Austrian native Andreas Mitisek has made his home in Long Beach, Calif. for nearly 10 years as the general and artistic director of Long Beach Opera. He will soon make a second U.S. home in the Midwest’s largest city as he takes the helm at Chicago Opera Theater. Mitisek is a man of many talents, honed from his early studies of the organ, harpsichord, voice, and conducting. It’s no surprise, then, that he remains active as a conductor and stage director in addition to his LBO (and soon COT) duties.
I recently chatted with Mitisek to find out exactly what this Renaissance man has in mind for the Windy City.
You’re very well known as a conductor, and I don’t see that you’re conducting anything at Chicago Opera Theater in the next season. Is that something you’re going be doing in the future?
Well, we haven’t announced any casting or conductors or artistic teams for 2013. It’s not on my list. But, I am an artist, and if there’s the right thing, I might be doing it. I have worked a lot as stage director and designer here, and so one of the productions of next season, I will direct and design.
So you really do everything.
Well, everything is a big word, but I do a lot.
In Long Beach you’re sort of living under the shadow of LA Opera, and once you come to Chicago Opera Theater you’ll be sort of living under the shadow of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. What do you feel is the role of a smaller opera company that works in vicinity of a very large opera company?
I think actually it’s a great opportunity to have a large opera company like Los Angeles Opera or the Lyric, because they do all the great, mostly standard repertoire, with some exploration of some unusual repertoire. But what you have to have in both cities is filling in the gap of what repertoire is never going to be seen because it’s either too adventurous or maybe also not written for big houses like L.A. Opera or Chicago Lyric. So actually there is no competition—there is actually complementation between the two companies, and I see it less as being in the shadow than being in a different light. I think COT has a great tradition of [that], and I look forward to continuing that and exploring even more in the future—and also in a collaboration with Long Beach Opera in sharing some of the unusual productions that both companies are so well known for.
You do some pretty crazy stuff at Long Beach Opera, if I might say so.
I like that!
Do you think you’ll be able to get away with being that “on the edge” when you come here to Chicago?
Well, I think Long Beach Opera occupies the same niche as Chicago Opera Theater. You might call it crazy or rare or interesting . . . I think any of those words will apply at some point, more or less. I think that the audiences in Chicago are ready to see more of the different, in different ways, at the Harris Theater. Eventually I’ll direct some site-specific productions. I think there are a lot of opportunities to push the boundaries.
Site-specific? So are you talking about going out into different public spaces to do performances?
Yes. One of the opportunities that we have is not just performing at our home, the Harris Theater which is our main venue, but it’s also my goal to connect in the community outside—in the community with audiences . . . . That will also help take away some of the hesitation of patrons who are new to opera or theater who might consider going to spaces that are more familiar to them. Everyday spaces sometimes are a great location for art and connecting it to our experiences, and establishing that art that is actually in those spaces already.
The current general director of Chicago Opera Theater, Brian Dickie, is well known for liking his auditions to be really about the voice and about the singing, and not too much acting and movement. I was wondering if that’s something that’s going to change under you.
For me, the importance of singing is as important as it is for Brian. But for me the importance of acting and movement and telling a story with your voice is as important. So I’m not interested in just the singer who can sing; I assume that that’s the basic standard anyway. But I want singers that have the singing ability [and] equal ability to act and slip into the roles in many different ways and explore places they might not have . . . . So whatever I do, my auditions—and in some ways I have become infamous for, or famous for—my auditions involve more than just the voice. I work a lot with anyone who auditions for me . . . in exploring the acting abilities and finding out how far are they willing to go? As far as I can explore in an audition.
I think opera is just another way to tell a story. We each tell the story with the voice, but also with the body and the way we express theatrically. So I have a great emphasis on the acting and singing.
So when a singer comes to audition for you, they should expect something beyond, “What aria would you like to start with? Thank you. Good bye.”
Exactly. Usually in an audition—and you know, it’s a good thing—singers often have a routine of how to present themselves. There’s a certain routine—in a good way—that you prepare an aria the way you present it. Then for me it’s interesting to take that aria and work with the singer maybe in a way that is unexpected to them, and then find out, “OK, what is your ability in the moment to put on a different twist that I’m giving you?” So, it’s a very interesting thing and provides a lot of insight into how a singer deals with direction, from a stage director’s point [of view].
When singers come in for auditions and you ask them to change the way they’re performing their piece, do you find that most singers are open to suggestion, or do you find that it makes many people uncomfortable?
Well I think it’s a combination of both. Being put on the spot is an opportunity and a challenge at the same time. And being asked to do something you haven’t prepared is—you know, it depends on the personality. But that’s what I’m trying to find out from the singer, because I want to know what their hidden potential is. And often you find it out when you take away the first presentation. And I do it in a way that . . . I consider as nonthreatening, and mostly the experience for the singers is often actually liberating. For them to actually find a way to connect to an aria that they have done so often . . . [and then] to get a different look at it for a moment often provides really fascinating results—for me and for them.
Do you find that it’s easier to work with younger singers, or does it not matter about the age?
It’s hard to generalize that. Young singers are often eager and have less ingrained perceptions of the roles. They haven’t done the roles 50 times, that they’re going to say, “Oh, gee, this is the way I’m doing it.” But of course professional singers, great singers of any age, are able to take different directions—in how they sing it, from the music director, and in how they can incorporate a different view of the character in the portrayal as an actor. I have had great experiences with young singers and established singers—and also, you know, some not so satisfying experiences with either.
It sounds like you do things a little differently than most directors. What’s the craziest thing you’ve asked a singer to do in an audition?
Uh . . . make love to a piano.
Wow!
I shouldn’t give away the secret. It is surreal in some ways, but then it’s just a way of—again, it’s like in an acting exercise. What do you do with a direction like that? And that’s, for me, interesting to find out, and it really shows. Again, this is not what I do to everyone. But it’s just really interesting to see how can someone feel it in a different character. Even if it’s not perfect, but you just want to see how far someone’s willing to go in an instant, in a situation that they’re not really comfortable—like in a rehearsal situation, where you have a lot of intimacy and time to try it out and go back and forth. But you see this art in a singer. And that’s what I’m looking for. What makes you different from another soprano that is as good vocally as you might be . . . but what do you offer beyond that? And that’s what you find out with probably a little bit more unusual ways to explore your abilities.
You’re from Vienna originally?
Yes, yes.
And you’ve done a lot of conducting in Germany and Austria.
Yes, before. And then in the U.S., you know, a lot in Seattle. And I’ve conducted in Philadelphia, Austin, Vancouver, different places. My career is now mostly at Long Beach Opera. And the company has grown, almost tripled its budget and increased production size. Each year we now have four mainstage productions, and we’re going to add a fifth. So it’s a lot of dedication to that.
Do you intend to increase the season at the Chicago Opera Theater? Is that one of your goals?
Uh-huh. One of the goals is in five years—I call it my “5-5-5”—to do five productions in five years with a five million dollar budget. And I think that would take the side for Chicago Opera Theater to be present in the community, be present at the Harris, and have a presence throughout the year and not just in the festivals.
People like to talk a lot about different styles of opera production in Europe vs. America. As a person who’s conducted a lot in Europe and also here, what is your experience of that?
Well, first there’s a difference in the amount of rehearsal time that you have available. It is less in the U.S., which I think has its advantages, by really focusing on the important things that you need to achieve in a certain time . . . . And then I think the risk-taking is probably bigger, often times, in Europe, and maybe less so in the U.S., because ticket sales play such a big part, and underwriting . . . it’s often less adventurous.
Chicago Opera Theater has a very good program in place for reaching out to younger audiences. They have a young professions group and they have a very excellent use of social media [see CS, April 2009]. Do you intend to expand on the outreach to young audiences, or where do you plan to go with that?
Of course it’s always our goal to expand our reach to young audiences, because eventually they will become our main audience. And I think the earlier we start exposing young people to the arts in general, I think they gain more for their lives in having arts in their lives, and their appreciation just builds. So I think, yes, it’s a goal to reach more and further as we grow and hopefully the support for the programs grows. I think that a lot of great stuff is already in place, and I like to say, “We can do anything.” But we can’t do everything at the same time. So I think we’re going to grow these programs, certainly.
At Long Beach Opera you’ve had a lot of success bringing in audiences. Where have you found your audience?
I think it’s a strong message, it’s a strong brand, it’s a great offer on the price. I think a lot of the people who come spread the word about what we do, and we have had double-digit subscriber growth since 2008. Which just shows—our audiences are often more adventurous than our programming. So there is a need for these things that we’re doing. And I know it’s the same in Chicago. We’ll find more audience there, too. . . . Our marketing budget is very limited, like it is at the COT, so we just depend on very targeted initiatives—exchanging with other arts organizations, from museums, to theaters, to sometimes even social non-profits that we work with. I think the word itself gets out more and more.
Are you planning on moving to Chicago pretty much full time or are you going to stay in L.A. a lot of the time?
I will spend 50-50 of my time . . . living in Chicago and in Long Beach. I think there’s a lot of things that you can do anywhere in the world—and there are very important things that need to be done in the community, with the people, and so that’s what I will be focusing on.
What do you think of Chicago as a city?
I love it! I’m from Vienna, so for me the opportunity to be in a city like Chicago makes me feel very grounded, with all the culture and history that Chicago has. So I’m really excited about being part of the community. My European roots will really . . . appreciate putting [them] in the ground there.
