Malkovich - Bartoli Their Master’s Voice
Music by Porpora, Haendel, Vivaldi and others…
World Premiere, in coproduction with Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo
From the heroes of Metastasio’s operas per-formed by castrati to the abundant travesty roles of the Romantic repertoire, we can affirm that in opera gender is a rather fluid concept. Throughout the 18th century no one was surprised to see kings and gods interpreted by artists with ethereal voices, nor, later, to see the ardent Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro disclosing the secrets of his heart in the lustrous colours of a mezzo-soprano’s timbre.
The concept of Their Master’s Voice was inspired by the mutual desire of two artists who hold each other in high esteem, namely John Malkovich, the memorable Valmont in Stephen Frears’ Liaisons Dangereuses, and Cecilia Bartoli, an artist in a constant search for reinvention. During the performance we shall see the composer and teacher of the finest voices of his time confront his most prestigious pupils: Farinelli and Caffarelli. Both theatrical narration and musical celebration, and the grand arias for castrati of the Baroque era, this “gender clash” will tell us more about the composer-master and his inestimable con-tribution to the glory of these singers and their angelic voices. The Austrian director Michael Sturminger will create this specially designed production which, after Monte Carlo, will be presented during the Barocchissimo week at the Wiener Staatsoper.
John Malkovich
Have you been to the Opéra de Monte-Carlo before?
We performed The Infernal Comedy at the Palais Garnier in Paris and I have pleasant associations with this wonderful opera house, so I am looking forward to return under Garnier’s roof.
You regularly appear in creations of pieces, where live music plays a large role, namely the Casanova project. What are the particular challenges for you in this type of genre – apart from their being newly conceived?
As an actor you have to be aware that music will always be stronger than anything you can do on a stage. You could rather walk through a brick wall than play against music, so I love to play around it.
Is it different for you to work with musicians ?
To work with musicians and singers is a fascinating challenge I have been taking more and more during the last fifteen years and the experience is still amazing and gratifying.
What do you expect from a new collaboration with Cecilia Bartoli?
I am in good hope to get a place quite close to Cecilia while she is singing. I don’t need to explain what a wonderful gift this will be. I’d gratefully turn the pages of her score, but since she always knows her music by heart, I had to think of something else.
Would you like to be a musician yourself, and if yes, which instrument would you play?
Although I dreamed of singing in the Vienna boys choir in my childhood, I later came to the conclusion that music is better without me.
What attracts you to Porpora and his times?
The heavenly beauty of the music we inherited, and the history of minds in the great age of enlightenment and reason that suffered from as many contradictions as our own times.
How do you see the dilemma between the wonderful art of the 18th century, which we enjoy today, the often splendid lives of the castrati, and the painful contrast with the irreparable physical damage inflicted upon them in their childhood?
It is above my pay grade to say something substantial about those horrific practices inflicted on children, apart from how far mankind can drift away from humanity.
Can you let on in a few words what this piece of theatre is going to be about?
Michael is still working on the piece and we are constantly in discussion about it, but if you ask me whether I can let on, in a few words, I am sorry, no, I can’t!