This week Opera McGill began staging rehearsals for our March production of Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea", which represents the 20th opera produced during my five years here at McGill as well as the fifth collaboration with Schulich's Early Music Program and its director, Hank Knox.
As I've been reflecting on my years here at McGill, I've realized how much I've come to look forward to the baroque opera productions. The first was a magical re-creation of Handel's "Alcina" which was set in mythic China with added Tai Chi half-man/half-tree characters that gave the show an extra emotional punch (I remounted the production this past summer at Janiec Opera Company and loved revisiting it!) We followed the next year with Lully's "Thésée", creating a high French baroque opera set in the Sun King's garden at Versailles - a production that I am am the most proud of simply because we figured a way to present a very long Lully opera that kept the audience's imagination and interest throughout the almost four hours of music. The other two Handel operas we've presented here have been "Agrippina" (a sort of prequel to the story of Poppea), complete with a Poppea inspired by Lady Gaga and a cast doing the Conga to Handel's rhthyms, and the mostly unknown "Imeneo", a production that changed the way I directed operatic text.
Although the wonderful student casts, orchestra, and harpsichordists have changed and graduated, one thing has remained the same: Hank Knox. For those of you who may not know Hank, he is an unassuming man with brilliant harpsichord skills and a knowledge of all things Early Music. He directs the Early Music program at Schulich, one of the best in the world, teaches privately, conducts the Baroque Orchestra, and once a year conducts the operatic collaboration between his area and Opera McGill (along with keeping up his own demanding concert schedule.)
For this production, I was inspired (yet again) by the HBO series "Rome". The designers and I are presenting a full-blown Roman show, complete with togas, Roman soldiers in regalia, and Emperors reclining while eating grapes. Traditionalists should love this production, particularly if they'd like to hear the Venice version in its UNCUT form. That's right, we are not taking any cuts! We did the same for last month's "Don Giovanni". It's one of the things that sets Opera McGill apart from almost every other academic institution and most professional opera companies in North America.
You see, Opera McGill almost always presents the operas in an uncut state; that way, the audience can hear the original intent of the composer and librettist AND our students get to fully study, learn, and perform their roles. Most opera companies have to cut their operas, sometimes severely, in order to get the curtain down in under three hours. In most union houses, going over three hours causes very large overtime expenses for both the orchestra and the stage hands.
So for the Monteverdi, we are all joking that the opera will be a good five hours long. That's simply not the case! I am taking the three acts and combining them into two acts, taking one intermission to help cut down the total time. I'm not sure how long the show will be (I've never seen an uncut Poppea), and much of that depends on choices made by Hank Knox and the students singing the roles.
I promise that there will be MUCH to look at while Monteverdi's masterpiece unfolds. Watch for a very AlcinaTree-like usage of the gods and goddesses, as well as a layered approach to telling the major characters' stories. I'd recommend reading a quick plot summary as well. You'll need to know who's who (Littore, Lucano, or Liberto; Damigella vs Drusilla; Arnalta or Nutrice; not to mention the half dozen gods and the actual major characters, most of whom are historic).
Don't miss it: Pollack Hall, March 15, 16, 17, and 18 (matinee), 2012
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Showing posts with label Poppea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poppea. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
More Don Giovanni!
I write this blog in the midst of Opera McGill's performances of Don Giovanni -- which opened January 26, 2012 in Pollack Hall and closes tomorrow, January 29.
Some stats:
2 casts, each performing the opera twice to nearly sold-out houses, made up of 34 McGill students. They were supported by a student team of 2 assistant directors and 2 assistant stage managers, the McGill Symphony Orchestra (38 musicians for this opera), plus a myriad of sound recording students and backstage crew. It takes over 80 people (almost all of them students) arriving in the theatre hours before performances begin to create this Giovanni production.
In the end, there were multiple set designs and many costume designs; the first done in May of 2011, the next revised sometime in October, 2011, the penultimate finished sometime in late November, the final design completed only in mid-January, 2012 during staging rehearsals of the last scene of the opera.
Every piece of text and every note written of the Prague version (Mozart's original version) was performed. That means NO CUTS. Even with a 20 minute intermission the opera came in under 3 hours (which begs the question: why cut Giovanni?)
A little under 100 hours was spent in various staging rehearsals. With the private coaching hours, the musical rehearsals, the staging rehearsals, the tech rehearsals and dress rehearsals, plus the performances, I estimate that the production took over 250 hours to prepare. That does not include any individual amounts of time any of the students spent learning their parts in a practice room, the time the designers spent creating costumes or sets or lights, or time I spent creating the blocking for the production. It would be interesting to add it all up sometime. I bet we'd be well over 1000 hours!
I filed 180 email messages in the month of January alone regarding this Giovanni production. (I hate email...)
After opening night, this blog had over 100 reads in less than 24 hours. Currently, someone in the UAE is reading my previous blog on Giovanni. Amazing.
On opening night we had over 100 high school students attend from Overton. They were a great addition to our regular audiences. They seemed very entertained by the show, which includes a kind of sword which most are describing as a lightsaber, a lot of kissing and making out by Zerlina and Masetto, and a couple of audacious touches (like the female vampire carrying in Donna Anna's maid over her shoulder and dropping her on Giovanni's table for him to feast on!)
Oh, did I mention that it takes 8 pomegranates, 8 blood oranges, bottles of club soda, orange, and cranberry juice, dozens of batteries, and 12 blood pellets in order to perform this production over this weekend?
And there are 7 vampire attacks each show and a number of attempted attacks as well?
But only 1 vampire sings...
So, what did I learn from working on this Don Giovanni?
1) The Prague version is superior to either the Vienna or the traditional hybrid version normally done
2) Gordon Gerrard is a wonderful colleague and a terrific conductor
3) My Opera McGill students constantly surprise me with their ability to imagine a new world of opera
4) Audiences want to be entertained
5) Cutting out recits cuts out parts of character's hearts. It was nice to have these amazing characters played intact
6) E flat is one of Mozart's most interesting keys
7) It's fun to design a show with such talented colleagues like Ginette, Vincent and Serge
8) Mozart challenges young singers and orchestral players to be at their best -- and it's apparent when they achieve a high standard just as it's apparent when the mark is missed; however they hit it much more than missed it!
9) Mozart's genius is a comforting blanket to wrap yourself in while working during long hours
10) I don't want to do another Giovanni for a long while.
On to Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" which opens March 15, 2012 in Pollack Hall. It's a LONG opera, but one of the greatest ever composed!
Some stats:
2 casts, each performing the opera twice to nearly sold-out houses, made up of 34 McGill students. They were supported by a student team of 2 assistant directors and 2 assistant stage managers, the McGill Symphony Orchestra (38 musicians for this opera), plus a myriad of sound recording students and backstage crew. It takes over 80 people (almost all of them students) arriving in the theatre hours before performances begin to create this Giovanni production.
In the end, there were multiple set designs and many costume designs; the first done in May of 2011, the next revised sometime in October, 2011, the penultimate finished sometime in late November, the final design completed only in mid-January, 2012 during staging rehearsals of the last scene of the opera.
Every piece of text and every note written of the Prague version (Mozart's original version) was performed. That means NO CUTS. Even with a 20 minute intermission the opera came in under 3 hours (which begs the question: why cut Giovanni?)
A little under 100 hours was spent in various staging rehearsals. With the private coaching hours, the musical rehearsals, the staging rehearsals, the tech rehearsals and dress rehearsals, plus the performances, I estimate that the production took over 250 hours to prepare. That does not include any individual amounts of time any of the students spent learning their parts in a practice room, the time the designers spent creating costumes or sets or lights, or time I spent creating the blocking for the production. It would be interesting to add it all up sometime. I bet we'd be well over 1000 hours!
I filed 180 email messages in the month of January alone regarding this Giovanni production. (I hate email...)
After opening night, this blog had over 100 reads in less than 24 hours. Currently, someone in the UAE is reading my previous blog on Giovanni. Amazing.
On opening night we had over 100 high school students attend from Overton. They were a great addition to our regular audiences. They seemed very entertained by the show, which includes a kind of sword which most are describing as a lightsaber, a lot of kissing and making out by Zerlina and Masetto, and a couple of audacious touches (like the female vampire carrying in Donna Anna's maid over her shoulder and dropping her on Giovanni's table for him to feast on!)
Oh, did I mention that it takes 8 pomegranates, 8 blood oranges, bottles of club soda, orange, and cranberry juice, dozens of batteries, and 12 blood pellets in order to perform this production over this weekend?
And there are 7 vampire attacks each show and a number of attempted attacks as well?
But only 1 vampire sings...
So, what did I learn from working on this Don Giovanni?
1) The Prague version is superior to either the Vienna or the traditional hybrid version normally done
2) Gordon Gerrard is a wonderful colleague and a terrific conductor
3) My Opera McGill students constantly surprise me with their ability to imagine a new world of opera
4) Audiences want to be entertained
5) Cutting out recits cuts out parts of character's hearts. It was nice to have these amazing characters played intact
6) E flat is one of Mozart's most interesting keys
7) It's fun to design a show with such talented colleagues like Ginette, Vincent and Serge
8) Mozart challenges young singers and orchestral players to be at their best -- and it's apparent when they achieve a high standard just as it's apparent when the mark is missed; however they hit it much more than missed it!
9) Mozart's genius is a comforting blanket to wrap yourself in while working during long hours
10) I don't want to do another Giovanni for a long while.
On to Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" which opens March 15, 2012 in Pollack Hall. It's a LONG opera, but one of the greatest ever composed!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Hansel and Gretel in the Schools
Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. We've been busy... The "we" in that is not meant to be a royal we, it's meant to mean a team of six singers, a coordinator, and myself who've been going into various elementary schools - both French and English - in the Montreal area with a presentation about Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel.
It's because I had an idea about this fall's Opera McGill production of said opera. The idea: project illustrations, by kids, for the sets of the opera. Allow the kids to imagine the story of H & G, and with little guidance, let them create forests, angels, gingerbread children, maison de bonbons, etc. with crayons and markers. Then, the illustrations picked would become part of the actual set design, be projected onto the back screen during the show, and the illustrators (and their families) would be invited to a special presentation in November - complete with a cupcake reception hosted by THE WITCH!
We took a team of Hansels and Gretels, had them sing the first act "let's not work, let's dance instead" duet and also the 2nd act prayer. We also asked the kids lots of questions: What's an opera? What do we need to make an opera? What language were they singing in? What was going on while they sang? etc., etc.
Interesting to see how much the students knew about opera, their ideas and preconceived stereotypes (it's LOUD), their reactions to the live performances, and of course to see their illustrations! Some were really, truly amazing!
I'm looking forward to staging the show - starting this Monday - and getting into the mind of a child again. It's a much better place to be!
Other goings on in the Opera McGill world: performances at the Homecoming "Spotlight on Schulich" where we presented quatre extraits from La Boheme. People were stunned by the level of the casts... Two weeks ago we also performed the first annual "Death By Aria" patterned after the DMMO evening of the same name. Each of the singers cast in Opera McGill productions stood up and sang an aria. I played. Brilliantly, I might add, for the sheer number of arias on the program: 30! I felt more connected to Robert Larsen that afternoon than ever before. It's a fun thing to do, and it allowed the students to experience performing an aria in front of a -- standing room only -- audience without being judged by an audition panel or a faculty grading an exam or critics listening with their 20th century ears. This sort of experience is rare and schools should provide more of these types of performance experiences! Plans are underway for another one in the 2nd semester. Plus the party afterwards at our house, hosted by my wife and kids, was a ton of fun.
I've tried to finish watching the second season of ROME, but am only 2/3rds of the way through. I really, really want to do a Poppea and really, really go for it ala ROME. It's the perfect opera for digging into Roman sex scenes, religious rites, bloody murders, stoic suicides, intrigue everywhere, and reclining meals (want to do that some day -- the meal part, not some of the others).
Yes, I wrote "some" on purpose.
Must run, have to write a thousand letters of recommendation that no one will read and are a total waste of time. When in the world will this NONSENSE END?!?!?!
Keep singing loud, fast and high!
It's because I had an idea about this fall's Opera McGill production of said opera. The idea: project illustrations, by kids, for the sets of the opera. Allow the kids to imagine the story of H & G, and with little guidance, let them create forests, angels, gingerbread children, maison de bonbons, etc. with crayons and markers. Then, the illustrations picked would become part of the actual set design, be projected onto the back screen during the show, and the illustrators (and their families) would be invited to a special presentation in November - complete with a cupcake reception hosted by THE WITCH!
We took a team of Hansels and Gretels, had them sing the first act "let's not work, let's dance instead" duet and also the 2nd act prayer. We also asked the kids lots of questions: What's an opera? What do we need to make an opera? What language were they singing in? What was going on while they sang? etc., etc.
Interesting to see how much the students knew about opera, their ideas and preconceived stereotypes (it's LOUD), their reactions to the live performances, and of course to see their illustrations! Some were really, truly amazing!
I'm looking forward to staging the show - starting this Monday - and getting into the mind of a child again. It's a much better place to be!
Other goings on in the Opera McGill world: performances at the Homecoming "Spotlight on Schulich" where we presented quatre extraits from La Boheme. People were stunned by the level of the casts... Two weeks ago we also performed the first annual "Death By Aria" patterned after the DMMO evening of the same name. Each of the singers cast in Opera McGill productions stood up and sang an aria. I played. Brilliantly, I might add, for the sheer number of arias on the program: 30! I felt more connected to Robert Larsen that afternoon than ever before. It's a fun thing to do, and it allowed the students to experience performing an aria in front of a -- standing room only -- audience without being judged by an audition panel or a faculty grading an exam or critics listening with their 20th century ears. This sort of experience is rare and schools should provide more of these types of performance experiences! Plans are underway for another one in the 2nd semester. Plus the party afterwards at our house, hosted by my wife and kids, was a ton of fun.
I've tried to finish watching the second season of ROME, but am only 2/3rds of the way through. I really, really want to do a Poppea and really, really go for it ala ROME. It's the perfect opera for digging into Roman sex scenes, religious rites, bloody murders, stoic suicides, intrigue everywhere, and reclining meals (want to do that some day -- the meal part, not some of the others).
Yes, I wrote "some" on purpose.
Must run, have to write a thousand letters of recommendation that no one will read and are a total waste of time. When in the world will this NONSENSE END?!?!?!
Keep singing loud, fast and high!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Style
What is style?
Tell me. Write in, weigh in.
I've heard a number of young singers over the years worry if they are singing in the appropriate "style"; i.e. singing Britten in the style of Britten, singing Mozart in the style of Mozart, etc. Typically this worry causes them to sing in no style, or worse, something akin to "correctness" that functions as words&music sung where/when/how the composer wanted them. This results in that lovely mediocre performance where nothing is wrong, but sadly -- nothing is right. Lots of people I meet like that sort of thing.
"Style" is defined by Merrian-Webster as "a distinctive manner of expression." It can also be defined as "the state of being poplular." I think the two are linked when it comes to music.
Style, in music, changes over the years. As well, how musicians view a certain time periods' "style" also changes with the years. Remember Raymond Leppard? His 1962 production of Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" set the whole baroque opera craze in motion. Yet, many of my close and most-respected friends in the Early Music wing of this business can't abide the mention of his name. This is mostly due to the fact that his score has fallen massively out of fashion.
Now some of this is due to the fact that so much has now been learned, written, and understood about early music that we no longer need someone like Mo. Leppard to "translate" a baroque score for us -- with all those confusing numbers and little-to-no actual musical notation being put down for us non-Early heathens who can't figure out figured bass.
I grew up on Leppard's "Poppea" and certainly enjoyed IMMENSELY his rendition of Cavalli's "La Calisto" that was presented in 1989 at the Santa Fe Opera with Tatiana Troyanos and James Bowman (and a young Joanne Kolymejic singing Juno as well as a young Elizabeth Koch singing a Furie in the chorus, complete with electronic lights catching her costume on fire one night!) Now, was it stylistically correct? For 1989, barely. For 2010, not really. I would label it "romantic baroque" now. Particularly Troyanos' full-throated (and gorgeous) voice blossoming next to Bowman's thrilling counter-tenor. It's a performance that made me LOVE baroque opera and music, inspired me to investigate it further. It was EFFECTIVE. However, now it would not be considered CORRECT.
So what is the correct style of singing Mozart? What is the correct style of singing Donizetti? Really, these are important questions.
If the answers are about appoggiaturas, or about trills starting from above, or about cadential ornaments, then I'd venture to say one is searching for pieces of the style -- like buttons on fashionable pants that come and go with the winds of the runways of Paris. These are arbitrary rules and/or collections of rules that one uses to dissect art or music. I find them useful, but not the point.
It's much more interesting to try to get into the head of the composer. To get into the time period in which they were writing. To know and understand who the singers were, (and perhaps what their voices were like), that were in the ears of the composers as they were writing. It's also much more interesting to think about what sort of individual style YOU might have that could connect into another composer's sensibilities.
And, if that fails...worry less about style. Think more about being an effective communicator of music, text, character, vocal line, and emotional subtext. That would be my advice.
Tell me. Write in, weigh in.
I've heard a number of young singers over the years worry if they are singing in the appropriate "style"; i.e. singing Britten in the style of Britten, singing Mozart in the style of Mozart, etc. Typically this worry causes them to sing in no style, or worse, something akin to "correctness" that functions as words&music sung where/when/how the composer wanted them. This results in that lovely mediocre performance where nothing is wrong, but sadly -- nothing is right. Lots of people I meet like that sort of thing.
"Style" is defined by Merrian-Webster as "a distinctive manner of expression." It can also be defined as "the state of being poplular." I think the two are linked when it comes to music.
Style, in music, changes over the years. As well, how musicians view a certain time periods' "style" also changes with the years. Remember Raymond Leppard? His 1962 production of Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" set the whole baroque opera craze in motion. Yet, many of my close and most-respected friends in the Early Music wing of this business can't abide the mention of his name. This is mostly due to the fact that his score has fallen massively out of fashion.
Now some of this is due to the fact that so much has now been learned, written, and understood about early music that we no longer need someone like Mo. Leppard to "translate" a baroque score for us -- with all those confusing numbers and little-to-no actual musical notation being put down for us non-Early heathens who can't figure out figured bass.
I grew up on Leppard's "Poppea" and certainly enjoyed IMMENSELY his rendition of Cavalli's "La Calisto" that was presented in 1989 at the Santa Fe Opera with Tatiana Troyanos and James Bowman (and a young Joanne Kolymejic singing Juno as well as a young Elizabeth Koch singing a Furie in the chorus, complete with electronic lights catching her costume on fire one night!) Now, was it stylistically correct? For 1989, barely. For 2010, not really. I would label it "romantic baroque" now. Particularly Troyanos' full-throated (and gorgeous) voice blossoming next to Bowman's thrilling counter-tenor. It's a performance that made me LOVE baroque opera and music, inspired me to investigate it further. It was EFFECTIVE. However, now it would not be considered CORRECT.
So what is the correct style of singing Mozart? What is the correct style of singing Donizetti? Really, these are important questions.
If the answers are about appoggiaturas, or about trills starting from above, or about cadential ornaments, then I'd venture to say one is searching for pieces of the style -- like buttons on fashionable pants that come and go with the winds of the runways of Paris. These are arbitrary rules and/or collections of rules that one uses to dissect art or music. I find them useful, but not the point.
It's much more interesting to try to get into the head of the composer. To get into the time period in which they were writing. To know and understand who the singers were, (and perhaps what their voices were like), that were in the ears of the composers as they were writing. It's also much more interesting to think about what sort of individual style YOU might have that could connect into another composer's sensibilities.
And, if that fails...worry less about style. Think more about being an effective communicator of music, text, character, vocal line, and emotional subtext. That would be my advice.
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