Gone are the days when major opera companies cornered the market on commissioning new operas. Medium-sized, and even the smaller companies have gotten into the act of creating new works. Who gets hired and why? Once there, what’s it like?
The company offered luxury casting: Margaret Lattimore created the role of Charity Royall; Michael Chioldi that of Lucius Harney; John Cheek, Lawyer Royall; Joanna Johnston, Miss Hatchard; Michaela Gurevich, Annabelle Balch; Mark Schowalter, Reverend Miles; Jane Jennings, Allie Hawes; Matthew Lau, Liff Hyatt and Emily Lodine, Verena Marsh.
When singers prepare a classic repertory role, they ordinarily do a lot of research; my first question to everyone was how do you prepare for something new? The universal answer was, “I read the novel.” Some also read or were currently reading Wharton biographies. Visits to The Mount, Wharton’s home in nearby Lenox, MA was also part of the prep list. Bass Matthew Lau didn’t have time to do any of that, because he was hired only a week prior to the commencement of rehearsals! Lead soprano Margaret Lattimore also did some research online. “You wouldn’t believe how many pages came up!”
Berkshires local, John Cheek added, “In addition to the novel, mostly I spent a lot of time thinking about my character’s posture, how he moved differently in the presence of men, as opposed to women.”
Due to numerous commissions, Paulus didn’t deliver Act I until May, and Act II until mid-July. Rehearsals started in the first part of August. The singers not a whiney one amongst them all laughed upon being asked when they got the score. Joanna Johnston, who sang Miss Hatchard, knew a year in advance that the role was being written for her. The problem was, however, that she didn’t get Act II expressed to her until four days before re-hearsals began. Paulus himself admitted that it can be scary to get a score so close to rehearsals when you’re one of the lead characters and may be unfamiliar with a composer’s style. Luckily, Johnston knew Paulus’ work and style, and is a quick study. Lattimore confessed to being panic -stricken when the score became delayed. “I’m so used to showing up note- perfect and well re-hearsed,” she explained. “Some things were written and then re-written for me, so I had to relearn it! I wasted some of what little time I had, getting angry with myself for making mistakes. But when I arrived, they said, ‘well, that’s why we rehearse.’”
None of the cast, however large or small his part, thought this music was hard to learn. Johnston is the only one who confessed to the blessed curse of perfect pitch. “It’s certainly not a prerequisite to doing new works,” she said, “but it helps when you have to pick a pitch out of thin air.” When asked, she agreed that perfect pitch could get her into trouble as well.
“It wasn’t hard to learn because Stephen’s music conveys text so clearly. Text is of the utmost importance, the drama,” said Lattimore. “It’s accessible, and tonal, but you do have to count!” said another singer. Cheek was encouraging. “When I started working on Wozzeck, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done! I thought I’d never get it learned, but you just keep plugging away at it. I’m a firm believer in repetition. Eventually, it just sinks in.”
With a premiere, media exposure can be international in scope, rehearsal periods can be too short, and pressure to put on a great show most likely will be significantly higher than in standard repertoire. Sandy Fisher, BOC’s General Director told me that he budgeted more for everything and for half the usual number of sold out performances. Thus they spent a lot more for half as much performance income as usual. “We’re way over budget, and I knew we would be. I did not say no to anything.” Now that’s commitment to art.
Paulus conveyed that it’s not unusual for a new opera to languish after its first premiere and not be performed again for ten years. This means you learn something difficult, perhaps unlike anything else you’ve ever done, and stick your neck out for something you most likely won’t do again. And the work may be a dog anyway. So if this isn’t just about money, but about art, what’s in it for the singer?
The press will undoubtedly raise the profiles of several of the singers, but no one that I spoke to felt that this would have any great boost for their careers. “It will just add to what I’ve already done,” said Johnston. Lau said, “My philosophy is different than many. How people perceive me is often so much out of my hands that I don’t give it a whole lot of thought. It’s not for the career boost that singers take these jobs. They do it for the challenge and interest of doing something for the first time, not just the opportunity.” As one said, “When I sing this role, there’s no one out there listening to their favorite recording in their head and saying, ‘That’s not the way it is on the recording!’”
Another declared that she would like to do nothing but new music. Lau, who had just done three premieres with American Opera Projects in NYC, finds a big payoff in the chance to work with a composer during the writing. “The tricky part comes in the balance and respect. Realizing, yes, he is the composer, and whatever he comes up with I’m going to sing and I’m no longer part of the creative process.”
The consensus among the cast members I spoke with was that creating new music is not merely a responsibility; it is a thrill. For all of them, the experience brought to the forefront the original reason we all make music: the exciting, joyful, interesting discovery of the music on the page, which is then brought out of one’s heart. The process!
Lattimore was unreservedly enthusiastic about the opera, and the experience. “I’ve learned so much in this process! When I came in, I’d read the book, I knew my notes, I was as prepared as I could be. But at the same time, I came in with no preconceived notions. I’d look to the director and say, ‘I’m working without a net here. Tell me if it’s wrong. I’m going to try things.’ What I really found is that I’m not on the money all the time, but I’ve really been able to trust my instincts. I’ve never worked so hard in my life as I worked this summer, but it has been so rewarding! This brings you back to what it’s all about. It’s all about process. Process is 90 percent of our work. Performance is, what? Two, three or four percent? So if you don’t enjoy the process, if you don’t enjoy screwing up… I have to work very hard on that, because I’m not used to that. I’m not used to making mistakes.”
Cheek, for years a frequent performer at the Metropolitan Opera, still finds creating something new to be a fulfilling and challenging but not an intimidating process. He has done several twentieth century works with composers either at his elbow or on the podium. “You don’t have to ask yourself, ‘What did the composer mean?’ He’s right there! You just ask him. Composers are more flexible about their own work than conductors are about someone else’s. They are much more willing to bend.”
So how does one get hired to do a new work? Stephen Paulus, the composer, told me that Joel Revzen, conductor and Artistic Director of BOC, had consulted with him but that Revzen had done all the casting. Much of this had been done a year or more in advance. Nearly all the singers had worked with the company before. Lau, however, who was hired for this project at the last minute, got this job through his agent. The American Opera Projects jobs he got from somebody who recommended him. Then, after the performance of one of those premieres, three or four composers came up and asked him if he would be interested in working with them on other projects.
When it came to writing the opera, Paulus consulted extensively with the singers and wrote for their voices. “Where did the voice begin to speak? He asked. “What did the voice sound like when filled with emotion? How could the singers imbue the line with emotion without pausing for a vocal moment?” In effect, the composer fashioned a vocal garment tailored to show off the voices to the best emotional and dramatic advantage, making it something of a collaborative effort in some of the vocal writing. This is reminiscent of certain aspects of the relationships Mozart had with his sopranos.
Lattimore’s advice to others when working on a new opera: “Get a patient coach! You have to forgive yourself. In this type of situation you have to give up to making mistakes. You’re going to. It’s going to be this great happening. It’s going to be what it’s going to be. In that sense, it’s very liberating. I’ve learned so much about myself through all of this. It’s just been an amazing experience!” Joanna Johnston advises, “Just be open to what the music is, try to be true to what is written and understand what the composer had in his mind. Put yourself into it without reservation, without judging it.”
