Monday, July 20, 2009
Artscaped
I never went to Artscape until this weekend. I always thought it too hot and, in what now seems cynical folly, always thought that is was either light on the arts and heavy on the funnel cake, or too esoteric. I'm happy to admit I was wrong, and I'm super proud of my city. Artscape, from the perspective of the AOT booth, was a great melting point. I got to meet folks from all different backgrounds and all different ages. Right outside our booth on Sunday an African drumming circle and I saw people of different races, ages, and creeds dancing with each other. For all the talk that goes around the opera community about reaching out to new audiences, this weekend I felt we were really doing it as all sorts of people visited us, expressed their joy at opera surviving in Baltimore, and signed up for tickets for next year. Even more, at our, admitedly difficult, performance on Sunday the diverse group of young and old and black and white and rich and poor that were enthused by the performance gladdened my heart. So, I can't believe I'm going to be so hokey as to write this, but BALTIMORE BELIEVE!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Artscape Away
I am sitting at a Cafe enjoying a few moments of quite before the last day of Artscape begins. I love being part of this enigmatic festival that brings together so many people from so many diverse backgrounds! AOT has been able to tell literally hundreds and hundreds of people about what we are doing this year. Time and time again we hear "I thought opera was dead in Baltimore." And it is my delight to tell them about whats going on.
Today we will present two short performances of "A Pilgrime's Solace" at 2pm and 5pm. Come out to Artscape if you can - great weather for the first time in years!
Today we will present two short performances of "A Pilgrime's Solace" at 2pm and 5pm. Come out to Artscape if you can - great weather for the first time in years!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Artscape and in the news!
Here is a great little picture that was sent to me recently. It is from the cover of a magazine that had an article about the workshop I was honored to be Artistic Director of with Sophie-Roland...and here we are having a great time. It is also a perfect AOT image because it shows the two directors of the company doing what we love to do most, have fun.
I'm in the midst of rehearsals for "A Pilgrime's Solace", which is AOT's offering in Artscape this year. This is a collection of 12 songs by John Dowland, the 16th century singer-songwriter that wrote songs of unparalleled deep of emotion. I've compiled these songs roughly into a piece that explores the human grief cycle, for mezzo soprano and guitar. I'm thrilled to finally be working with Monica Reinagel, who has performed so much in Baltimore, but not yet with AOT. Andrew Dickenson, a Peabody alum (and incidentally from my home town!) is our guitarist. We finished staging this weekend and it is a powerful and moving piece. It is only 45 minutes, and 45 minutes that fly by, but the ocean of feeling explored is deep indeed. There are two performances on Sunday the 19th, at 2pm and 5pm. They are both free and I hope to see you all there (Corpus Christi Church across from MICA).
Incidentally Dowland is one of the great poets of all time. I'm going to try to share some of his poetry here in the days leading up to the performances.
Now Oh Now I Needs Must Part
Now, oh now I needs must part,
Parting though I absent mourn.
Absence can no joy impart:
Joy once fled cannot return.
While I live I needs must love,
Love lives not when Hope is gone.
Now at last Despair doth prove,
Love divided loveth none.
Sad despair doth drive me hence;
This despair unkindness sends.
If that parting be offence,
It is she which then offends.
Dear when I from thee am gone,
Gone are all my joys at once,
I lov'd thee and thee alone,
In whose love I joyed once.
And although your sight I leave,
Sight wherein my joys do lie,
Till that death doth sense bereave,
Never shall affection die.
Sad despair doth drive me hence;
This despair unkindness sends.
If that parting be offence,
It is she which then offends.
Dear, if I do not return,
Love and I shall die together.
For my absence never mourn
Whom you might have joyed ever;
Part we must though now I die,
Die I do to part with you.
Him despair doth cause to lie
Who both liv'd and dieth true.
Sad despair doth drive me hence;
This despair unkindness sends.
If that parting be offence,
It is she which then offends.
I'm in the midst of rehearsals for "A Pilgrime's Solace", which is AOT's offering in Artscape this year. This is a collection of 12 songs by John Dowland, the 16th century singer-songwriter that wrote songs of unparalleled deep of emotion. I've compiled these songs roughly into a piece that explores the human grief cycle, for mezzo soprano and guitar. I'm thrilled to finally be working with Monica Reinagel, who has performed so much in Baltimore, but not yet with AOT. Andrew Dickenson, a Peabody alum (and incidentally from my home town!) is our guitarist. We finished staging this weekend and it is a powerful and moving piece. It is only 45 minutes, and 45 minutes that fly by, but the ocean of feeling explored is deep indeed. There are two performances on Sunday the 19th, at 2pm and 5pm. They are both free and I hope to see you all there (Corpus Christi Church across from MICA).
Incidentally Dowland is one of the great poets of all time. I'm going to try to share some of his poetry here in the days leading up to the performances.
Now Oh Now I Needs Must Part
Now, oh now I needs must part,
Parting though I absent mourn.
Absence can no joy impart:
Joy once fled cannot return.
While I live I needs must love,
Love lives not when Hope is gone.
Now at last Despair doth prove,
Love divided loveth none.
Sad despair doth drive me hence;
This despair unkindness sends.
If that parting be offence,
It is she which then offends.
Dear when I from thee am gone,
Gone are all my joys at once,
I lov'd thee and thee alone,
In whose love I joyed once.
And although your sight I leave,
Sight wherein my joys do lie,
Till that death doth sense bereave,
Never shall affection die.
Sad despair doth drive me hence;
This despair unkindness sends.
If that parting be offence,
It is she which then offends.
Dear, if I do not return,
Love and I shall die together.
For my absence never mourn
Whom you might have joyed ever;
Part we must though now I die,
Die I do to part with you.
Him despair doth cause to lie
Who both liv'd and dieth true.
Sad despair doth drive me hence;
This despair unkindness sends.
If that parting be offence,
It is she which then offends.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Thats what summer is for...
Here I am back in Bloomington. I finally arrived this past Tuesday, but this is the first chance I've had to write. My last days in Canada were great. I had a wonderful time getting to see my friend Timothy Vernon who is the conductor and artistic director of Pacific Opera Victoria, which now also performs as Opera London. I saw their Magic Flute with some fantastically talented young singers and Timothy and I got a lot of time to chat. Now I'm here at IU for a series of meetings about AOT's collaboration on Appartition/Visitation (staged songcycles by George Crumb and Francois Couperin) that we will do here in October. There is also exciting talk about future collaborations (perhaps even John Adam's El Nino) that have me busy here.
In the free time I am working on putting together a version of Debussy's "Pelleas et Melisande" for performance in Amsterdam next Winter. Peter Brook did a version for two pianos (which is actually just a splitting of Debussy's original one piano reduction) that lasts about 90 minutes. After spending some time with the score, however, I'm not altogether happy with the changes he made. A lot of beautiful, and important, material was cut, including the sung lines of Yinold which are a fantastic addition. So it looks like I will do my own version. Also I'm orchestrating the songs for our Kurt Weill program with Sylvia McNair (who is here in Bloomington and I am happy to get to spend some time with again). And somehow I'm managing to help the Summer Opera Workshop with some acting classes for their students. Oh...and learn Dutch.
Happy Summer!
In the free time I am working on putting together a version of Debussy's "Pelleas et Melisande" for performance in Amsterdam next Winter. Peter Brook did a version for two pianos (which is actually just a splitting of Debussy's original one piano reduction) that lasts about 90 minutes. After spending some time with the score, however, I'm not altogether happy with the changes he made. A lot of beautiful, and important, material was cut, including the sung lines of Yinold which are a fantastic addition. So it looks like I will do my own version. Also I'm orchestrating the songs for our Kurt Weill program with Sylvia McNair (who is here in Bloomington and I am happy to get to spend some time with again). And somehow I'm managing to help the Summer Opera Workshop with some acting classes for their students. Oh...and learn Dutch.
Happy Summer!
Monday, May 25, 2009
All the men in my life...
Well, COAA (that is the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy for those of you that missed my last blog) is finished. It has been an intense three weeks that culminated this past Saturday and Sunday with a performance of 15 scenes (a marathon performance of large scenes from everything from La Calisto, to Jephtha, to Rusalka, to Rigoletto, to Albert Herring, to Pelleas et Melisande, to everything inbetween). The performance was completed full, had to keep adding seats, and the audience was blown away. Then on Sunday, a repeat of many of the scenes with Orchestra London. Today was a postmortem and the program seems to have been a huge success. There are exciting things in the works for it next year, even bigger and more extensive, but I can reveal those just yet.
And now about those men in my life. They are John Dowland, George Crumb, Francois Couperin, Olivier Messiaen, and last, but not least, Kurt Weill. I'm hard at working with the dramaturgy and staging of the John Dowland cycle AOT will present as part of Baltimore Artscape with Monica Reinagel. The Crumb/Couperin are part of a large and well funded production of several pieces that has lots of video and multimedia, with two of AOT's sopranos, Emily Noel and Rebecca Duren. The production isn't until October, but I need to map out all the elements now so that the video design lab can start creating the technology to make it come to life. The Messiaen is for a staging of his songcycle Harawi that I'm doing in London in September, and of course the Weill is for Songspiel with Sylvia McNair. It is all the way in November, but I have to select the songs, the order, do translations of those not in existence yet, and orchestrate them all for our band.
One the other hand, I can't think of five men I would rather spend this last days in Canada with....
And now about those men in my life. They are John Dowland, George Crumb, Francois Couperin, Olivier Messiaen, and last, but not least, Kurt Weill. I'm hard at working with the dramaturgy and staging of the John Dowland cycle AOT will present as part of Baltimore Artscape with Monica Reinagel. The Crumb/Couperin are part of a large and well funded production of several pieces that has lots of video and multimedia, with two of AOT's sopranos, Emily Noel and Rebecca Duren. The production isn't until October, but I need to map out all the elements now so that the video design lab can start creating the technology to make it come to life. The Messiaen is for a staging of his songcycle Harawi that I'm doing in London in September, and of course the Weill is for Songspiel with Sylvia McNair. It is all the way in November, but I have to select the songs, the order, do translations of those not in existence yet, and orchestrate them all for our band.
One the other hand, I can't think of five men I would rather spend this last days in Canada with....
Friday, May 22, 2009
Alice Through the Looking Glass
My thoughts recently have been heavily on the experience of the artists performing opera. Being a director is extremely rewarding, it is a chance to allow the human imagination to run wild. It is also safe emotionally, we get to ask singers to do things we ourselves never have to do, and sometimes we forget what that experience is like. I go out on a limb saying that it is something unique to singers, more than even instrumentalists and actors.
One of the scenes I'm directing here is from Dvorak's "Rusalka", a piece of epic emotional power, and I am thrilled to get a wack at the end of Act II. The scene begins with an aria for Rusalka's father, continues through Rusalka's dramatic second act aria, and ends with the Prince and Princess' duet and the rejection both of Rusalka and the Prince. It is heavy stuff, and I have developed a concept that is even heavier. My four young singers are excellent. Even more, they are brave to go to these places with me, to explore some of humanities darker elements. It is scarey for them.
The other evening in rehearsal, my wonder Rusalka was giving a drop-dead performance, and collapsed during the area sobbing and unable to go on. It was a profound moment. I often talk to the singers about needing to go to far in order to know the right place to play the scene and still be safe. Well, she did, and I was very proud of her. Later, in an email, she told me that she has been lately working on opening up the physical mechanism of the voice, releasing tension. That, she said, has also left her open emotionally, and singing this scene with the concept I have asked for became too much. It is a beautiful and true idea that we sometimes forget, this profound connection for singers between their instrument and their psychology. I am honored to work with such a group of talented and committed young artists. I helps to remind as all why we do this.
One of the scenes I'm directing here is from Dvorak's "Rusalka", a piece of epic emotional power, and I am thrilled to get a wack at the end of Act II. The scene begins with an aria for Rusalka's father, continues through Rusalka's dramatic second act aria, and ends with the Prince and Princess' duet and the rejection both of Rusalka and the Prince. It is heavy stuff, and I have developed a concept that is even heavier. My four young singers are excellent. Even more, they are brave to go to these places with me, to explore some of humanities darker elements. It is scarey for them.
The other evening in rehearsal, my wonder Rusalka was giving a drop-dead performance, and collapsed during the area sobbing and unable to go on. It was a profound moment. I often talk to the singers about needing to go to far in order to know the right place to play the scene and still be safe. Well, she did, and I was very proud of her. Later, in an email, she told me that she has been lately working on opening up the physical mechanism of the voice, releasing tension. That, she said, has also left her open emotionally, and singing this scene with the concept I have asked for became too much. It is a beautiful and true idea that we sometimes forget, this profound connection for singers between their instrument and their psychology. I am honored to work with such a group of talented and committed young artists. I helps to remind as all why we do this.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
I have been out without word again for a long time! My apologies. The production of Venus/Dido was a huge success. It was a revival of AOT's first production, but with five years of experience to improve upon what is already a very inventive, moving concept. I couldn't have been more happy with the experience, and it was so nice to close a show and then have the company in town the next day for my marriage! Dan and I were very happy to share that day with artists who have over the years become great friends, it was so special.
Now for two weeks I have been in Canada for the past two weeks. I am co-Artistic Director of the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy in London Ontario. This is the first year of the three week intensive workshop for young singers, that focuses on all the arts that go into making opera. It is a remarkably busy period....everyday dance at 8:30, then musical rehearsals, then masterclasses that range from vocal work, professional studies, stage combat, and finally staging 16 scenes in the evening. There are 27 vocalists, 4 collaborative pianists, two stage managers, and an assistant director. I am very impressed with the level of the students, fantastically high and a diverse group of voices. It is allowing me to stage some big scenes. I am doing 9 of the scenes and they are from Falstaff, Figaro, Rusalka, Calisto, Jephtha, Pelleas, Ariadne auf Naxos, Rosenkavalier, and Don Pasqaule. Just wonderful! And we have an impressive list of guests that include Stephen Blier, the famous coach and founder of the New York Festival of Song, and Chantal Lambert of Opera de Montreal, and Timothy Vernon of Pacific Opera. A great group and a great program that is already funded and in the works for next year.
That is keeping me busy though. We did have a wonderful gala evening on May 1st. Due to a family emergency Sophie Roland could not join us, but baritone Ryan de Ryke rose to the occaision, and he and I performed an hour long program of cabaret music, including his now infamous rendition of the Toreador's song from our Le Cabaret de Carmen. I am so appreciate to our wonderful board of organizers: Alex Ledbetter, Dana Johns, Jesse Hellman, and Stephen Campbell. Thanks for a wonderful kick off to AOT's new season...more to come on that this weekend I hope!
Now for two weeks I have been in Canada for the past two weeks. I am co-Artistic Director of the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy in London Ontario. This is the first year of the three week intensive workshop for young singers, that focuses on all the arts that go into making opera. It is a remarkably busy period....everyday dance at 8:30, then musical rehearsals, then masterclasses that range from vocal work, professional studies, stage combat, and finally staging 16 scenes in the evening. There are 27 vocalists, 4 collaborative pianists, two stage managers, and an assistant director. I am very impressed with the level of the students, fantastically high and a diverse group of voices. It is allowing me to stage some big scenes. I am doing 9 of the scenes and they are from Falstaff, Figaro, Rusalka, Calisto, Jephtha, Pelleas, Ariadne auf Naxos, Rosenkavalier, and Don Pasqaule. Just wonderful! And we have an impressive list of guests that include Stephen Blier, the famous coach and founder of the New York Festival of Song, and Chantal Lambert of Opera de Montreal, and Timothy Vernon of Pacific Opera. A great group and a great program that is already funded and in the works for next year.
That is keeping me busy though. We did have a wonderful gala evening on May 1st. Due to a family emergency Sophie Roland could not join us, but baritone Ryan de Ryke rose to the occaision, and he and I performed an hour long program of cabaret music, including his now infamous rendition of the Toreador's song from our Le Cabaret de Carmen. I am so appreciate to our wonderful board of organizers: Alex Ledbetter, Dana Johns, Jesse Hellman, and Stephen Campbell. Thanks for a wonderful kick off to AOT's new season...more to come on that this weekend I hope!
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