Courtesy photo The set for this year’s “Romeo et Juliette,” is the same as the one shown above for its 2005 run. |
The Indiana University Opera Theater first staged Charles Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” in 1966, then forgot about it until 2005 when, in a swank new production by C. David Higgins, it scored well with audiences. Here was operatic Shakespeare that worked.
Now, in a quicker-than-usual turn around of just four years, the opera and its production are back for another four-performance run in the Musical Arts Center, one that starts next Friday evening. Back also is the visiting stage director of 2005, Michael Ehrman, teamed this time with a second returning guest, conductor Ronald Zollman. The two men collaborated here previously on another staple of the French repertory, Massenet’s “Manon,” this in 2006.
Zollman, in fact, has become a regular of late, when it comes to French opera. He was also in musical charge this past winter for IU Opera Theater’s introduction to Bloomington of Massenet’s “Cendrillon.” “I’m delighted always to be at IU,” he says. “The singers are well prepared and work hard. The orchestras seem to be getting ever better. I wouldn’t come back if it weren’t a pleasure. And I’m certainly pleased to be back with Michael Ehrman.”
Ehrman apparently shares the view, insisting, “We love working together. Ronald is a wonderful conductor. He’s both knowledgeable and flexible.”
Ehrman’s operatic credits, and they are considerable, have been amassed mostly in the United States, from the Boston Lyric, Wolf Trap and Chautauqua Operas out east, to the Houston Grand and Greater Miami Operas in the south, to Central City out west, and, nearby, to Chicago Opera Theater and the Indianapolis Opera. For Indianapolis, in fact, he did “Romeo and Juliet” just a few years ago, and he’s due back in Indy next month for “La Boheme.”
The Belgian-born Zollman has concentrated his career in Europe, not only with opera companies (Belgian National, English National, Scottish) but orchestras in virtually all the major centers and at festivals (Edinburgh, Flanders, Warsaw Autumn, Lisbon’s Gulbenkian, London Proms).
In other words, the conductor/director duo brings experience to an opera that requires it. “First,” says Zollman, “there’s the language issue. French is a very difficult language to sing. For many American singers, it is a problem, something that doesn’t, by nature, sit comfortably. But we’re progressing with our hard working casts. We’ve had long sessions on pronunciation. Sometimes I wonder if it will work, but I was amazed how understandable ‘Manon’ and ‘Cendrillon’ became. So, I guess it will all fall into place again.”
Ehrman, along with Zollman, addresses the stage fighting that must be mastered. “Six or seven minutes of fighting take hours of work to rehearse. Most operatic singers, and that includes the young people here at IU, don’t have much prior training in handling swords and such. Making those moments look right is not easy. Another issue for the stage director is integrating dancers and chorus, as in act one. A lot of people need to be maneuvered. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”
Both gentlemen praise IU Opera Theater. “The coaches are excellent. The stage elements and crew do such a good job,” says Zollman. Ehrman’s echoes the sentiments. “The teachers have worked so diligently with their students,” he notes. “The technical environment is as good as it gets. The theater is wonderful. I’ve worked at a lot of schools. The level here is tops.”
They speak glowingly of the opera, too, a Gounod creation of 1867 (it premiered eight years after his more famous “Faust”). “I love the piece,” says Ehrman. “It’s a beautiful translation of Shakespeare and very theatrical. Jules Barbier and Michel Carre devised a fine libretto. They condensed the characters and focused on the main story. Gounod was a smart composer who knew how to make the most of his literary material. As for the music he composed, it’s gorgeous.
“For the tenor and soprano,” Ehrman continues, “the opera is one long love duet with interruptions. There are five duets. It’s vocally challenging. But a plus at IU is the fact that the singers are closer to the ages of those in the drama than is usually the case when a professional company tackles the opera. They fit the theatrical situation comfortably.
“The tale is so familiar,” adds Zollman. “I get moved every time, and I always wish that the story would work out differently, that the two lovers would be reunited, that the story might end happily, even though I know it won’t. We are like children when it comes to such a good story.
“If people cry during the performances,” says conductor Zollman, “I won’t be hurt. I want them to love this wonderful couple and to enjoy the music, which is so passionate, so beautiful. Gounod has written a lovely piece, a truly touching version of the play.”
About another evening
Yael Weiss and Mark Kaplan join conductor Uriel Segal and the IU Chamber Orchestra on Wednesday for a performance of the Mendelssohn Double Concerto for Piano and Violin (particulars in “Show times”). They’ve sent along some background:
“This is a youthful and highly virtuoso work, from the same period as the Octet and the Piano Sextet that we performed at the Summer Festival. There are several exciting things about this event, even beyond the obvious connection with Mendelssohn’s anniversary year. It will be one of the first performances of this work in its full orchestral version, with newly discovered wind and timpani parts. Until these parts surfaced recently . this concerto was performed with only strings. The wind parts are not just filler material but substantially add to the richness and quality of the work. We are all very excited to be part of rediscovering this music in its proper form. Even in the string orchestra version, it is rarely heard, and with the full orchestration, it will be something close to a first performance.”
