Week 3: Artistic Collaboration

While I am gazing at murky images of Rhinemaidens and giant gods, I also am taking advantage of the weather in sunny California. I write from Fresno, where we are preparing a production of “Faust.” So please pardon if I have a bit of whiplash! 

Mario Venzago

I wanted to take this opportunity to say how fortunate we are to have Mario Venzago conducting our collaborative production of “Das Rheingold.” Because of his leadership of the Indianapolis Symphony, you may think of him as only a symphonic conductor. You may not know that in addition to leading a number of prominent symphony orchestras, he also has served as music director of the Graz (Austria), Heidelberg and Lucerne opera companies. Born in Zurich, he is a natural German-speaker and has an affinity for Wagner. So you are in for a treat as you witness his Indiana opera conducting premiere. 

Mario introduced himself to me following an opera just after he arrived in Indianapolis. He expressed his pleasure that his new home had such a quality opera company, and suggested that sometime we collaborate on a production. Now, several years later, that idea is coming to fruition. “Das Rheingold” was actually his recommendation for our joint project. He was familiar with the opera and also wanted a relatively short program. (Rheingold is Wagner’s shortest opera.) This turned out to be most fortunate for Indianapolis Opera. Not long afterward we found that we were going use a quasi-virtual set for “Tosca.” We brought Joachim in to direct, and he introduced us to the possibilities of this technology. His stage direction was admired by both singers and audience.

Joachim Schamberger

Knowing that the orchestra would be onstage for this production, thereby precluding a normal set, but also desiring to offer more than a traditional “concert” version of the opera, we thought of a talented young German director with impressive experience at creating “virtual” sets. His name is Joachim Schamberger. Joachim has relatives living in Indianapolis, and during one of his visits he called to introduce himself and his portfolio. 

So now flash forward to the introduction of Maestro Venzago and Director Schamberger, both German speakers and steeped in Germanic music and lore. They hit it off instantly, both personally and artistically. Having artistic leadership intimate with both the language and the cultural aspects of the opera suggests ringing performances. Having listened as they discussed artistic issues, I can’t tell you how very much I am looking forward to them!

Next week, more about Joachim’s wonderful set design.

Wish you were here!

Jim

 

BUY YOUR RHEINGOLD TICKETS NOW!

 

 

Staging “Das Rheingold”

Richard Wagner

 

For the collaborative production of “Das Rheingold,” Indianapolis Opera and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra are doing a form of “role reversal.” We are placing the orchestra on stage and the singers in the pit. Lest you fret that you won’t be able to see the singers, the pit will be raised and lowered at appropriate moments. Picture Woton rising dramatically in front of the orchestra!

 

When we combine the elements of raising and lowering pit, a “megalithic” set piece, “virtual” set pieces (more on that later) and a full orchestra, we have an updated version of Wagner’s vision of “complete work of art.” These are not unlike the technical and theatrical advancements that rock groups have incorporated into their concerts.

 

Wagner through-composed “Das Rheingold” with no intermission. We felt that an uninterrupted two hours+ without a break would diminish rather than intensify the audience experience. Maestro Venzago has cleverly employed a technique from television that will allow for a 20-minute intermission without losing the momentum of the performance. Television programs sometimes start a new installment with the words “previously on Boston Legal,” while showing brief flashbacks of the previous episode. In our production, the beginning of the second act will briefly review the musical themes heard during the first act to get the audience back up to speed.

 

Next time we will gain some insight into the collaboration between Maestro Venzago and stage director Joachim Schamberger, and their common Germanic heritage.

 

Jim

Jim on Richard Wagner and George Lucas

George Lucas

I may be dating myself here, but I have a very clear memory of the impact of the opening sequence of the first “Star Wars” movie. George Lucas paired startling visual images with John William’s compelling music to set the stage for a new kind of movie experience, one in which the heroic narrative, visual style and power of symphonic sound demonstrated again that the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.

Richard Wagner

That gives you some idea of what Richard Wagner did more than 100 years ago. He sought for the audience not a performance but an experience. He wanted more than an orchestra in the pit and singers on the stage. He wanted the audience to be carried away on a wave of simultaneous and multiple sensations. The term for this is “Gesamtkunstwerke,” which translates as “”complete work of art.”

And indeed, even in our own time, the noted mythologist Joseph Campbell (who served as the inspiration for George Lucas’ use of heroic mythology and culture) characterized Wagner’s music as a “perfumed sea of sound.”

How did Wagner attempt to do this without the technology we have today? To start with, he “through-composed,” which means there is no stopping at the end of an aria or scene. He wanted constant motion, constant advancement of the story. He wanted the audience propelled forward.

Secondly, he effectively doubled the size of the orchestra typically used in the mid-19^th century, his equivalent of “surround sound.” And more surprisingly, he placed the orchestra under the stage so it could not be seen by the audience, forcing the focus of full attention to the visual and audio drama. The conductor stood at the edge of the stage, in view of the singers but not the audience. The pit was raked downward so musicians could see the conductor, and he had holes cut in the stage so the music could drift upward to the singers. Such drastic changes in theater design required him to build his own.

His story selection also supported the concept of “complete work of art.” He chose known Germanic myths of epic proportions. So the audience, which was familiar with the content, was free to focus on the experience as it unfolded musically and dramatically before them. In today’s terms, this would be like Tolkein fans experiencing the movie version of Lord of the Rings.

When he wrote “Das Rheingold” in 1869 he included no intermission. The collaborative production that Indianapolis Opera is staging with the Indianapolis Symphony on May 15^th and 17^th will have a 20-minute intermission, however. Next week we will take a look at the clever way Maestro Mario Venzago will insert the intermission. We also will get a preview of what we are doing to incorporate Wagner’s vision of Gesamtkunstwerke.

Bis bald!

Jim