcome to the latest edition of the
0:05.0	documentary podcast. Every week we bring you a range of stories from our
0:09.8	presenters and reporters across the world.
0:13.0	If you have the time, please rate the documentary on your podcast app and leave us a comment.
0:18.1	Let us know what you think. Oh, oh, moh. There's a general rule in Mongolia that if you go to a party you must bring with you three songs.
0:49.0	I mean three songs to sing.
0:52.0	Oh, so I'm stooping down to get inside the gyr.
0:56.0	It's a low door.
0:58.0	Thank you.
1:00.0	Hello.
1:01.0	Hello.
1:08.0	Arriving without your three songs would be a bit like turning up for dinner at someone's would be a bit like turning up for dinner at someone's house without a bottle of wine.
1:14.0	It's not dire, it's just not done.
1:18.0	Low table, food right in the center, and a huge, very elegant porcelain bat of white, creamy-looking
1:29.6	liquid.
1:30.6	I think this is fermented nose milk and I think that I'm the next one to try it.
1:47.0	Mongolians take certain things very seriously.
1:51.0	Mongolians take certain things very seriously.
1:55.0	One is their landscape, the vast empty step with its huge open skies and great snowy mountains on the horizon. Another is their nomadic culture
2:06.6	lived since ancient times in traditional yurts or gares. Thank you.
2:11.4	Mungonian beer.
2:15.0	Wow.
	...

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