Monthly Archives: October 2011

I managed to keep singing to Carmen all while wearing a barrel as a pant leg.

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Feature Friday

Steven Pomije (supernumerary)

Steven Pomije (supernumerary, left) at Lambda Literary Awards Ceremony with FLUX finalist and author James Klise (right).

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

A completely loaded Kindle Fire with 400 songs and 3,000 books, a comfortable armchair and a side table.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Supers do whatever we’re asked to do, and when we’re asked to hold upright an iron lantern for 40 minutes in one hand, well, that’s a bit challenging for even the most fit. LOL.

What is your favorite thing about Minnesota?

September. The air is crisp, the leaves begin turning, there is a smell in the air like red wine.

What are your top three favorite operas?

Puccini’s Tosca; Britten’s Peter Grimes; Delibes’ Lakme.

Have you ever had hot dish, and if so what is your favorite variety?

Does the traditional cassoulet from Languedoc count? I love one-pot meals, but hot dish really isn’t my thing.

How do you eat your eggs?

Poached on a toasted bagel with fried tomato.

What do you like to do when you aren’t busy creating great opera?

As I have a career outside of my involvement with the opera, any free time is premium time, and I spend it reading great novels, listening to music while scouring over scores, cooking, and bicycling.

Where do you get your news?

BBC, the Guardian, the Nation, Mother Jones, Facebook.

Name your top five favorite movies.

Moulin Rouge, Billy Elliot, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

On first impression, people think I’m trouble. Must be something about the look of me.

Andrew Wilkowske (Ponchel, baritone)

Where are you based when not performing?

Andrew Wilkowske (Ponchel, baritone)

My wife, daughter, and I live in St. Paul

What advice do you offer aspiring artists?

If you think you would be happy doing something else, do it!!! If you are truly committed to doing this for a living, be persistent.  Don’t give up.  Over the years I’ve learned that a big part of being successful in this crazy business is just hanging in there.

Who are your biggest inspirations?

My wife Erika Taibl is the most creative and hard-working person I know.  She is a constant source of inspiration for me.  My daughter is the funniest person I’ve met, and I find myself constantly ripping off her gags on stage.  Musically speaking, my biggest inspirations are Paul Simon, Eddie Van Halen, Bryn Terfel, Dimitri Hvorostovsky, Mozart, and Steve Reich.  Lately I’ve been listening a lot to a band called The Hold Steady.  The lead singer, Craig Finn, is a Twin Cities native and is a natural storyteller.  The lyrics namecheck tons of Twin Cities landmarks like 1st Ave, The Quarry, and the Grain Belt Bridge.

Where do you feel you delivered your strongest performance?

Probably in The Grapes of Wrath right here at MN Opera. I got the chance to reprise that performance at Carnegie Hall last year- an experience I will never forget!  Before our dress rehearsal at Carnegie, I just stood center stage and tried to take it all in.  It felt like the scene in Hoosiers when Gene Hackman measures the basketball court at the state tournament  to prove to his players that it is the same size as their home court.  That night in the performance, after Noah’s death scene, the show literally stopped and the audience went nuts.  It was the most spellbinding moment of my professional life.

What tends to be the most challenging element of performing?

Staying healthy in Minnesota weather!!! Remembering that the whole point of singing is communication, not just making pretty noise.

What is your favorite Twin Cities destination?

Kramarcyk’s for lunch, Muffaletta’s for dinner, and Como Park for everything else.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Probably Casanova’s Homecoming.  I was the understudy for the lead role. It pushes the extremes of baritone vocal range, and it is incredibly challenging musically.  It took me forever to just learn the notes.  Then it took me forever to learn the rhythms.  Then, to put them together, well forget it!

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

HAHAHA!!!! Being the father of a four-year-old doesn’t allow me to be too scandalous anymore.  But find me a good babysitter and all bets are off!!!

Are there any favorite backstage stories/moments you would like to share from this or previous performances that our audience might enjoy?

When I was in the chorus of Aida wayyyy back in 1998 there was one night when the backstage monitor got turned off and the entire chorus missed their first entrance.  Seeing a herd of choristers sprinting down the stairwell in togas is something I’ll never forget.

Troy Cook (Father Palmer, baritone)

Where are you based when not performing?  

Troy Cook (Father Palmer, baritone)

I live in Bucks County, PA.

What advice do you offer aspiring artists?

Keep an open mind…Always be willing to try new things.  You never know what you might learn about yourself or your art.

Who are your biggest inspirations?

I would have to say as far as a baritone that I really look up to, that would be Thomas Allen.  I find that he really has the complete package:  A fantastic voice, real command of languages and is a fantastic actor.  He also has an amazing ability to act with his voice, a quality I greatly admire.

What tends to be the most challenging element of performing?

Performing in really large theaters with terrible acoustics.

What do you typically eat before a performance? 

I usually eat something that won’t repeat on me like grilled chicken and veggies…  Nothing too spicy, and I’ll eat several hours before show time.  Sometimes I like an orange at intermission.

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

Scandalous is not really a word that has been used to describe me, unless what you are referring to is taking a nude shower onstage.  I guess some would consider that scandalous…

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

The Minnesota Opera is not afraid to do challenging repertoire and innovative productions of standard repertoire.  They also have a nice mix in their casting of seasoned professionals and young singers on their way up.  I was lucky enough to be chosen to sing the Count in Marriage of Figaro by Dale and Floyd right out of the Glimmerglass Opera Apprentice Program.  They basically gave my first professional role.

Are there any favorite backstage stories/moments you would like to share from this or previous performances that our audience might enjoy? 

Well this is an onstage moment, but still a good one.  I was singing Escamillo at the Green Mountain Opera Festival in Vermont, and on opening night while singing the high note I was about to do an amazing dismount from a barrel to the floor when the top of the barrel gave way and my foot went through to the floor.  Miraculously I didn’t miss a beat.  I managed to keep singing to Carmen all while wearing a barrel as a pant leg.  A chorister eventually helped me remove the barrel.  The only way that I know what happened is that everyone told me during the intermission.  I guess I went into auto-pilot.  It was crazy!

Have you ever had hot dish, and if so what is your favorite variety?

I have had a “hot dish” before courtesy of a native Minnesotan and former MN opera RAP Andrew Gangestad.  We had a Hot Dish party while singing together in the Berkshires.  Pizza hot dish, tater tot hot dish, taco hot dish were a few of the offerings.  I am also from KY, where we call hot dish casseroles.  We had a casserole at about every meal… I think we kept Campbell’s soup in business.

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow? 

My website is:  www.troycookbaritone.com

 

 

All you really need to do is look feeble and distracted.

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I Remember Thursday

Marcia Aubineau (Queen of Media, supernumerary), Susanna Phillips (Elmira, soprano)

Actually I remember four weeks before Thursday as well as the entire month before.  It was March of 2008, and the Minnesota Opera was presenting the American premiere of The Fortunes of King Croesus written in 1711 by Reinhard Keiser.

I had been asked to appear as the exiled Queen of Media (pronounced mid-ee-ya), and after being assured that I didn’t have to sing (or even speak—a very wise choice for everyone concerned), I agreed and embarked on my “maiden voyage” to behind-the-scenes of Operaland.

I remember the director, Tim Albery, saying,  “Marcia, you are a powerless regent in exile.  Your husband has been brutally killed in a terrible war.  You have had to leave your country and seek asylum in the court of King Croesus.  All you really need to do is look feeble and distracted.”  Hmmm, I thought:  “feeble” might take some work, but as an abstract/random Gemini, I could be the poster girl for “distracted.”  And so it began…

The rehearsal process was grueling but fascinating.  And the cast members (who by performance time were calling me “Mum”)—well, how much fun can one have with the likes of Paul Nilon, Vale Rideout,  Carlos Archuleta, and Dan Dressen back stage?  Not to mention my very talented “daughter,” Susanna Phillips, who used to whisper all sorts of things in my ear as she was “comforting” her widowed mother.

Susanna Phillips

Susanna Phillips (Elmira, soprano) See her as Lucia performs March 3, 6, 8, 10, 2012 (in at Minnesota Opera!

The entire experience was not only exciting but a real epiphany as to just how much effort goes into a production not only by the singers but by the entire artistic team and support staff—costume workers, wig masters, set builders, lighting designers, et al.  And although King Croesus’s “fortunes” weren’t the best, mine certainly were in having the privilege of being a part of this amazing Minnesota Opera project.

It’s Rainin’ Men

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Feature Fridays

Ben Wager, the French General, (bass)

Ben Wager, the French General (bass)

Where are you based when not performing? 

Philadelphia, PA

What advice do you offer aspiring artists?

Soak up all criticism and advice you can.  When critiqued, always respond with “Yes, and…” rather than a “yes, BUT!”

Who are your biggest inspirations?

War vets.  It keeps things in perspective.

Where do you feel you delivered your strongest performance?

At the Academy of Vocal Arts as Enrico in Anna Bolena.

What tends to be the most challenging element of performing?

Keeping that little chaos-loving demon living in your brain on a leash!  It may sound strange but every performer I know has some version of that voice in his/her head who just likes to cause trouble when you’re trying your hardest to focus and take things seriously.

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

Positive attitude and an uncanny sense purpose and cohesion throughout the entire company.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia.  It’s just musically very tricky: unusual harmonic shifts and rhythms.

How has music changed your life?

It has brought into contact with so many different types of people in countless places that I otherwise may not have.  It’s made me say to myself on numerous occasions:  I can’t believe I get to do this for a living.

If you had to choose a different field of work, what would you choose?

I was a Criminal Justice major in college, I planned to go into the U.S. Marshal’s service.  But if I had to choose one, I’d be a studio bassist.

Are there any favorite backstage stories/moments you would like to share from this or previous performances that our audience might enjoy?

I’m probably one of the last people to sing with Salvatore Licitra who was a good enough colleague to escort me down off a horrendously steep rake during a performance of Andrea Chenier because the costume department accidentally switched my boots so the ones I had on didn’t grip the copper plated surface AT ALL.

Andrzej Goulding (video/projection designer)

Where are you based when not in traveling for work?

Andrzej Goudling (video/projection designer)

I am based in London, England.

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

It’s just a rumour, I’m really quite tame.

What advice do you offer aspiring artists?

Work hard, as talent will always win out over just being able to talk the talk.

Who are your biggest inspirations?

I worked (and still do) in set design when I left university and the designer I have worked with all those years has been the biggest influence on my theatre work. From a film point of view it would have to be Tim Burton and Ridley Scott as they both started as artists before moving into film which I can relate to.

With what show would you most like to be involved and why?

As a child I always wanted to make Lord of the Rings as a movie because of the love for creating worlds from scratch. But then along came Peter Jackson and the rest is now history. I did get a slight recompense however, as I ended up working on the musical version.

How do you eat your eggs?

I tend to like mine fried with a little knob of butter thrown in at the end to baste the topside.

What tends to be the most challenging element of performing/producing?

The most challenging element is to find the time to fit all the ideas in. Video is very time consuming if done well, so part of it is knowing the limits of the show as with video you can within reason create anything you want.

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

My wife and our two cats.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Probably this one simply because of it’s scale.

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

I have a website; www.agoulding.com.

Michael Nyby, William Dale (baritone)

Where are you based when not performing?

Michael Nyby, William Dale (baritone)

My wife and I just moved last month to Toronto from Vancouver.

What advice do you offer aspiring artists?

The most helpful thing I ever learned was how to accept disappointment from defeat or rejection.

Who are your biggest inspirations?

Mozart, Verdi, and Indiana Jones

Where do you feel you delivered your strongest performance?

In the shower every morning, but unfortunately I have not been able to attain to the same level of genius on the stage.

What tends to be the most challenging element of performing?

For me it’s usually the first entrance in a performance, but once I get past the initial nerves, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

What is your favorite Twin Cities destination?

I have a running route through Boom Island Park, around Nicollet Island and over the Stone Arch Bridge. It’s gorgeous in the autumn.

If you had to choose a different field of work, what would you choose?

I would probably be working as a mechanic in a neighbourhood mountain bike store in Vancouver.

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

Yes. Absolutely. No question about it.

Are there any favorite backstage stories/moments you would like to share from this or previous performances that our audience might enjoy?

 Yes, but decency prevents me from sharing in a public forum!

Have you ever had hot dish, and if so what is your favorite variety?

Yes, because I have attended Minnesota Opera’s famous Church Basement Luncheon. I’m not sure what was in it, but I remember it had French’s fried onions as the top layer.*

(*editorial note, Green Bean Casserole)

Changing the Narrative

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Tempo Tuesday

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE

NPR questions Is Opera Stuff (Only) Rich People Like? How can we, as young professionals, change that narrative?

Should our passion for great art come with the ire of others? The New York Times, in an article discussing a successful year of fundraising at the Metropolitan Opera, received some harsh commentary:

In the comments section, vitriol against the Met donors spewed hot and heavy. “At least some of those sickening Wall Street bonuses are going to good use,” wrote one reader. “Sounds like at least a few folks can afford to pay more taxes,” groused another. One more sample: “Just as drug money built the Miami skyline, the corrupt nature of New York’s financial center will continue to fund the monuments of their success.”

The announcement disrupts the careers and personal lives of international opera singers. . .

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Watch + Listen Wednesday

Synopsis of Silent Night

Prologue
Late summer, 1914

War is declared. At a Berlin opera house, the announcement disrupts the careers and personal lives of international opera singers Anna Sørensen and Nikolaus Sprink. In a small church in Scotland, it inspires dreams of heroism in William who demands that his younger brother Jonathan immediately enlist with him, as their priest, Father Palmer, looks helplessly on. In the apartment of the Audeberts in Paris, it angers Madeleine who excoriates her husband for leaving to fight while she is pregnant with their first child. Amid the fervor of nationalistic songs, the men prepare to leave for war.

Act I

In and around a battlefield in Belgium, near the French border, around Christmas

 

Scene one – December 23, late afternoon  A horrific battle is fought between the Germans and the French and Scottish. An attempt by the French and Scottish soldiers to infiltrate the German bunker fails miserably; corpses begin to pile up in the no-man’s land between the three bunkers. When William is shot, Jonathan must leave his brother behind to die. 

 

Scene two – December 23, evening  In the Scottish bunker, Lieutenant Gordon assesses the casualties after the battle. Father Palmer attempts to offer solace to Jonathan in prayer.

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In the French bunker, Lieutenant Audebert discovers the French General waiting in his makeshift office who reprimands him for surrendering and threatens him with a transfer. The General leaves and Audebert laments the loss of his wife’s photograph to his aide de camp, Ponchel. When he is alone  Audebert tallies the casualties in the last battle, while missing Madeleine and their child who he has not yet seen. He sings of needing sleep, a sentiment echoed by all of the soldiers. As it starts to snow, covering the corpses in no-man’s land, the soldiers slowly begin to sleep. Alone in the German bunker, Nikolaus, reveals to an imagined Anna his despair about war. 

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Scene three – December 24, morning  In the German bunker, crates have arrived – and little Christmas trees from the Kronprinz. Lieutenant Horstmayer criticizes the Kronprinz for not sending them more useful presents, like ammunition and reinforcements. He receives a directive from headquarters that Nikolaus has been ordered to sing at the nearby chalet of the Kronprinz, along with one Anna Sørensen. Nikolaus departs for the chalet, excited that he will be reunited with Anna again after many months apart.

 

The French soldiers have received crates of wine, sausages and chocolates from the quartermaster and open them jubilantly. Ponchel, a barber by trade, brings coffee to Audebert and sits him down for a haircut. He is reminded of having coffee with his mother every morning, who lives only an hour away by foot. The alarm clock he carries next to his heart at all times (which shielded him from a bullet in the last battle) rings at ten o’clock every morning to remind him of their daily meeting.

 

In the Scottish bunker, crates of whiskey have arrived from home. Jonathan writes a letter to his mother, not mentioning his brother’s death.

 

Scene four – December 24, early evening  At the chalet of the Kronprinz, Anna and Nikolaus perform a duet. Following the performance, they steal a few moments on a terrace outside. Anna notices the cruel effect war has had on her lover’s spirit. She has arranged for Nikolaus to spend the night with her and is angry when he says he must return to his fellow soldiers. She vows to accompany him back to the battlefield. 

 

Scene five – December 24, night  In the French bunker, Gueusselin volunteers to infiltrate the German bunker, and with several grenades, sidles onto no-man’s land. The Scottish soldiers drink whiskey and play a bagpipe that another unit has sent them, as Father Palmer sings a sentimental ballad about home. The men in the other bunkers hear the song and react to it with sadness, caution and annoyance. Nikolaus arrives; his fellow soldiers greet him with cheers and applause and gasp in amazement at seeing Anna with him. When the song in the Scottish bunker is finished, Nikolaus sings a rousing Christmas song loudly in response and midway through the bagpiper begins to accompany. Emboldened, Nikolaus stands atop the bunker raising a Christmas tree as a gesture of friendship. Against the protestations of their superiors, the soldiers from all bunkers stand. Nikolaus bravely moves to the center of no-man’s land. Gueusselin abandons his plan to grenade the German bunker.

 

Eventually, the three lieutenants, waving a white flag of truce, agree to a cease-fire … but only on Christmas Eve. The soldiers slowly and cautiously move toward each other. They share their provisions, their photos and their names. Anna appears and all of the soldiers are awed by the sight of a woman. Father Palmer has set up a makeshift church and celebrates mass with the men, while Jonathan finds his brother’s body and vows revenge. Father Palmer finishes the mass and urges the men to “go in peace” as bombs explode menacingly in the distance.

Act II 

Scene one – December 25, dawn  The following morning, Jonathan tries to bury his brother. Because the truce is officially over, two German sentries are prepared to shoot him, although Father Palmer and Lieutenant Gordon intervene. Looking on, Horstmayer proposes that it may indeed be time to bury all of the dead. The three lieutenants meet and decide over coffee that the truce will be extended until after the dead in no-man’s land are buried.

 

Scene two – December 25, late morning, early afternoon  The soldiers pile up the corpses, Father Palmer delivers last rites and the soldiers form a processional bearing the wagon of bodies away. Anna looks on with Nikolaus and promises that he will not suffer the same fate.

 

Scene three – December 25, all day  In the meantime, news of the cease-fire has reached headquarters, and the British Major, the Kronprinz and the French General all react in anger and disbelief. They declare that they will punish the soldiers for their betrayal.

 

Scene four – December 25, evening  Lieutenant Horstmayer prepares to return to war and Nikolaus berates him for his allegiance to the Fatherland. Horstmayer arrests Nikolaus for insubordination, but Anna takes his hand firmly and leads him across no-man’s land as Horstmayer orders his men to shoot, but no one moves. Reaching the French bunker unharmed, Nikolaus regains his voice and demands asylum for he and Anna. 

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Scene five – December 26, late morning  The British Major admonishes the Scottish soldiers for participating in the Christmas truce. They are to be transferred to the front lines. When a German soldier is seen crossing the battlefield, the Major orders him killed. Jonathan complies and dispassionately shoots the man.
Lieutenant Audebert returns to his small office and discovers the French General there. The General tells Audebert that he will be transferred to Verdun as punishment for consorting with the enemy and that his unit will be disbanded. Audebert informs the French General – his father – that he has learned he has an infant son named Henri. They vow to survive the war for the child’s sake.

 

The Kronprinz angrily announces that the German soldiers are to be deployed in Pomerania as punishment. As the soldiers are taken off in a boxcar, they hum the Scottish ballad they heard in the bunker on Christmas Eve. The battlefield is now completely empty. Snow begins to fall again.

Sometimes we have other things besides bottled water in the Orchestra Pit.

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Feature Friday

Michele Frisch (flute, Minnesota Opera Orchestra)

What made you decide on a career in the arts?

My father was a baseball player and my mother was determined that her seven children would be exposed to music, dance, theatre and the visual arts.  All the music lessons, youth orchestra, ballet, and museum art classes were her idea and my father faithfully drove us all to these countless lessons.  I’m a professional flutist by default, however.  I wanted to be the first girl to play in the Major Leagues long before I wanted to be a flutist.

How long have you been working with opera? 

I auditioned for principal flute in 1984, and I had played second flute for three years prior to that.  So, 27 yrs. as principal, 30 yrs altogether.

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

I think that this Opera company covers a huge amount of territory with great skill. Every season offers standard, audience-loving favorites, the staple of the opera repertoire.  But MN Opera has also successfully mounted many newly commissioned operas which have garnered considerable acclaim in the opera world, not to mention other contemporary operas which keep audience’s ears and tastes fresh.  Also, MN Opera’s ongoing commitment to staging a Bel Canto offering every season is noteworthy in itself.

What is your favorite Twin Cities destination?

My own backyard gives me peace, solitude, flora and fauna, and a place to unwind. In more ambitious moments: Valentine Lake in Arden Hills, the Arboretum, St. Croix Trail, Midway Stadium when the St. Paul Saints are playing.

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be? 

My Bible, my flute, and the Bach Partita in a minor.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Anything J.S. Bach.  Simplicity is elusive, but magical if briefly achieved.  Gluck wrote: “I believe that my greatest efforts have been devoted to seeking a beautiful simplicity. I have avoided making displays of difficulty at the expense of clarity. Simplicity, truth, and naturalness are the great principles of beauty in all artistic manifestations.”

How has music changed your life?

I remember being 3 years old and sitting with my father, listening to the soundtrack LP of Mario Lanza as The Great Caruso.  Music has always been a part of my life, so I can only try to imagine what it would be like without music: incomprehensible.

If you had to choose a different field of work, what would you choose?

I would write poetry, presumably with greater skill as a vocation than as an avocation. Even yet, in the reading and writing, it has brought me a great deal of pleasure.

 Is there any “haute” backstage gossip you would like to share from this or previous performances?

The woodwind section has never, in my memory, completed the run of an opera without some offering of intermission chocolate from one of us. This is why tempos at the beginnings of certain Acts are often ambitiously lively…

What are your top three favorite operas?

Easy: Verdi’s La Traviata, because it is the first opera I ever heard, as a toddler; Bizet’s Carmen, because I met my husband, violinist Roger Frisch, while playing Carmen at Indiana University Music School, and Barber’s Vanessa, because of the divinely exquisite quintet in the Finale.

Amy Morris, flute

Amy Morris (flute, Minnesota Opera Orchestra)

What made you decide on a career in the arts?

You’ll have to ask my mom – she picked out the flute for me. Once that was done, it was a foregone conclusion (thanks, Mom!).

How long have you been working with opera?

I’ve played since 1997, and been a core member of the orchestra since the 2000 season.

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

The company has a vision of opera that pays homage to the great works of the past, while sponsoring works of the future. It does it seamlessly, as opposed to poking you in the ribs with its odd ends. It’s very much like architecture that melds old bricks and mortar with new design elements but creates one, beautiful whole.

What is your favorite Twin Cities destination?

My home in Richfield, where my nice neighborhood, back porch, garden and cats are.

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

A boat, an oar and a GPS.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

For the opera, it has to be Der Rosenkavalier. It requires technical proficiency, musical passion, and exquisite ensemble playing. Pinocchio was probably the most technically challenging piece we (I) ever played, but that made it really fun.

How has music changed your life?

Music is my religion. It has the power to transform lives and the ability to be incredibly banal. The transforming moments make the banal ones sufferable.

If you had to choose a different field of work, what would you choose?

I would go out to Sonoma, CA and start pouring wine at one of the vineyards and hopefully learn the process of winemaking.

What is your favorite thing about Minnesota?

MSP flies non-stop to Amsterdam.

Is there any “haute” backstage gossip you would like to share from this or previous performances?

Sometimes we have other things besides bottled water in the orchestra pit.

What are your top three favorite operas?

Der Rosenkavalier. I love the rest equally.

Have you ever had hot dish, and if so what is your favorite variety?

Tater tot casserole (we call it casserole where I come from).

How do you eat your eggs?

Over easy.

Besides opera, do you have any other favorite genres of music? What are some of your favorite artists from that genre?

The Beatles, and I love Springsteen’s Seeger sessions with folk music.

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

all of the above. www.amy-morris.com; www.indande.com; and Facebook pages for Indande and The Prairie Song Project.

What do you like to do when you aren’t busy creating great opera?

Drink great wine, travel to great places, play great chamber music, hang out with great friends, play with my great cats.

Sassy, busy, fulfilled

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Tempo Tuesday

Photo by Drew Krason

10 Questions with MN Opera Intern and Future Tempo Blogger Clark Rahman

1. What’s your sign?
Libra

2. Favorite opera?
I will do top three…. That is just a toughie; it is like asking someone’s favorite movie!
a. Bizet’s Carmen (I am a proud francophile) http://youtu.be/jG-0_p_yefg
b. Stauss’ Ariadne Auf Naxos (best memories of my life are in Germany and it is such a vocal delicacy) http://youtu.be/SzM9QOUPeI0
c. Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti for my Scottish roots http://youtu.be/JW5Ol3jNrJI

3. If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?
I would be Jackie O.

4. What is your favorite dessert?
Pot de creme

5. If you had to describe yourself using three words, what would they be?
Sassy, busy, fulfilled

6. What is your favorite holiday?
Depends on what country I am in.

7. What was your first opera?
It might not count as a full fledged opera, but The Mikado when I was four years old during the Tulip Festival in Iowa. My mom was sure my sister and I would hate every moment but it has always remained one of my favorite childhood memories.

8. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you?
It would be sort of a cross between The Red Shoes (1939) and Breathless (1960). Don’t care who plays me, as long they are smouldering.

9. Are you a morning or night person?
Night.

10. What’s your favorite thing to do in the winter?
Going on vacation.

Will Ye Go to Flanders?

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Music Monday with Mary

Stories surrounding the opera, Silent Night.

Part One

“Will ye go tae Flanders” is a traditional Scottish folksong from the beginning of the 18th century. In the version below, photos of the unspeakable horror of the WW I battlefields in and around Ypres (“Ieper” in Flemish) and Passchendale are shown so quickly that one can barely keep up with the details. The sadness, the waste, the unspeakable horror of what happened in Belgium…a country that has such a long history of being invaded and devastated.

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Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative production of Silent Night by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell is set mainly in “the bunkers of a battlefield near the French-Belgian border around Christmas, 1914.” The libretto, an adaptation of the French film Joyeux Noël, is a compilation of true stories, all of which occurred wholly or in part, during the various Christmas truces of 1914. In December of 2010, I traveled to northern France and Belgium in order to find out more about the locations of the truces, hoping to see some of them with my own eyes. As luck would have it, I was able to contact a battlefield tour guide who is a specialist on the Christmas truce, and was one of the consultants for the BBC documentary The Christmas Truce.

I was in Texas, rather desperately sending emails to all of the battlefield guides for that area, knowing that I would arrive in France in a few days, and wanted to make sure I found the right person. Sending as many emails as possible was a bit of a “Hail Mary” pass into cyberspace. Two days before my flight, I awoke in the middle of the night and went online. “Dear Mary, I am Annette Linthout. I am the person you need for your battlefield tour.” She went on to explain that she and her husband, Christian Delplace, had a B & B near Ypres, Belgium, the site of some of the Christmas truces, and that she was an expert in the subject. Not knowing much more than that, I told my trusty friend and travel companion Margaret P. to get ready for an adventure. We met in Normandy and a few days later were on the train for Lille, France, where Christian had arranged to pick us up.

Christian, Margaret and Annette in the archives of In Flanders’ Fields Museum, Ypres, Belgium

To be honest, I did not even know where Ypres was . . . just that it was somewhere north of the French border. I was not aware of its proud and sad history. My eyes were opened by this two day trip and I found the key to unlock many of the questions I had about the Christmas truce as it related to Silent Night. When Annette told me in her next emails that she would outline a battlefield tour that included the sites of the Bruce Bairnsfather truce, Hill 60, the museum of Ypres and sites in France near Fromelles and Frelinghen, I had to take her word that this was what I was looking for. And it was!

There followed two intense days of visits to truce sites, discussion with archivists in the museums in Ypres and Messen, an amazing moment in the Menin Gate memorial while three buglers played The Last Post, a visit to the Irish Peace Project, a chance meeting with archeologist Martin Brown as he led the team to excavate trenches in frozen fields, and hours of discussions about the Christmas truces. Where did they take place, what do they mean for us today?

I will explore several of these themes in subsequent posts. Below is a very important scene from the film Joyeux Noël. This is a key scene in our opera, Silent Night. It is December 24, 1914. The weary and wounded soldiers from Scotland, France and Germany are in their cold, wet trenches, trying not to think too much about Christmas celebrations taking place in their respective homes all over Europe. Suddenly, music is heard across No Man’s Land. A German opera singer, now a soldier, starts to sing along with the bagpipes of Father Palmer, a Scottish pastor. Barely daring to believe that they are making music together, they eventually crawl to the edges of the trenches. The Scots and French see the small Christmas trees (Flammenschwert) that Germans have sent to their soldiers and that are now posed on top of the trench walls. These trees, with lit candles, frighten the opposing soldiers at first. They did not know what a Christmas tree was, this was a German tradition. Some soldiers thought it was a new kind of weapon, or some kind of trick. However, the German opera singer, Nicholas Sprink, who will be played by American tenor William Burden, takes his courage in his heart and crawls out of the trench, walking into No Man’s Land with the tree held high, singing a Christmas song. Gradually the other soldiers venture out of their trenches to meet him, and the Christmas Truce of 1914 has begun.

 

There are two real stories of opera singers in the trenches during Christmas 1914. Our character, Sprink, is based upon the German heldentenor, Walther Kirschhoff, who was not enlisted, but was sent by the Crown Prince to the German trenches to entertain the troops for Christmas Eve. A soldier on the opposing side recognized the famous tenor’s voice, and started to applaud. This began an exchange which resulted in Kirschhoff climbing up to the top of the trench to see who was applauding him, and a truce began.

Another operatic tenor who was an enlisted soldier started a Christmas truce on his part of the front. This was Victor Granier of the Paris Opera. German soldiers, the Wurttembergers of the 246th Reserve Regiment of Infantry filed their official report as follows:  “Was it possible? Were the French really going to leave us in peace today, Christmas Eve?  Then from across the way came the sound of a festive song – a Frenchman was singing a Christmas carol with a marvelous tenor voice. Everyone lay still, listening in the quiet of the night. Was it our imagination or is it maybe meant to lull us into a false sense of security? Or was it in fact the victory of God’s love over all human conflict?”

In my next blog post, I will show you my photos of the Christmas truce site near Ypres, the famous “Bruce Bairnsfather” site, and tell you his story. For now, I leave you with one more clip from a dramatization of the Christmas truce. This is a version without music from the film Oh, What a Lovely War.

 

Minnesota Opera’s Silent Night premieres November 12, 2011, and runs through November 20.  For tickets please call the box office at 612-333-6669 or go online to mnopera.org.