Alberta’s landscape inspires Canadian composers’ mini-opera broadcast

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There is something special about the rehearsal for a new opera production. It’s that unmatched combination of drama and music, of acting and the human voice in its most glorious form, all recreating the work for another outing.

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However, what is even more magical is when that opera is new. There is music that has never been heard, drama that has never been seen, and the performers are literally giving breath to what has been, even rehearsals, simply in the mind of the librettist and composer.

For the past few weeks, Edmonton Opera has been bringing to life not just one new opera, but four, in a company called The Wild Rose Opera Project. All of the texts have been written by the same Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist, Royce Vavrek, and four different Canadian composers with connections to Alberta are responsible for each of the mini-operas.

They are short works, designed from the ground up to be filmed and shown online, in part to fill the void that will exist until Edmonton Opera returns to the live stage in February.

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I attended rehearsals for the first two of those operas to be broadcast, at the company’s staging and rehearsal facilities in northwest Edmonton.

Setting the stage

It was both a surreal and exhilarating experience. For many of those involved, this was the first such trial since the pandemic began. Everyone, including the singers, had to wear masks and stay physically at a distance, scattered around the large rehearsal area, almost like a warehouse.

On the edge of the ceiling hung the theater lights, wrapped in blankets, as if they had not yet emerged from their slumber. Not so the composer and the librettist, who were seated behind the director. The stage manager had a glass booth, and nearby was a music clerk with the score on a computer, noting changes and additions.

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The excitement was palpable, and having to wear masks seemed to magnify the expression in the eyes and intensify the vocal performance of the singers, as if to compensate.

But it’s the ability to make small changes and adjustments that makes the process of bringing a new opera to life so fascinating, especially when the composer and librettist are there to consult. It could be a change in measure length here, a different dynamics there, an easier way to play percussion here, a change in emphasis from pianist Leanne Regehr there.

It is a very interactive process, and in my experience of being on both sides of creating new operas, the changes and adjustments are almost always for the better. Here the conductor of the four operas, the assistant conductor of the Edmonton Symphony, Cosette Justo Valdés, was clearly in her element. She delights in modern music, and she has a strong and dramatic streak herself: her suggestions were always pertinent, sometimes witty. It really feels like home in this type of work.

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Two sides of powerful

The first piece to air, which premieres on November 19, is a ‘micro-adaptation’ of Thomas King’s recent novel Indians on Vacation, with music by Ian Cusson. The libretto cleverly compresses the story of two indigenous peoples on vacation in Prague into a rather moving mini-opera. Keep the essence of the novel while creating a successful operatic structure, along with some soulful music.

With Canadian First Nations mezzo-soprano Marion Newman and Anishinaabe baritone Evan Korbut taking the lead roles, and given the composer’s Métis ancestry, Indians on Vacation struck me as a reunion, or rather a fusion, of the best of different artists. Canadians. cultures.

Indians on vacation is very dramatic, with intention. The second opera in the series, which airs on November 26, has a more introverted chamber scale, but just as powerful and poignant in its emotions.

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Grover and his friends by Vivian Fung | The alarm is two linked scenes based on Fung’s family history: His extended Chinese family lived in Cambodia, fled the Khmer Rouge, and ended up in Paris and Canada. It’s written for soprano and percussion only – virtuoso writing for in-tune and out-of-tune percussion instruments, along with found objects, performed here by renowned Toronto percussionist Ryan Scott.

The combination really suits Fung’s sonic world: he creates a wide range of effects for percussion, turning it into a mini-ensemble and uniting the world of Western classical music with echoes of his East Asian ancestry. Soprano Xin Wang, herself born in China and now based in Toronto, is the director of a rehearsal performer and the ideal cast. His enthusiasm was happily bolstered by his little daughter silently somersaulting in the confines of the rehearsal area, a herald of the next generation of artists.

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Both operas will be streamed on Edmonton Opera’s Facebook page, its YouTube channel, and FavaTV’s Studio 19.

The last two operas of the project will premiere on December 3 and 10, respectively. John Estacio’s Farmer and Dog sees a gay farmer (sung by Peter Monaghan) accepting his identity thanks to his faithful dog (Megan Latham), while Bryce Kulak’s Badlands sees a woman (Catherine Daniel) visiting the Badlands and reminiscing about his childhood with her mother. , who now has Alzheimer’s.

Operas broadcasts begin at 7:30 pm and last approximately 15 minutes.

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Edmonton Opera presents The Wild Rose Opera Project

Libretist Royce vavrek

Composers Ian Cusson, John Estacio, Vivian Fung and Bryce Kulak

Driver Cosette Justo Valdés

When The broadcast premieres on November 19, 26, December 3 and 10.

Details www.edmontonopera.com