Script.

Slide 1:
Today, I’d like to talk about the modernisation of Opera. We will cover many aspects of
modernisation, but we will largely be looking at it from the perspective of staging, the role
of the director, and the effect of the artistic vision of a work on the performers, the music,
and the audience.

Here you’re seeing a shot from a production of Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival with
Director Hans Neuenfels. This particular production featured the chorus as Lab rats, which
would gradually become half human toward the end. This scene is from the wedding chorus,
and, I would forgive you for not recognising it. The critical response to this work is
interesting, in that the critics never really reached a proper consensus on the meaning of
this version of the piece, but it was received generally quite well.

Slide 2: Preamble and discussion of the concept

This work is on probably the more abstract side of staging, but opera lovers everywhere are
very aware of this trend. A book by Robert Donington, Opera and its Symbols: The Unity
Of Words, which was published in 1990, has a very strong opinion about this. Donington
quite rightly prioritises the importance of the work functioning as a whole; the Words,
Music and Staging all helping to tell the story of the Opera to the audience.

Donington is a big proponent of respect for the original piece, and trust in the composer.
For example, when discussing the Overture, he tells us that a director should “trust it to do
its own work without tendentious insinuations or excessive stage business of whatever
kind.”. Here he is recounting a Covent Garden production of Die Walküre, in particular,
which featured “Chicago gangsters with tommy guns running around the stage”(Don. 1990).
But this is not the only time this happens. Overtures are often seen by directors as a chance
to set the scene for their production visually, while the music does the same job aurally.

As far as the setting itself goes, Unity of Words clearly states that “changing the period of a
production in a fashionable attempt to relate the images to modern expectations is almost
bound to be counterproductive”. It goes on to say that “Valid Symbols will relate to us just
as they are, whether presented in the timeless distillations of myth and fairy tale or tied to a
specific time and place, implying social and artistic conventions which will jar disturbingly if
the time and place of the production are shifted.”
Unity of Words exists upon the premise that the role of the director is not to fulfil his own
ends, but the ends of the work – but seems to fail to realise the importance of speaking
directly to an audience. Perhaps the Masonic symbols of, for example, Die Zauberflote had a
clear anti-establishment relevance in their time – would it not serve the Opera, its purpose,
and its audience to stage these symbols to something relatable to our current audience?
The author writes again that “we do not want the director to stage what he thinks the
symbols mean. We just want him to stage the symbols.”.
One begins to wonder, who does “we” refer to? This pulls into question the very purpose of
our art. If its purpose is to reach people, something that Opera needs to continue to do,
then perhaps these views are entirely unhelpful.
Slide 3: Stories for other audiences.
The poster you see here is an example of a production of La Tosca that was heavily adapted
to suit the community of Tokyo. La Tosca was initially a star vehicle for Sarah Bernhardt,
focused around Tosca as a central Character. This concept clearly didn’t translate well to
Japan, and as a result, the plot was rewritten to revolve around a central romantic couple
instead. The version of this La Tosca that was aired in Tokyo was heavily centred around the
heroism against tyranny, anti-establishmentarianism absolutely flopped with the Japanese
community who were pleased with their military actions.
A review from the September 1907 issue of the shingeki heavyweight Waseda Literature
(Waseda bungaku), published by Tsubouchi’s Literary Society, mocks both the quality of the
script and the pretentiousness of the shinpa stars.
However there was a great reception from the Chinese nationalist Anti-Qing community in
Tokyo two years later on – although in this version, Angelotti doesn’t commit suicide but
dies with Cavaradossi during his execution, to allow for some more herioic dialogue.
The impact of these realisations is that, essentially, the play was heavily changed and
doctored to suit the communities it was being played to, with differing results based on the
Social and political situations. In this case, the plan was to please these audiences, and give
them what they wanted.

How different is Opera, then? Are we free to change the work, its meaning, the relationships
between characters to satisfy social ideals? Not necessarily. Some can be done, but a great
amount is built into the music – an artistic response in itself to the text - and as such,
directors and conductors don’t tend to change with such a heavy hand. What then, of pieces
that were meant to cause uproar, or incite change in their times? What if these can no
longer do their job while continuing to simply show the symbols that are ‘written in’?
The importance lies in reasoning. Settings can help an audience to understand the social
situation better – for example the looming Inquisition and surveillance in Don Carlos may
not be as familiar as say, a big brother setting (Levin,2008). They can also help to set the
tone of the opera.

Slide: Wilson(2013) writeas an article that discusses the phenomon of Gianni Schicchi
productions almost all being set in the 1950’s or 70s.
Her thesis describes that the “dayglo-yellow fitted kitchen in Carsen’s Falstaff’, or the blowsy
floral wallpaper” in Jones’s production reminds us of British carry on films , which fit the comedic
style of Falstaff and Schicchi perfectly, which instil in the audience a sense of ‘’familiarity’, an
important factor in creating humour and accessibility’. The 1950s being essentially a kitch,
postmodern era which we can look at from the position of satire and irony – an era that saw itself
as incredibly modern, which to now is retro, seems to draw out the self-consious comedy which as
Rosand puts it, ‘allows the audience to enjoy it without embarrassment’.

Another reason, and a popular one, is to make a social, or political point.

Slide 4: Sellars, Figaro.

Peter Sellars, an American Director lives much on the other side of this argument. His work
is documented in D. J. Levin’s book from 2008, Unsettling Opera. Levin’s book makes some
comparisons between surrealist and literalist productions, but most interesting to me was a
production of Le Nozze Di Figaro mentioned, directed by Sellars, which was set in Trump
Tower.
The piece was perhaps, less relevant then that it would be to todays audience, but when it
was staged, it discussed some serious social issues that had yet to be solved. Figaro is usally
a piece concerned with commentary on Class systems, the treatment(or mistreatment) of
women, or servants, and the case of the Count having the rights to sleep with Figaro’s soon
to be wife, Susanna. This construct, and its abolition, are important for Figaro.
Mozarts premiere production was banned after a short run initially, as something so
politically opposed to monarchy made the Austrians quite nervous – clearly this was a
production that people feared might inspire change.

Slide 5: Of course, in Sellars’ mind, the 1980s required a production set in Trump Tower.
The social pressures of the Count being in charge of the company are quite similar, but the
importance of money, and income, rather than class and who answers to whom in the
workplace environment gives us rather a new dynamic for the opera. We have recognisable,
relatable characters here: Donald Trump, as Count Almaviva of course, Figaro and Susanna
“the young and comparatively impoverished lovers;” Countess as “the jilted trophy wife;” as
well as “ the sly, slick, nefarious gossip” (Levin 2008).

Aside from just being interesting to watch, Sellars Production pushed its viewers to deal
with injustices that had not been yet dealt with. It parallels Mozart’s initial approach to the
work, in that it is an intense socio-political commentary, but its digestible, and quite fun. It is
important to recognise that the ends of the production seem to serve the initial ends of the
work – subversion of established ideas surrounding existing social systems, which is why this
piece, to me, is quite powerful.

Slide 6: Sellars went on to produce two more Mozart-Da Ponte works, one of which was
Cosi Fan Tutte. This production was set in a Diner in Cape Cod, a less political choice, but still
one which would affect the characters directly.

Short clip of Cosi 38.33, 39.33 1 minute

In Cosi Fan Tutte, Despina and Don Alfonso make a bet that the women will be unfaithful to
their husbands. They plot together to send the boys off to a false war, and they return
dressed as new people, and attempt to woo each others partners.

Importantly, in this production, the Diner that the whole production takes place in is
Despinas – giving her even more ownership of the entire plot. The change in setting here
changes the characters relationships: the diner setting explains nicely why Despina is far
more involved in everyones lives, explains her relationships with everyone clearly, and
makes the opera more relatable to the audience, which enhances their perception of the
symbols that are in the work.

Sellars more political work culminates in La Clemenza di Tito at the Salzburg Festival.
Clemenza being heavily rooted in anti-monarchy, an important thing in the time of Mozart,
it makes sense to change the setting so that it can serve its intended purpose in todays
world. In an interview with Getty Museum, Sellars outlines that Clemenza barely made it
past its premiere, which was a commission for an inauguration.
Sellars Clemenza occurs during the war on terror. Most of the opera is left intact, however,
the plot is subverted. There’s an important piece of recitative that tells the audience that
the assassination of the Emperor failed – which Sellars cuts. He decides instead to place the
Emperor in an IC Unit, and has him choose to absolve Sesto from his deathbed, as his final
wish.

As such, sometimes for a re-staging to function, plot has to be changed. Sometimes a

director places his or her vision over that of the work, as Donington warns us not to.
However, the question remains that if we avoid such things, does opera become a historical
practice, rather than an artistic one? I would argue that often, certain works need this help,
and others don’t. Clemenza perhaps is an example of a search for more drama within the
work. Sellars believes that the Emperors death is what Mozart wanted to write anyway, but
couldn’t because of his commissioner.

Finally I will discuss a work that struggled so much to make an impact that huge musical
changes were necessary for it to re-emerge after three centuries of silence in 1971, and to
bring it to a modern audience in 2018, Director Mathilde Lopez and Conductor and Arranger
Lesley Anne Sammons decide to drag it, kicking and screaming, into todays socio-political
world.

Slide 10:

La Calisto is an example of an opera that, in order to take its place in the canon of regularly
performed opera, had to be updated.
Aside from one production of La Didone in 1960 in Italy, which created no interest in his
work, Cavalli’s voice was completely absent from theaters until the late 1960s. Raymond
Leppard’s editions of the Operas attempted to avoid a “prissily pure” attitude to the works.
These versions that followed included far more instruments than venetian’s might have
been used to, more like the soundworlds we associate with “early” opera, like Monteverdi’s
Orfeo or Handel. For example, the addition of instruments to continuo in some editions, on
the basis that a good string player would have been able to improvise counterpoint during
continuo moments. (Rosand, 2013). Leppards Version is scored with mostly strings, very
heavily for an opera as early as Cavalli, but this was essential to play to the taste of the
audience it was for.

Slide 11:

Of course there remain simpler, faithful editions that keep Cavalli’s work intact as possible,
but most agree that these are not too helpful as performance scores. Opera houses seem to
be interested in having a new version created FOR them to use (Rosand,2013) – for
example, Leppard wrote his for Glyndebourne, the Bärenreiter was initially a commission for
Bayreuth, and more recently, Longborough Festival hired Lesley Anne Sammons to create an
edition for them.

Regardless of the historical performance aspects, with which we will not concern ourselves
too greatly, it is important to notice that musical changes were essential to the rebirth of
this work into our current operatic canon. Leppard’s version was well loved, and brought
the work to relevance even if for some tastes it made some untoward changes, like perhaps
the overuse of strings throughout.

Slide 12:

In the creation of an edition, Rosand describes how bare the manuscript is. Here is example
of the Prologue, showing three defined lines, but of course there may well have been far
more instruments in the continuo. The vocal parts are even harder to work with, as there is
no more than a vocal line and bass, with the occasional string line written in. She says that
these can be deceiving as they are often not the only times the performers were used, and
in reality they may be playing far more often. As well as this there were often scene changes
sinfonia that were not written, but instead the score just says “quasi Sinfonia”. It is these
free and open ended ideas that can inspire new work, particularly in the case of Lesley Anna
Sammons and the Barefoot Band.

Slide 13:

At Longborough in 2018, Lesley Anne Sammons edition of La Calisto became more of an

arrangement – this was a fully prepared and scored version, written for a specific band
which was to include accordion, electronic keyboard and bass, traditional recorders,
Harpsichord, and Drum Kit among others. Her arrangement is playful, ranging from
renaissance-feel recorder focused ritornelle to Fiery Tangos, to full Jazz numbers.

Slide 14: Show photo

Works like these combine the artistry of staging, and the interpretation of the music both in
the sense of its singing but also its realistion, and in this case genre, to create a work that is
highly customisable and therefore very useful for us to consider.

This version of Calisto was Directed by Mathilde Lopez. Her vision for the piece was set in an
abandoned shopping mall – a dystopia, with Diet Coke ads everywhere.

Slide 15/16: eternities

The Eternities, for example, are beings of great power, with all seeing qualities that discuss
the fates of the characters below them. They are presented as cleaners that choose not to
clean, but instead smoking and gossiping about the plot instead. Of course this has an effect
on the music – the opening scenes are grand and florid, which altogether came across
rather sarcastic in this version.

Slide 17: Bear

The Animal symbolism was also little different – Calisto is transformed into a Bear via the
application of a massive bear mascot head by a pair of harness toting Peacock headed-men
in tracksuits instead of the usual ‘Furies’, belonging to Giove’s angry wife, Juno.

Slide 18: endimione, silvano etc

 Endimione, A Shepherd that falls in love with Diana is shown here with his flock of balloon-
sheep. Endimione’s music isn’t changed much, but the balloon animals take a rather serious
character and make him into a comic relief character. We watch as his sheep are destroyed
one by one by the satyrs and, Silvano as a Christmas tree. Endimione’s suffering serves as a
relief from the darker tone of this version, where in Leppard’s this is more of a serious
moment.

Slide 19: screenshot from GB

A contentious set of scenes to stage are those of the Nymph, Linfea, and the young Satyr.
Linfea has a rather large sexual appetite – and is usually played by a man, dressed as a
woman. Usually when there are displays like these, cross dressing seems to offset the reality
of the situation: for example, Cherubino has a very similar aria in figaro, and when being
played by a woman, this somehow manages to come across more comical and a bit less,
well, creepy. To add to this, Leppards production features a young satyr played by a woman,
and Linfea by an Older man. It is worth noting that Giove transforms into Diana for a long
portion of the opera – and is
The entire exchange is cheeky in tone, even when Linfea refuses the Satyr (because he looks
like a goat) and he comes back with friends and rapes her offstage. In Leppards production
we see a little smile to the audience – Linfea has got all she needed and maybe more!

PLAY GB Scene from ending of goduta 1:32:50- 1:35:00 2.10m

Slide 20: LB photo

At Longborough, this plays out rather differently, though the text is unchanged, bar some
small cuts. Satirino and Linfea are played by their gender proper, myself, a tenor, singing
Satirino, making this altogether a much more serious scene. Sammons used an accordion
low register to represent Satirino, and because the part is written for a countertenor, it sits
very low an octave down in the tenor voice. This gave a masculine quality to all of his music,
but didn’t allow for much emotional range. We decided to use the lower octave for the
suave, show-offy sections, and the higher octave at io son d’origine to show the anger and
humiliation Satirino felt. Jumping between these two octaves also gave my character an
adolescent quality, as though his voice was breaking.

Io son etc 1m15

SLIDE 21:
This flexibility in the music allowed us to create deep characters that were believable, even
in a surreal environment. Just as essential though, was the reasoning behind the changes to
this scene. In 2018, Rape is not a topic to discuss lightly. Lopez felt that the more real story
to tell was that Linfea “asked for it” with her jumpsuit half undone, singing openly about
sexuality, and that Satirino decides to take what he believes he deserves by headbutting her
and brutally dragging her offstage. Musically, Sammons and Lopez had Satirino sing
‘Vogli’esser goduta’ to interrupt Linfea and make fun of her just before she is attacked. Here
the recorder from Linfeas moments and the accordion are mixed together. Satirino swears
his vengeance after a final rejection.
Play goduta 2m

Changing the music to further the development of the characters was not only a part of
Linfea and Satirino’s music, but also the music of Giove and Mercurio.

Slide 22: Neil

These two are the two Lads of the opera, Mercurio acting as Giove’s wingman. Giove’s
ballads have more Jazzy themes, and Mercurio’s are staged and realised as though they are
massive Anthems at a festival. He totes sunglasses and a suit, wields a strip light and
beatboxes into his mic during “Va Pur” which you can hear here. Of course all of this is
wildly different to Cavalli’s intention, but each thing serves a purpose in the context of the
character, and helps to pull us further into Lopez’ dystopian universe.

Slide 23

Play Va Pur 2.4m

Slide 24: GB Calisto and Giove

Technically, Calisto has always been about rape anyway. Calisto is coerced into bed with
Giove dressed as the goddess Diana, and then she, at the end, just decides to marry him.
Calisto, from Giove’s perspective, doesn’t know that she wants him, and eventually comes
around so tat she may ascend to the heavens. We never see Linfea again, the opera ends
happily and these moments of darkness are barely acknowledged by any of the characters,
and the whole thing seems to lack much meaning.

In Leppards version, and indeed the original, the ending duet is a beautiful tranquil moment
where Calisto ascends to the stars with Giove, married and heading towards her fate of
becoming a star in the sky.

Play ending Glynderbourne 1m

Despite all of these fun moments, the Longborough version culminates in a rather
depressing ending. Longboroughs edition, however, ends with Mercurio, Giove’s wingman,
forcing Calisto to drink a bottle of vodka and reading vows she doesn’t believe in. The duet
is Calisto reluctantly reading her vows. We see her finish the opera completely smashed,
with a bears head on in a cage, trapped, as the cast reluctantly sing a chorus of happy
farewells to the groom and bride. This version was from an early rehearsal, so lacks the later
addition of another ending chorus cut from another moment in the opera.

Slide 25: Longborough Calisto Ending

LB ending is SCORED saarcatically. Play lsat section
Longboroughs Calisto is an example of what I believe is the future of our industry. An
unfearful realisation of a piece which combines comedy and tragedy. Insofar as making a
point goes, I believe the Longborough production heavily comments of improper treatment
of women, rape culture, and has a clear opinion about the idea of marriage being an
inherently positive one. What we get from this production is an intensely real experience,
even amongst high fantasy characters, goddesses and gods.

Slide 26: Bear in cage

The timing of these productions are important – they show us the growing and ever
changing standpoints of our culture on the issues presented. Each version was successful in
its’ time, and if swapped round, its unlikely it would still be the case, particularly with
Longboroughs Calisto. It is this moving forward that keeps Opera alive and changing, and
keep stories from becoming irrelevant or unrelatable. They both reflect, and inform our
social landscape, and art is essential in that discourse.

I believe it is essential to see the work for what it can be, and to use historical documents
and research to inform decisions but not to restrict what can or cannot be done. Largely a
setting of a work should be a result of the source material – a means of allowing the
audience to grasp certain concepts more easily, or in a different way. But this should not
prevent the art from performing its function – to entertain, but sometimes also to inform.