GWLAD Y GÂN
In what way does the Welsh opera culture
contribute to the revitalization of the repertoire?
Christopher Harris
MA International Dramaturgy Faculty of Humanities, UvA
Supervisor Prof. Dr. Kati Rӧttger
2nd Reader Dr. Rutger Helmers
Statutory Declaration
I declare that I have developed and written the enclosed Master Thesis completely by myself, and have not used sources or means without declaration in the text. Any thoughts from others or literal quotations are clearly marked. The Master Thesis was not used in the same or in a similar version to achieve an academic grading or is being published elsewhere.
Christopher Harris
Acknowledgments
I would like to extend my thanks to many people who have been vital, detrimental and inspiring on the journey to concluding this Master’s Thesis.
Firstly, to the many people who devoted their personal time to speak to me whilst collecting my initial research: Michael McCarthy, Sophie Rashbrook, Dr. Clair Rowden, Benjamin Davis, Elena Langer, Robin Tebbutt and Hannah Noone.
Second, to Prof. Dr. Kati Rӧttger, Ms. mw Ricarda Franzen and Dr. Rutger Helmers for their continuous guidance and support throughout my academic studies.
To Klaus Bertisch and Luc Joosten for allowing me to sit under their wing on my journey with the Dutch National Opera, and the valuable experience I have learnt from them on the role of the dramaturg.
Ac i chi, bob tro: Mam, Dad, Katie. Ac yn bennaf, i Emily. Bedankt aan jullie allemaal. Diolch o galon i chi gyd.
Contents
Declaration 2
Acknowledgments 3
Glossary 5
1. Introduction: ‘Hen Wlad’ 6
2. Wales…as an Opera Culture? 11
3. Revitalization as a Discourse 19
4. Opera Companies in Wales 32
5. Conclusion: Synthesising the Discourse 44
Appendix of Interviews 54
Glossary
Throughout this thesis, the names of many companies, locations and figures will appear as abbreviations. These are listed here to avoid any confusion when reading:
Welsh National Opera WNO
Music Theatre Wales MTW
Opra Cymru OC
Opera’r Ddraig ODD
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Opera and Drama CIRO
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama RWCMD
Wales Millennium Centre WMC
Arts Council of Wales ACW
1. Introduction: ‘Hen Wlad’
In 1958, a Welsh TV programme aired to a popular rating: ‘Gwlad y Gân’ (which literally translates to ‘Land of Song’). The programme, which was hosted by Welsh baritone Ivor Emmanuel, platformed the talents of many Welsh artists and singers, and showcased the folk culture of the Celtic nation through many centuries’ tradition of song and dance. The programme ran from 1958, screening every Sunday evening on ITV, finally ending in 1964 after six years of airing. The popularity of the programme meant that by 1960, it would be translated from Welsh into English, and soon after, would reach a peaked audience of around ten million.
The aim was to assert that Wales would be a leading nation on the schools of vocal training and the historical roots that pair a nationhood of song with a deep-rooted culture of singing. If there is one element that is absolutely clear, Wales (the ‘hen wlad’ or ‘old country’) certainly is a country of song, and I say this as a patriotic Welshman first and foremost, before the necessity of academic analysis. When delving deeper into our roots, one will find that even our National Anthem states; ‘gwlad beirdd a chantorion’, which translates simply to: “land of poets and singers.’’ For a country with such a rich heritage of song – and an affiliation with classical singers in particular - an opera culture in Wales should seem logical.
Hopefully this thesis will be able to outline the reasons for pursuing such a question as the one posed for academic study. Since living in Amsterdam, I personally have seen the potential of such an art form which, in retrospect, has not been the most popular art form in the 20th century. Opera, like theatre in general, has been dominated by the popularity and power of cinema and television. Through my internship at ‘De Nationale Opera’ – both as a dramaturg and as an assistant editor on a series of lectures by pioneering opera practitioner Pierre Audi – I have seen the multitudes of ways that companies and its individuals heave and struggle to keep this art form inviting and enticing for the wider public. Audi himself states in his book “we should be aiming for a visit to the opera to become as popular as going to the cinema” (Audi, 2018, p.214). What is abundantly clear is that there is certainly a passion and an ambition for artists to continue developing this art form. With the hundreds of opera companies registered on ‘Opera Base’, a comprehensive database for previous opera productions, then the opera-lovers palette can be suitably and warmly cleansed in any part of the globe.
This thesis aims to not make any assumption that opera is a dying art form. On the contrary, with companies and artists experimenting with the form and material all the time, there
is ample reason why these traditionalist forms of theatre may continue to be explored and experimented with in order to speak to a more contemporary audience. The work of Olivier-Award winning company ‘Opera UpClose’1, based in London, has shown that not only is it possible to interpret original opera materials, or even to play with the use of space or presentation, but to radically reshape and tear up a text for the benefit of suiting a contemporary (and frankly younger) audience. Nevertheless, London audiences are constantly exposed to this kind of radical experimentation with theatrical works of any medium. What changes when this kind of experimentation with revitalising operatic works occurs outside of those geographical metropolitan areas? How are countries like Wales, with its smaller population and even smaller resources at its disposal, tackling this phenomenon?
“Are opera houses becoming museums, institutions whose missions are to preserve rather than create?’’ (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, pg. 2). It is with this question that I wish to begin this research. If opera, as a culture, begins to see itself as a mechanical repeater of previous works, then the question of revitalization becomes null and void. By preserving works, we are admiring them for what they were when first created, but not making any attempt to reinvigorate them.
Agid and Tarondeau’s book ‘The Management of Opera’ (2010) outlines the specific logistics that make up the programming strategies of many diverse opera houses from across the globe. It is on much of their framework that this thesis will sit. With institutes such as ‘De Nationale Opera’ in Amsterdam already creating new and exciting works for global audiences through the establishment of the annual ‘Opera Forward Festival’ in 2016, other countries are already seeking ways to revitalize their repertoire. The particular aim of this thesis is to understand how this is reflected in Wales by firstly identifying the current state of theatre in Wales, what a Welsh opera culture might mean, and how does this contribute to the global output.
“…In many European countries, the national and regional capitals and sometimes even medium-sized towns, were historically duty-bound to have an opera house. It was an institution, a social and cultural building that contributed to the local prestige in the same way as the town hall or cathedral. The tradition is often alive…’’ (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, p. 27). It is possible that they speak here of those countries where operatic history is prominent; countries such as Italy, Germany and Russia. With statements such as this, there is a recognition that the art-form of the opera house, where one exists, comes with a historic operatic tradition. Is this the case in a country
1 According to their website description, ‘Opera UpClose’ are ‘an ambitious, Olivier Award-winning opera company, producing innovatively staged,
unintimidating, affordable and - crucially - high quality English chamber re-imaginings of well-known works and premieres of new operas’ [Online:
with a less prominent opera culture such as Wales, a country that only gained its first opera house (as it is more closely resembled) in 2004?
This thesis aims to uncover the processes and methods used by Welsh and Wales-based opera companies to revitalize the repertoire. When I use the term ‘revitalize’, which is a term of my own choosing and not derivative of any other scholarly study, I refer to the ways that opera companies (a) support the development of new works, and (b) in what ways do opera companies create new re-interpretations of previously produced, or ‘classical’ works. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, to ‘revitalize’ means: (1). To give new life to (…), or, (2). To give new vitality or vigour to (…)…”2Determining whether something, such as the operatic
repertoire, is deemed worthy to be given new life to, or whether revitalization is vital in a geographical region that is not generally associated with opera, will also be explored in this thesis.
Chapter One of this thesis will provide an overview of Wales as a theatre culture. By beginning with Roger Owen’s study of theatre in Wales (2004), as well as the Welsh government’s manifesto for the ‘Drama Strategy of Wales’, I aim to establish what the current culture of theatre in Wales, and how the attitudes of simplification and standardization (according to Owen (2004)) of themes and concepts for theatrical production create a framework for how opera may be revitalized. Furthermore, this thesis will look at how the devolution of 1997 (with the establishment of Wales’ own independent government) has caused a significant reassessment of what it means to present opera in Wales up to the present day.
In Chapter Two, this thesis will analyse the current discourse that exists on the topic of revitalizing opera from other scholarly analysis through the examination of existing literature. This is divided into certain sub-themes that range from methods used by companies, to hypotheses on why opera companies may revitalize in the way that they do. Much of this discourse also focuses on how other discerning factors point to decisions being made for programming, such as geographical locations of opera houses (Till, 2012) and the employment of a dramaturg (Eggert, 2015; Zeiss 2012).
Chapter Three will give general introductions to each of the case studies being used to highlight the opera culture in Wales, and analyse the ways in which they revitalize new works by outlining their programmes and methods for creating new work and reinterpreting classics. The four case studies: ‘Welsh National Opera’, ‘Music Theatre Wales’, ‘Opera’r Ddraig and ‘Opra Cymru’, have been chosen due to their diverse perspectives and methods of
programming:-2
Welsh National Opera (WNO) is an institutional company situated within the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay. Established in 1943, the company is mostly renowned for their productions from the classic repertoire produced primarily for proscenium stages. They moved into their current building in 2004 following its construction of the WMC (WNO, 2018).
Music Theatre Wales (MTW) are a small, publicly-funded music theatre company based in Cardiff, Wales, established in 1988. Most of the work that they have produced in the past 10 years has been original commissions which experiment with the operatic form. MTW do not operate out of a particular building, but rather in collaboration with international institutes and venues (MTW, 2018).
Opera'r Ddraig (ODD) is a contemporary opera company which aims to produce re-interpretations of opera classics with creatives and artists under the age of 30, with the motivation to present the work to audiences of the same age bracket. Thus far, their productions have been presented in various site-specific venues, from cafés to industrial parks and have built-up of fresh adaptations of existing librettos (ODD, 2019).
Opra Cymru (OC) is the only Welsh-language production opera company in the country. Established in July 2008, their work has primarily consisted of translations of the more popular repertoire, and in 2017, saw the premiere of their first original Welsh-language opera commission. Together, these case studies make interesting foundation for comparative study in Chapter Four (OC, 2018).
Thus, Chapter Four is a comparative study of the global discourse analysed in Chapter Two with the case studies presented in Chapter Three. By using the key topics of discourse clearly marked in Chapter Two, it establishes how the chosen opera companies adhere to, or resist, the methods and hypotheses of discourse set out in the current global viewpoint. In making these distinct comparisons, it is then possible to compare each opera company to one another, and to notice if there are any consistencies in the way they choose to revitalize. In addition, it will introduce discourse from artists and academics working in opera in Wales, including such figures as Dr. Clair Rowden (Prof. of CIRO, the ‘Centre of Interdisciplinary Research for Opera’), Sophie Rashbrook (former dramaturg at WNO), Elena Langer (Russian composer based in London), Benjamin Davis (freelance opera director), Michael McCarthy (Artistic Director, MTW) and Hannah Noone (co-artistic director, OD). The aim of their perspective is to gain a clearer insight from the field within Wales. This chapter aims to place into perspective whether Wales as an opera culture is resembling a specific trend of discourse on a global level, or is it uncovering its own ways to revitalize the repertoire. This chapter will also conclude the research by synthesising the ways in
which opera companies revitalize the repertoire in accordance with initial theories set out on the current theatre scene in Wales (Owen, 2004). The aims of the chapter are to establish a more concrete answer to how opera companies determine ways of revitalising the repertoire.
To Owen (2004), Wales, as a small country – only a part of the greater United Kingdom and a historical Celtic region - is still grappling with retaining its own culture and history. In order to understand how an opera culture may be prominent in the country, this thesis will first determine what the general state of theatre is in Wales, and what the idea of theatre means to its people. In other words, within this wide culture, how and where can an opera culture sit? Therefore, as a departing question, how should one determine what an opera culture means to Wales?
1. Wales...as an Opera Culture?
Wales is often mistaken as a region within England (which has become somewhat of a standardized joke for many Welsh citizens on their annual holiday abroad). The country consists of a population of 3, 125, 000 people; 645, 000 of whom are aged 65 and over3. As of a 2011 census, an estimation of 19% of the calculated population is fluent Welsh-speaking4. The country possesses its own home-grown international rugby team, a favourite export of many natural food and health products, and until the late 13th century, had its own monarchy ruled under Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (until his death in 1282 following Wales' conquest under King Edward I of England). Without wanting to be too laborious on its historiography, it is safe to say that Wales has been slowly clambering to reclaim its culture for sometime, and shockingly, I say this as an avid theatre-connoisseur and passionate Welshman.
This, of course, does not explain much yet for the development for an opera culture. In order to do so, a framework must first be identified in which a potential opera culture might sit. Even more to the point: how to begin defining an 'opera culture' in the context of this thesis? A definition may encompass several factors: the standard, variance and ratio of opera that is produced within that given society, drawing together what opera companies exist, what their programme strategies are, what do they receive from a certain global framework, and then, what does the opera culture give back in return? Rosanne Martorella, for example, would not readily use the term 'opera culture' to necessitate how it exists in that society. She, in her own study opts instead for the term 'sociology of opera' in order to demonstrate what it is that makes up the very opera culture that this thesis is trying to describe in any given society, encompassing the tastes and behaviours to the programming strategies that opera companies employ (Martorella, 1982).
"Within an institutional context, the nature and extent of political authority within a society, the economic condition of musical societies, and types of audiences and their tastes, become data from which the sociology departs again (...) A sociology of opera therefore, expands from musical historical data, addresses different questions and enriches the understanding and appreciation of opera" (Martorella, 1982, p.3). The aspect of revitalization that this thesis will narrowly focus on for study expands from the latter part of this excerpt. Using Martorella's own
3 Census for Welsh Population, Welsh Government, 2011 [Online: https://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/mid-year-estimates-population/?
lang=en]. (Accessed 15 January 2019)
4
2011 Census for Welsh Speakers, Welsh Government, 2011 [Online
https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Welsh-Language/annualpopulationsurveyestimatesofpersonsaged3andoverwhosaytheycanspeakwelsh-by-localauthority-measure] (Accessed 15 January 2019)
terminology, ‘the musical historical data’ is the term used to allude to the previous strategies from which these opera companies have developed. The process of revitalization then occurs from the different questions that companies, and more importantly, the creatives and artists working within those companies, aim to ask. Lastly, an understanding and appreciation is formed in the way that these productions reach and speak to their own audiences. Thus, an opera culture contributes in its own way to the repertoire for the benefit and understanding of the very audiences within the communities it is aiming to serve.
1.i The Drama Strategy for Wales
On 17 June 1999, the Welsh government issued a statement outlining the specific hypothesis, methods and procedures it wished to address following the establishment of its own independent Welsh government in 1998. The document entitled The Drama Strategy for Wales (1999) offers a more complex and bureaucratic approach to establishing a 'Welsh' theatrical culture, in which it declares the following: “The aim over the past three decades has been to provide a theatre which is unique and serves the people of Wales” (Welsh Government, 1999, p.1). Using this historical assertion as a framework, it then proceeds to arduously catalogue the ways in which the government are committed to ensuring that work in all remits of the cultural sector are secured:
“ACW’s International strategies encourage collaborations and placing Welsh work on European and world stages (...). It is clear there must be a better balance between stability and flexibility (...) to enable Wales’ National Performing Arts companies in dance, drama, music and opera to attain excellence, reach large numbers of people in Wales and provide economic benefit to Wales” (Welsh Government, 1999, p.2-4). This last excerpt is one of only two references to 'opera' in the entirety of the 12-page document, which can only highlight that the government, in the perspective of its majorly-changing structure at this juncture in history, brackets opera with any other cultural medium.
However, rather than view this through the negativist lens, what can be learnt from the Welsh Government's generalised strategies for theatre in order to establish the foundations of what might be an opera culture in Wales? Even as far back as 1999, the initiatives are clearly ambitious and positive:
“ACW is committed to innovation and to new work. Development of new writing in Welsh and in English will continue to be a priority. New writing initiatives need careful development (...). Major producing organisations should be able to develop, attract and retain the cream of the
profession, and we must continue support to the more ‘cutting edge’ art form research. Innovation must not be lost and can be addressed in different ways, as appropriate, within each area of theatre production” (Welsh Government, 1999, p.3).
1.ii 'Theatre in Wales since 1997', Dr. Roger Owen
Of course, the hypothesis and plans of governmental strategies never always formulate into the structures that they wish for them to achieve. It is a signification as to why Wales' primary opera companies have developed and categorized their own methods of revitalization over the course of the twenty-first century (something which will be explored in further detail in Chapter 3). Instead, let us draw from Dr. Roger Owens' analysis of the theatre culture in Wales (2004). Owen alludes to three key terms that can help us better understand the current situation for theatre in Wales as a generalisation: 'hybridization', 'representation’ and 'simplification' (Owen, 2004, p.481-97).
Hybridization, to Owen, is the act of the Welsh theatre culture retaining historical, social, mythological and political sources from its heritage, but applying more distinct globalized forms of theatre. In his view, the counterbalanced preservation of a previous culture to the cultivation of a fresh one offered a new perspective for audiences: “The form and context of this theatre presented an implicit argument for the preservation of distinct local identities, and simultaneously challenged and affirmed the view that a distinctive localism allows the spectator a window on the wider world” (Owen, 2004, p.491). As a generally ‘globalized’ form of theatre, a term which Agid and Tarondeau (2010) poise, the opera culture in Wales applies this identification from Owen by generally programming more popular and repeatable operas from the repertoire (especially in the context of 'Welsh National Opera', an opera company duty-bound to deliver a broad range of classic operas), but adhering to more 'localized' productions through native revitalizations; 'Opera'r Ddraig's' next production in late 2019 will be an English adaptation of Donizzetti's L'elisir d'amore, set in a Welsh valley during Thatcherism in the 1980's, for example5. In short, the hybridization of theatre and opera in Wales has allowed for a healthy concoction of the global repertoire from international creative's and its own native voice and perspective as a palette.
The second term to which Owen refers shrouds itself in a little more controversy. He refers more narrowly to a 'crisis of representation' (Owen, 2004, p.486) within the Welsh theatre culture at the start of the 21st century. This 'crisis' would call for a surge in more traditional forms of Welsh theatre in the shadows of a country now laying the foundations of its own political structure:
5
‘The Elixir of Love’, The King’s Head Theatre, London. (2019) [Online: https://system.spektrix.com/kingsheadtheatre/website/eventdetails.aspx? WebEventId=theelixiroflove] (Accessed 26 January 2019)
“There was a rejection both of cultural tradition and of the specific dilemmas faced by a marginal national community in defence of its own sense of history. And, whilst the political paralysis caused by long-term Tory rule continued (...) this complex theatre of diversity did not – could not, perhaps – create for itself a coherent or singular identity that would secure a wide audience. This was, perhaps from the outset, a theatre for converts. At the start of the twenty-first century the effects of the ‘crisis of representation’ led to a resurgent but intellectually impoverished notion of nationhood that may have gained the upper hand in the theatre of Wales” (Owen, 2004, p.495).
This notion of ‘cultural tradition’ that Owen describes is attributed to the characteristics that make up a Welsh tradition, such as the use of the Welsh language, responding to its geographical landscape and the use of song. Recently, the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff produced a classic Welsh language play: ‘Fel Anifail’ by Meic Povey, set in the heartlands of the Eryri, and made accessible to every audience member through surtitling at every performance6.
The ‘cultural tradition’ of this production is indebt to the language and to the dramatist who produced the words. How then can a country like Wales, still thawing out the icicles of a post-conservative identity in 1997, claim to establish its own robust opera culture in the icy caverns of a globalized and historically European art form? The 'nationhood' that Owen describes is one that is more applicable to other forms of theatre in Wales in 2018, with the establishment of its own Welsh-language National Theatre, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, in 2003, followed by its English-language counterpart in May 2009. Recently, the National Theatre of Wales dealt with scrutiny from creatives working in theatre from all media for lacking a prioritized appointment of Welsh artists to their work, or indeed prioritizing stories about Wales and about the Welsh people; quite the feat for the ‘nationhood’ that Owen describes7.
As of 2018, the opera culture is still adoptive of a more traditional model. It may even be the reason Music Theatre Wales began in 1988 to produce more experimental and hybridized forms of music theatre. The 'crisis of representation' in Wales' opera culture does not lie in its programming, its audience demographics, nor its breadth of companies and creative's developing and teaching the operatic medium. Instead, it exists in smaller, more-undisclosed areas. For example, the language in opera is heavily misrepresented, with a low percentage of Welsh-language operas being produced. In the past five years, only two new operas have been
6
‘An Unnerving View of Shadows & Secrets’ (2018) The Guardian, [Online: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/oct/15/fel-anifail-review-sherman-theatre-cardiff-meic-povey] (Accessed 26 January 2019)
7
commissioned in the Welsh language, which is arguably a significantly small number. Granted, Welsh National Opera aim to surtitle every opera they stage with both English and Welsh surtitles in their Welsh venues, but the WNO has not produced a Welsh-language opera in the past ten years, quite the feat for a 'National' opera company based in Wales.
Lastly, the 'simplification' of theatre in Wales to Owen - being a term used to describe the uninnovative strategies poised within many of Wales' flagship theatre companies and institutes -is the second description for common theatrical practice. In h-is d-issemination of the term, Owen alludes to the Welsh government's document himself to draw a comparative study of the current theatre scene in Wales: “However, the new drama Strategy had far wider consequences for the general ecology of theatre in Wales than the ones expressed in the document itself. Those consequences may well have contributed significantly to the powerful simplification of theatre in Wales as a whole” (Owen, 2004, p.487-88). Owen however, does not continue to divulge what he means by this statement, but in the context of the opera culture, we do see a comparison between the gaping holes of the strategy to the actualisation of a ‘culture’.
1. iii Globalization and Standardization in Opera
Is there an opera culture in Wales that, in terms of the Drama Strategy of Wales, is “unique and a servitude to the Welsh people” (Welsh Government, 1999, p.1), or is there only an opera culture that is plainly based in Wales and serves audiences which stretch beyond the borders of the small country? Again, there might be a negative connotation to the reading of that question, but there are other factors to consider. As stated before, Wales is a country of a small population (in comparison to the figures posed at the start of this chapter) and makes up a mere 4.8% in the overall population of the United Kingdom8. The uneasy question to then ask is how many of this population attends an opera performance in Wales, and thus, makes up for an opera culture? Without drawing on any scholarly analysis, it is obvious to point out that opera is a secular art form that appeals only to a small percentage of people and therefore draws out a very confined audience number. Finding an audience in a country with such a small population can surely be no easy task, and that is why the servitude of the Welsh opera culture looks to the audience's across the United Kingdom and internationally in order to determine the status of its culture. In their study, Agid and Tarondeau (2010) identify that this process stretches from the identification that
8Population of Wales, Welsh Government, 2011 [Online: https://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/mid-year-estimates-population/?lang=en].
both creatives and audience are generally sought after on an international scale. They aptly call this process 'globalization'. Many of Wales' opera companies stage their productions as co-productions with other companies, within Wales and internationally. But this is not a recent or secular practise; this is a standardized form of producing opera within the remits of any culture, as they explain:
“The circulation of artists and also managing executives is only the most visible aspect of opera house globalization. Others are just as important: productions and professionals from all countries move between the opera houses; the production methods are tending to converge, if not become standardized; and generally accepted quality standards are emerging” (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, p.10).
Standardized production methods have become the bedrock of an opera culture, with Wales being no exception. Here, it is only as customary to sought after the ‘star-studded' vocalists, conductors and directors to shape new and revitalized productions. In fact, it is primarily through the latter role, the directors, that companies seek to develop an innate quality of revitalization, which we shall learn further on in this thesis. The 'quality standards' (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010) that these authors refer to emerge from a standard of opera production which is generally accepted and mechanicalized, and given the rate of singers and creatives who are reserved months (or years) in advance to participate in a production, the production methods must largely stay the same. Wales, as a cog in the mechanics of these methods, retains its rhythm, and seeks not to turn its own. Whether one may view this is a negative connotation or not, this is a tradition, and one that has not been banished as a heritage even in Wales, particularly as a young opera culture, as both authors plainly put it: “globalisation is as old as opera itself” (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, p.9).
1. iv Opera's Social Structures
Agid and Tarondeau’s study also allows for a greater understanding for the characteristics and inner-social structures that make up an opera culture in any society. Outlined in their study are three factors that make up an opera culture: "Everywhere in the world, three dimensions coexist in opera performances in different propositions which may vary given places and situations: the interest for the opera form in general, the large popularity of many operas and the social prestige" (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, p.7).
“The interest of the opera” (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, p.8) can only really be measured by the audience demographics and box office financial figures in order to maintain a clear answer. This thesis will resist that, given that the focus will be more on what is on offer to revitalize the repertoire. Therefore, reliance can be made on the fact that the repertoire from the four primary opera companies compared here as case studies continue to work and have continued to find their audience for decades. On a superficial level, their very presence and continuation can measure the interest of opera in Wales.
The second point in the characteristics of an opera culture that they refer to would also require a break down of the programming from each of the companies. It is also compulsory of the audience demographics for one; measuring that an audience figure for one production could be comparatively different to another. A clear observation is that an opera by Wagner, Verdi or Puccini will draw in a higher audience number than a more contemporary production created by lesser-known artists, as was proven by Martorella in her study of the Metropolitan Opera, New York, where Aida – an opera composed by Verdi – generated 98% of the box office sale (Martorella, 1975, p.246). The detail here is in knowing how the more revitalized productions are received within Wales. A more detailed look of this will be analysed through each of the chosen companies in Chapter 3.
This thesis will not focus too laboriously on the measure of 'social prestige' in Wales (2010); but this has been touched upon already. As that has already been established, Wales was only appointed its own government for the first time in 1998. Since the 1980s, Wales has become one of the largest victims of the Conservative movement under Thatcher to export labour from Wales out of the coal mining communities. The “social prestige”, as Agid & Tarondeau describe (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, p.7), is built up of a small percentage who are based in the more urbanised areas of Wales and are therefore subjected to the most vibrant opera scenes. In Cardiff and its surrounding areas: Welsh National Opera, Music Theatre Wales, Opera'r Ddraig and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. In Swansea, Swansea City Opera. Towards the North, Mid Wales Opera. Travel elsewhere in Wales, and one sees that the palette offered from the opera culture is rather sparse.
It is with this identification of audiences that Wales was able to establish its first National opera company in 1946. Arguably, this is a remarkably late year for the country's first opera company to be established in comparison to the centuries of heritage that countless operatic cultures across the globe cherish. It is even more remarkable when one learns that the Welsh National Opera (as it is still currently known) was formed by a group of amateur singers and
creative's, not professionals (Leech, 2006, p.10). More to the point, it begs the question of what existed prior to this year. Other than visiting international companies and the steady touring of English opera companies to Wales' mainland, the answer to Leech is none, and the WNO were pioneers in this field (Leech, 2006, p.10). Thus, the introduction of an opera culture to Wales did not even come to fruition until the middle of the twentieth century.
Apart from Leech's concise and focused study of the WNO, and a few sporadic articles on many of Wales' other opera companies (some of which will be discussed further as this study progresses); no such literature or study exists of the culture of opera in Wales. Does this then mean that this entire study is fruitless in its attempt to declare what a Welsh opera culture even means? The beauty of such a study is that opera, if it is indeed a globalized art form that continues to revitalize and reshape for the changing audience, has the capacity to be dissected from other conflicting discourses on whether Wales should reserve its own unique cultural identity within theatre, and that is simply because Wales' opera culture is less than a hundred years old.
It seems that questions begin to emerge with regards to how and why Wales should still proceed to uncover its own cultural identity. Ann-Marie Taylor (1997), for example, poses such questions in order to leap off the backlash of a political turning in Wales' history around the 1998 establishment of its own government:
“Was Wales a colony? Could (and should) Wales be free of London? Was it possible to create theatre that bypassed the English mainstream? What was the place of the highly successful theatrical Diaspora who established careers 'away' over the border?” (Taylor, 1997, p.6). Has Wales, therefore, become a part of such a globalized culture that it must discover and rediscover its legs outside of such patriarchal discourse like Taylor’s in on order to establish its own culture? In order to determine this, the thesis will proceed to discuss previous and current discourse on elements of revitalization within the opera industry and secondly, outline how opera companies within Wales are establishing the definition of their own opera culture.
2. Revitalization as a Discourse
This chapter will aim to uncover how the process of revitalizing the repertoire is reflected through commissions and re-interpretations of operatic classics, and then, how opera is reflected and discussed on a global level. Given that Agid and Tarondeau believe this to be a heavily 'globalized' medium (2010), then this may be proved difficult, assuming that opinions on methodologies and strategies for opera programming would be widely standardized.
Throughout researching this discourse, which has been executed in the form of a literary analysis as well as through multiple interviews with professional directors, dramaturgs and scholars working within opera, several opinions suggest views on how and why the repertoire should be revitalized, and this is always confined within the remits of a specific culture. This chapter, although concerned with a 'global' discourse, will primarily focus on the literary analysis, given that most, if not all, are formed from a more distanced perspective with a more generalised scope, or, a comparative study from various cultures. The interviews, which are primarily conducted with creatives who work, and have worked, within the Welsh opera culture, will be analyzed in Chapter 3 and 4 when Welsh opera companies will be adopted as cases studies.
As a term, 'revitalization' is rarely used. Other terminology, such as 'innovation', 'reinterpreting' and ‘re-envisioning', for example, are much more commonly used. 'Revitalization' is a term that I have decided to use to encompass all other terminology that is expressed in the discourse. The discourse, which is a wide-spread use of articles, essays, blogs and memoirs, derive from studies that focus on the ideas of programming and management strategies, though others sometimes examine the use of the repertoire in many innovative and interesting ways. Here, varied analysis of the global discourse has been synthesized, which can then be compared with the case studies in Chapter 3.
2.i The Processes of Culture
The idea of ‘culture’ is outlined by Peterson and Anand (2004). In their study, they illustrate multiple ideas and tools that contribute to the face of a polymorphic culture, exploring how symbols and expressionistic aspects of that culture make up its communication within itself and with the society in which it serves. Their results are as conclusive in their introduction and offer clear insight: "Culture is not so much society-wide and virtually unchanging as it is situational and
capable of rapid change" (Peterson & Anand, 2004, p.312). Used as a departure point, their analysis points to the idea that a culture, and to whatever that implies, is not a generalised or standardized situation, rather it is specific to the changing conditions of the specific culture within which it sits. In short, a culture (be it an artistic culture or outside those ideas) is subject to ever-cultivating change.
This is a mightily difficult departure point in trying to determine the characteristics of one particular opera culture and then identify its methods of revitalization within it. If the culture is subject to change, then surely to identify its characteristics would be hard to determine if the goal posts are shifted continuously? Actually, this could be an overwhelming advantage for the study, being that we are focused on the ways that the repertoire within that cultural are changed and adapted according to their current model and situation, or rather, revitalized. Therefore, the process in which the culture is “situational and capable of rapid change” (Peterson & Anand, 2004, p.312) might well determine the contribution that the culture offers, and furthermore, the status of that culture in its context. Thus, the Welsh opera culture can be determined through its methods of cultivating new operatic works and the contributions it makes back to the general repertoire through those methods.
2.ii Nicholas Till & Rosanne Martorella
Others maintain different arguments with regards to revitalizing the repertoire. In reference to what we have previously been discussing, in terms of cultural scale and country-specific practise, Nicholas Till believes that the geographical factors have an impending influence on the way that opera houses choose to revitalize the repertoire, and more to the point, their site-specific placing is a signifier of the culture's attitude towards the theatrical form: "In modern states the location of opera houses continues to serve as an important sign of the relationship between the state and official culture, which is often represented by opera" (Till, 2012, p.72-73). It is within the actual architectural positioning that a more traditional attitude is implemented, and then, the more elitist attitudes towards its operation are then initiated. In his study, Till conveniently alludes to the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay as an example of this tokenistic approach:
"The elitist connotations of opera have meant that recently built opera houses are often located more discreetly in multi-purpose arts centres, such as the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff (2004), which replaced controversial architect Zaha Hadid’s striking but rejected plans for an opera house on the same site" (Till, 2012, p.74).
So, what we see is that Wales, in this instance, was not ready for a secular opera house, but instead, ready for a 'large-scale' venue which could also accommodate the mega-sized, globalized musical theatre productions touring the entirety of the United Kingdom. The Welsh National Opera burrows its offices within this venue, rehearses all its seasonal productions there, and also premiers each production on its main stage.
Rather than focus solely on the geographical location of opera houses within their situated cultures, he then concludes his study by focusing on the way that space is utilized within these geographical boundaries. In other words, the countries with the more established and reputable opera cultures, such as Germany, are more exposed to utilising space as a means to revitalize the way that opera reacts amongst the spectator and the performers:
"In Germany, the conductor and director Christoph Hagel has presented Mozart’s ‘Die Zauberflöte’ in the Reichstag subway station in Berlin (2008), and 'La clemenza di Tito' in the Bode Museum in Berlin (2010) (...) The productions allow experimentation with space and acoustics, and, in the company’s own words, ‘re-write the rules of engagement between audiences and performer’, often drawing the audience into the action as participants rather than merely observers (...) Such projects evidence a desire to challenge both the spatial and the socio-cultural barriers of conventional performance spaces for opera" (Till, 2012, p.88).
He continues to describe the less conventional (and smaller) opera companies that continue to operate within these cultural areas and experiment more with space. Till remains an advocate of such experimenting with the presentational space of contemporary productions; more so than MacDonald (whose study will become central to this discussion in a little while). What is certain is that Till recognises that the smaller, non-conventional opera companies are the companies who are open to more experimental practise.
In Martorella’s (1982) view: “Repertoire reflects a compromise between public tastes, private patronage and the preference of musical directors and superstars” (Martorella, 1982, p.83). What we can draw from her view is an innate sense how the operatic repertoire has, in relation to Owen's (2004) study, become a ‘standardized’ medium, subject to many of the same works being seen, and that the percentage of new works being programmed is little compared to the 'classics' that are continuously produced. “Given the tie in which the standard repertoire becomes firmly established and the complex institutional matrix mobilised to support it (...) repertoire tends are highly resistant to change. This trend has been constant since the twenties, or about the time
when Puccini has his immediate success as a composer” (Martorella, 1982, p.113). This view, however, still needs to be approached with an air of caution, given the 'repertoire' here is a generalised term, and not specific to companies or to an opera culture. In order to understand how the repertoire can be revitalized, I aim to specify it in relation to the way opera companies formulate those decisions.
So, in other areas of discourse, there are explorations as to what ends opera companies within specific opera cultures can identify new work and apply it to their programming strategies, but also, find challenging, innovative and urgent ways to re-envision a previous work for a more contemporary audience. Many global opera companies realize this through the appointment of a dramaturg. As such, there are two scholars who have written significantly about this subject.
2.iii The Role of the Dramaturg
Zeiss, in her concentrated study on the construction of the operatic form (2012), primarily identifies the basic elements that, between the composer and librettist, make up the composition and writing of the operatic form in the creation of new operas. To begin with, the recognition that the creation of new operatic works is a more difficult, complicated and time-consuming process in comparison to the creation of other dramatic art forms is central to her discussion: “Its multifaceted nature prompts, demands even, structures that differ from both instrumental music and spoken drama” (Zeiss, 2012, p.179). This 'nature' that she describes is important as we may understand why an opera company may be dubious to continue commissioning new works, given the time and resources it can exhaust in the creational process. The commissioning of new operatic works to the repertoire is comparatively low compared to the percentage of previous or traditional operas being programmed on a global scale, even in a country with a remarkably non-mainstream opera culture such as Wales. The medium of opera does not have its own venue, such as the Royal Court Theatre in London, aiming to constantly programme new work alone, for example.
Zeiss’ study (2012) highlights some pertinent points which compliment the discussion regarding revitalization, but there are a few signatory comments to signify in order to compliment this discussion. These signatories are opened up when extending the construction of the operatic work from the composer/librettist relationship and recognising the other performative aspects that opera studies and programming strategies begin to signify as important as the written score or text. In the conclusion of her essay, she identifies that the operatic form must step beyond the
dialogue between the internal relationship of the writers and open up to the team of creatives that will also serve the production in its full capacity (Zeiss, 2012). Her area of discourse recognises that a previous methodology continues to be alluded to as imperative to the creation of the operatic form:
“As noted earlier, opera studies has been heavily influenced by Wagner's ideal of Gesamtkunstwerk, which states that the art forms in an opera should be both self sufficient yet inextricably linked (...) Critics have taken a step back from Wagner’s ideals and have explored the disjunctions between opera’s various signifiers especially divergences between staging and the other art forms” (Zeiss, 2012, p.197).
By identifying that opera goes beyond the libretto and score and into performance, then there is recognition that other theatrical elements, headed by the skills of other exceptional artists, are imperative to the dramaturgical process. A skilled designer in decor and lighting, as well as a visionary director or conductor, and maybe even the role of the dramaturg can be an integral part to the dramaturgy of a specific opera production, and thus, become a cog in the mechanism that generates the revitalization of a previous work through a constant re-envisioning through their craft and methodology. Zeiss does not mention the role of the dramaturg in this study, nor does she allude to how the dramaturg may be utilised in the creational process of new opera productions. Her focus is merely in understanding the dramaturgy of opera through its construction. However, there are other scholars who write thoroughly on the subject.
“Whether on the intimate scale of a two-person collaboration or for large-scale projects that bring together the resources of several arts organizations, the dramaturg can be both an active collaborator and a creative inspiration in helping to foster new work of lasting importance” (Eggert, 2016, p.358).
Andrew Eggert's (2016) comments do not necessarily signify that he is speaking about the creation of new operatic works. However generalised the above comment may seem, Eggart's study on the role of the dramaturg in the creation of new operatic works is a handy source for discourse in that it identifies the many companies and institutes internationally that are recognising the dramaturg's role in the revitalization of the repertoire.
From the off-set, the same recognition of an early collaborative process from all members of the creative team is evident, but with the understanding that the dramaturg must remain the advocate at the centre of the process synthesizing all the dramatic elements together: “The development of new work is different, since the creators are engaged in an ongoing conversation
about how to shape a work in progress. The ultimate role of the dramaturg remains the same: to focus on the bigger picture” (Eggert, 2016, p.354). A process of revitalization of the repertoire is then evident when all members of the creative process are present from its early incarnations.
Most, if not all, of Eggert's case studies allude to larger institutes who have the financial capacity to appoint a dramaturg, in both a freelance and residential role, to the creative team of a new impending production. The Lincoln Center Theater in New York, for example, under the direction of André Bishop, wishes to allow more time within the rehearsal process of new operatic works to be fostered with much more temperament. Eggart states: "Bishop hopes the new project will give operas more time to develop even after they have been through an initial round of workshops" (Eggert, 2016, p.358). Despite a closer analysis of each Welsh opera company in Chapter 3, it would be wise to establish here that the luxury of a long and progressive rehearsal process, fore-fronted with a series of developmental workshops, is the result of a financial luxury. Institutes with such history for developing monumental productions from the repertoire, like the 'Metropolitan Opera' at the Lincoln Center, are able to afford it.
Eggert then describes the introduction of a dramaturg in the earliest stages of the process even before the composition has begun. The role of the dramaturg, if not so consistently employed within certain companies, might even be appointed to others. For Eggert, he refers to another case study:
“The Canadian stage director and dramaturg Kelly Robinson has developed a specific type of workshop that he uses in the early stages of opera development to help composers and librettists reach consensus on the direction and meaning of the story they want to tell” (Eggert, 2016, p.356).
To Eggert, Canada’s opera culture can recognize the advantages of establishing a role which, under Martorella's guide (1982), utilises the North American model of developing new works with the appointment of a dramaturg.
Lastly, Eggert's other case study examines North American music-theatre company ‘Music-Theatre Group’, under the leadership of their Producing Director, Diane Wondisford. In this examination, the process of revitalization of the repertoire is not by inviting knowledgeable creative's of the operatic medium to continue writing new works, nor is it through the collaboration with established creative's to bring a fresh interpretation to a previous work:
“In fostering new work, Wondisford has also shown a commitment to bringing together creative teams of composers and writers who do not write primarily for music-theatre with
experienced stage directors who assume the role of dramaturg during the development process” (Eggert, 2016, p.357).
Through the introduction of artists new to the operatic genre, then the possibilities of new genres and ways of constructing opera become endless (and, surely 'revitalizing' the repertoire in every sense of the term). More to the point, it begins to contradict the narrow, manual-like description of opera construction given earlier by Zeiss (2012).
On a more personal level, it brings to mind the recent production of the new American opera We Shall Not Be Moved (2018), co-produced between ‘Philadelphia Opera Company’ and DNO, to bring a modernized, electro-opera to a culture who had never seen a work like that before. The opera's director, Bill T. Jones (known for his contemporary-urban choreography and direction in alternative musical theatre), would bring one message to the presentation of this opera in Amsterdam, and furthermore, to the agenda of the operatic genre: 'survive'9. A side-note, the director-dramaturg description given here by Eggert is similar to that of McCarthy at MTW, which is described a little earlier in this thesis, immediately showing a pattern. Even in Jones' production, he was appointed the title of 'director-choreographer-dramaturg'10, a remarkable feat for the creation of a new operatic work.
To summarise, Eggert (2010) and Zeiss (2012) offer a perspective in which the dramaturg can, firstly, identify the components of the operatic genre. With this knowledge they can then, secondly, begin to deconstruct these components, and through the evidence of the case studies, begin to determine in what ways the components may be redefined and bring the freshness of the contemporary age to its construction. The role of the dramaturg could be a detrimental tool for the revitalization of the operatic repertoire. As a dramaturg, perhaps Jones (2018) can be given the final word on that subject. In his view, artists should be free to bolder, more creative, and free of limitations of what is right and wrong. The demographics of the audiences are changing. Opera gets the attention it deserves, and the rarity of young artists that arrive to it should be embraced. The grandness of opera has been suspended in the intimate pieces which aim to unify audience through disbandment11.
9 Bill T. Jones (2018), Key-Note speaker, 'Opera Forward Festival', 16 March 2018 at Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam. 10
‘We Shall Not Be Moved’, Dutch National Opera, 2018 [Online: https://www.operaballet.nl/en/opera/2017-2018/show/we-shall-not-be-moved] (Accessed 30 January 2019)
11
Ibid - (*Note: Given that the exact transcript/recording of this lecture does not exist, these are derived from my own notes and paraphrased, having listened to the lecture in person).
2.iv 10 Conjectures for Programming Opera
As part of this literature review, it is necessary to examine Agid and Tarondeau (2010) and their many theories on the programming strategies for opera houses, and what results they produce on the responsibility for who programmes these. Let us take a look firstly at how they introduce the subject of responsibility:
“While there is an infinite variety of organizational arrangements for artistic and technical production, responsibility for decisions lie with four families of professionals: the opera house general managers themselves, assisted by in-house artistic and technical teams; the conductors, some of whom are also music or artistic directors; the production stage directors and the professionals who work with them; and the technical managers in charge of the stage and workshops when relevant” (Agid/Tarondeau, 2010, p.93).
What may be drawn from this is that a certain method of creative decision-making rests in the hands of who works for these organizations and the staffing structures from which they are employed. By magnifying this into a cultural context, one would have to be wholly aware of the fact that many opera companies operate, firstly, out of larger institutes, and can therefore request the funds, resources and space in order to allow these individuals to work and create. Secondly, smaller opera companies generally work out of office buildings and then rent their rehearsal and productions spaces elsewhere; sometimes not even in the same geographical region. Another factor to consider is that a process of revitalization is sometimes the subject of the individual. If an artistic director is working solely with a small team of people, it is often that they will be the one to instigate not only the overall programming decisions, but also in what ways the repertoire is presented according to their own company agenda's, aims and goals.
Agid & Tarondeau (2010) offer what they call the '10 Conjectures' in order to establish the company's methods of revitalization, derived from their interviews with various global companies' general managers (See. Appendix 1, p.54).
The length of this thesis does not allow for an in-depth discussion of each point individually, but it is worth noting that some of these points at an immediate glance will be beneficial when determining the revitalization of the repertoire in Wales. For example, Point (1) theorises that the more 'innovate' companies (presumably, the houses with the largest tendency to present new and/or experimental works) will play to an average of small-houses. However, Point (2) leans toward the theory that larger companies are situated within locations of 'low availability' (as in, a
location where opera may not be as accessible or regular), and that there is an average of lower costs per ticket.
However in their area of discourse, they recognise that in order for security to prevail in the programming of more innovate operas, co-productions are much more financially viable: “More and more opera houses have become used to buy, rent or borrow opera productions from other opera houses, mainly foreign houses, over recent years” (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, p.95), as if the globalized medium, that they themselves had described earlier, has become a mass-produced effect, with buying and selling opera productions to be much more of a safe and secure strategy. However, more importantly, they identify with the world of Mathias Uecker for thought: “Co-productions only makes sense when they concern contemporary or unusual works for which the audience is foreseeably limited” (Agid & Tarondeau, 2010, p.95). Therefore, what this thesis is looking for in the comparative study to this discourse are those companies that present contemporary productions (or unusual, or non-traditionalist productions of classics) and whether a pattern emerges for the amount of co-productions which emerge.
The '10 Conjectures' (2010) as shown in Appendix 1 (p.54) seem just as precise and strategic as Nicholas Payne's '9 Questions for Study'. Instead of pointedly fixating his opinions and views on the ways companies must serve the need for artistic renewal and innovation, he offers 9 questions to open up the subject for further investigation, drawn from under the same hypothesis: “Peter Drucker’s dictum that the purpose of business is to create a may also be applied to art. The greatest artists have been eager to sell their works” (Payne, 2012, p.66).
These questions are a way of linking the personal history of a significant culture and then probing the methodological views of companies in measuring the responsibility of revitalization and innovation. Each question would be too long to discuss in their turn here, however, some are more relevant than others. The fourth question, which in the context of this discussion, is the most applicable: “How dependent are the advances in opera on the ambitions of creative individuals?” (Payne, 2012, p.67). Payne's study is less of a manual on how to propel opera as it progresses into the twenty first century, however it does create an interesting departure point for research questions. A more interesting strategy would be to apply these questions to the structures of Welsh opera companies. Ultimately, there is always a purposeful way of looking at it which Payne stipulates quite remarkably: “An opera house today strives to strike a balance between artistic and financial needs” (Payne, 2012, p.67).
Agid and Tarondeau's comment on "(...) the production stage directors and the professionals who work with them (...)" (Agid/Tarondeau, 2010, p.93) is worth revisiting for a
moment as it will assist us in understanding the final area of discourse. The stage directors, particularly in a culture such as the United Kingdom's, are a highly-respected and sought after medium. Directors from the United Kingdom are constantly invited to direct within international companies and institutes. For example, the recently relabelled Toneelgroep Amsterdam have commissioned British directors Katie Mitchell, Robert Icke and Simon McBurney on their 2018-2019 seasons12. Their visionary perspective is adopted from the fact there is a history of stage directors and an absence of creative individuals on the same wave lengths, such as the dramaturg. The term 'regietheater', for example, is one regularly discussed inside and outside of academic literature, and it is a topic of discussion for the field of revitalization.
2.v Regietheater
By understanding that stage directors are the sole operators of regietheater, they are able to transport new meanings and interpretations on music theatre works, so that the gesture of each piece is constantly refined. According to Peter M. Boinisch and the introduction to his definition of the term, regietheater is defined as follows: “Regie, i.e, the collaborative mise en scene of a playtext, in particular from the anonical dramatic repertoire, stage by an ensemble of resident artists, usually at one of the publicly funded theatres of Continental Europe”13
Arguably, regietheater is a tool used for the reinterpretation of existing works, and less so for the composition of new ones. There are two arguments to be made here. A supportive claim on the way that regietheater has used the existing repertoire as a model, and then, revitalized by making the opera more accessible and contemporary for the audience and culture it is presenting it in. On the other hand, does regietheater quash the original intentions of the authorial position and then deter from the original (and, in this argument, 'real') meaning of the score as it was written?
MacDonald's (2007) might otherwise never believe that theatre has the capacity to adapt and change according the specific time, space and culture. Her study 'The Abduction of Opera' (2007) fascinates more than it does inform. In her view, the audience are only interested in the connotations of dedication to a traditional operatic form: ‘They are coming to see, not a twisted rewriting of the great works, but the thing itself, drawn to what opera promises; sublime musical beauty and human drama’ (MacDonald, 2007, p.18). MacDonald's criticisms are problematic on
12
Toneelgroep Amsterdam, 2019, [Online: https://tga.nl/] (Accessed 10/02/2019)
13
‘Peter M. Boenisch: Reclaiming Regietheater: The Dialects of Directing’, Backdoor Broadcasting, 2013 [Online:
two accounts. How can she possibly expect to know the original intention of the authorial vision when most of the traditional repertoire is written by composers and librettists who have long deceased? She also continues to standardize the expectations of an audience by insinuating to understand exactly what they want, something which undoubtedly changes from one culture to another. As Audi (2018) has proved at DNO, audience expectations are not necessarily always predictable.
MacDonald wishes for opera companies to believe that there is only one way to revitalize the operatic form, and that is by staying true to the score and libretto as it was originally written and intended. In this light, regietheater is the greatest deterrent from that: “Regietheater embodies the belief that a directors interpretation of an opera is as important as what the composer intended, if not more so” (MacDonald, 2007, p.18). She apprehends the idea that every opera company is on a trajectory to only ever present authenticity to each and every opera that is produced. One would only have to look at the radical restaging of Mozart's operas by Peter Sellars to know that programming strategies are never standardized. A good example of this is Sellars’ production of Don Giovanni (1987), set in the shady areas of contemporary New York City.14
She also fails to take into account the many opera companies, such as MTW and ODD, who's sole aim is to present opera in new interpretations to new audiences. MacDonald purposefully remarks that the responsibility for revitalization shouldn't be in the hands of any creative, and that the outmoded model of the composer-led hierarchical chain is what prevails. MacDonald speaks as a former dramaturg at ‘The Metropolitan Opera’ in New York, arguably an institute much more known for their presentation of traditional works for proscenium arch stages. In her discourse, her argument is constructed on a criticism of European modes of thinking, narrow-mindedly focused on the American model of programming opera, and leaving revitalization out of the discussion:
MacDonald, contradictory in every turn of phrase, wishes to also promote 'newness' to an audience, but to do so through resisting any new modes of thinking: “Gelb has said that the Met has become “artistically somewhat isolated from the rest of the world” and reliant on “somewhat conservative patterns of thinking,” and he has pledged to keep it “more broadly connected to contemporary society” through “exciting theatrical visions.” One hopes that he is speaking as the master promoter that he is, creating a sense of newness to attract new audiences—and not in anticipation of a move toward the less conservative “patterns of thinking” and “theatrical visions” prevalent in Europe” (MacDonald, 2007, p.15).
14
‘Opera: Sellars’ ‘Giovanni’, The New York Times, 1987, [Online: https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/17/arts/opera-sellars-s-giovanni.html] (Accessed 10 February 2019)
In drastic contrast, someone like Klaus Bertisch (2015) at DNO in Amsterdam is a supportive figure for revitalizing operatic works through Regietheater. His essay Spectacle and Reflection (2015) offers a tremendous insight and analysis into the wave of innovation that washed the programming strategies of Pierre Audi, following his appointment as Artistic Director of the company in 1988. Bertisch argues that the opera culture in Amsterdam, though not necessarily celebrated as a key or influential opera culture, (a comparison significantly matched with Wales here), it is through the appointment of one rousing individual with a visual perspective that the repertoire would be fully revitalized, through the regular introduction of new artist who has either never worked at the DNO, or had never even worked on an opera production before. Bertisch also recognises a progressive shift in the way that Regietheater became a mode of practice through the DNO under Audi:
“Audi had realised only too well that modern Regietheater had gone through enormous changes in the previous few years. Audi (...) instead argued for more stylistic diversity, combining aesthetics and pleasure with a contemporary perspective but based on critical appreciation of the known repertoire. He proposed a dynamic interaction between the past and present, between the acknowledged works and the new. This meant that new doors had to be opened and unfamiliar names introduced. To some extent, it was fortunate that the Dutch did not have a rich opera tradition. It meant that Audi could count on their curiosity and awake and interest in a whole new group of theatregoers.” (Bertisch, 2015, p.255).
In the same vain as Eggert's (2010) description of producer Diane Wondisford, the DNO and Audi strived to introduce new artists to the field who are equipped with all manner of disciplines, merging other popular art forms that may constantly inform the opera culture. It brings to mind why visionary film director Terry Gilliam has become a favourite of opera directors in recent years, whose productions for DNO and 'English National Opera' from 2011 have become a radical, visionary feast and attracted a wider audience unfamiliar to the art form to its houses15. Bertisch describes a similar methodology with Audi at the DNO (Bertisch, 2015). The process of revitalizing the repertoire is born out of placing faith and trust in new artist to constantly inspire and reinvent new ways of working:
"In his commitment to diversity and to using the mutual influences of different art forms, Audi regularly involved visual artists in the productions and attempted to inject new life
15
‘The Damnation of Faust’, The Independent, 2011 [Online: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/reviews/the-damnation-of-faust-english-national-opera-2281533.html] (Accessed 30 January 2019)
