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.
LES MUSICIENS DU PRINCE – MONACO
PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor
Gianluca Capuano
Assistant conductor
Davide Pozzi
Director
Michael Sturminger
Assistant director
Fabio Andrea Rickenmann
Sets, costumes & vidéos
Renate Martin & Andreas Donhauser
Assistant costumes
Sabine Schlemmer
Lighting design
Benoit Vigan
Choirmaster
Stefano Visconti
Repetitor
Aurelio Scotto
SOLoISTS
Mezzosoprano
Cecilia Bartoli
Actor
John Malkovich
Actress
Emily Cox
Countertenor
Philipp Mathmann
chorus of the OPÉRA DE MONTE-CARLO
Choirmaster
Stefano Visconti
Pianist assistant to the choirmaster & consultant for the musical organisation
Aurelio Scotto
Chorus manager & librarian
Colette Audat
Sopranos I
Galia BAKALOV
Chiara IAIA
Felicity MURPHY
Sopranos II
Rossella ANTONACCI
Letizia PIANIGIANI
Laura Maria ROMO CONTRERAS
Mezzosopranos
Teresa BRAMWELL-DAVIES
Suma MELLANO
Federica SPATOLA
Altos
ORNELLA CORVI
Catia PIZZI
Rosa TORTORA
Tenors I
Lorenzo CALTAGIRONE
Domenico CAPPUCCIO
Nicolo LA FARCIOLA
Tenors II
Pasquale FERRARO
Adolfo SCOTTO DI LUZIO
Salvatore TAIELLO
Baritones
Vincenzo CRISTOFOLI
Luca VIANELLO
Basses
Przemyslaw BARANEK
Paolo MARCHINI
Edgardo RINALDI
Matthew THISTLETON
LES MUSICIENS DU PRINCE-MONACO
Violins I
Thibault NOALLY
Ágnes KERTÉSZ
Andrea VASSALLE
Anna URPINA RIUS
Roberto RUTKAUSKAS
Muriel QUISTAD
Violins II
Nicolas MAZZOLENI
Reyes GALLARDO
Francesco COLLETTI
Svetlana FOMINA
Laura CAVAZZUTI
Altos
Diego MECCA
Bernadette VERHAGEN
Patricia GAGNON
Elisa IMBALZANO
Cellos
Robin Geoffrey MICHAEL
Emilie WALLYN
Antonio Carlo PAPETTI
Guillaume FRANCOIS
Doubles basses
Roberto FERNÁNDEZ DE LARRINOA
Clotilde GUYON
Trumpet
Thibaud ROBINNE
Oboe
Pier Luigi FABRETTI
Theorbe
Elisa LA MARCA
Bassoon
Benny AGHASSI
Flute
Jean-Marc GOUJON
Harpsichord
Davide Pozzi
Gabriele Levi
Percussions
Paolo Nocentini
PERSONNEL DE SCENE
Stage director
Xavier Laforge
Main stage manager
Nicolas Payan
Lighting manager
Enza d’Auria
Surtitling manager
Sarah Caussé
Orchestra manager
Nicolas Payan
Assistant orchestra manager
Gleb Lyamenkov
TECHNIQUE
Technical director
Carlos Proenza
Technical adviser
Nicola Schmid
Head machinists
Carlo Grenier
Olivier Kino
Deputy head machinists
Yann MOREAU
Franck SATIZELLE
Stage technicians
Morgan Dubouil
Jean-François Faraut
Jean-Philippe Faraut
Schama Imbert
David M’Bappé
Khalid Negraoui
Chief electrician-video
Benoit Vigan
Deputy chief electrician
Gaël LE MAUX
Lighting technicians
Nicolas Alcaraz
Guillaume Bremond
Grégory CAMPANELLA
Marine Genna
Laurent RENAUX
Pupitreurs
Dylan CASTORI
Grégory MASSE
Head of audio/video
Benjamin GRUNLER
Vidéo technicians
Aron Malek
Felipe MANRIQUE
Head prop maker
Audrey MORAVEC
Accessorists
Roland Biren
Charline Torres
Head of costumes
Eliane Mezzanotte
Deputy head of costumes
EMILIE BOUNEAU
Assistant wardrobe manager
Véronique TETU
Dressers
Christian CALVIERA
Nadine CIMBOLINI
Karinne Martin
Roxane Avello
Chief wig and make-up
Déborah Nelson
Deputy Chief wig and make-up
Alicia Bovis
Hairdressers
Marilyn RIEUL
Make-up artists
Sophie KILIAN
Agnès LOZANO
Francine RICHARD
Patricia ROCHWERG
ticket office
Box office Manager
Virginie Hautot
Deputy Box office Manager
Jenna Brethenoux
Ticket service
Ambre Gaillard
Dima Khabout
Assmaa Moussalli
ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Ouverture - Nr 5 en Si bémol majeur RV379 III Allegro - Thibault Noally (violon)
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI (1710-1736)
Confitebor tibi domine « Confessio » - chœur, Philipp Mathmann
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Farnace « Gelido in ogni vena » - Cecilia Bartoli
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL (1685-1759)
Jephtha « How dark, O Lord, are thy decrees » - chœur
Amadigi di Gaula « Desterò dall’empia » - Cecilia Bartoli, Philipp Mathmann, Thibaud Robinne (trompette), Pier Luigi Fabretti (hautbois)
AGOSTINO STEFFANI (1654-1728)
Niobe, regina di Tebe « Amami, e verdrai » - Cecilia Bartoli, Philipp Mathmann, Elisa La Marca (théorbe)
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL
Orlando Furioso « Sol da te, mio dolce amore » - Cecilia Bartoli, Jean-Marc Goujon (flûte)
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL
Semele
« Avert these omens! » - chœur
« Ah me! Too late I now repent » - Cecilia Bartoli
« Oh, terror and astonishment » - chœur
Ariodante « Battaglia » - orchestre
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Stabat mater « Quando corpus » - Cecilia Bartoli, Philipp Mathmann
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL
Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno « Lascia la spina » - Cecilia Bartoli
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)
L’incoronazione di Poppea « Pur ti miro »
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!
The curtain opens to the first stage rehearsal of a new opera project - in this case to a rather unconventional pasticcio, conceived by a retired American counter tenor called Jeffrey Himmelhoch, to honor his lifelong idol, the famous 18th century superstar castrato Farinelli.
During the rehearsal, which is guided by young director Rosie Blackwell, Jeff is constantly unhappy with the circumstances and complaining about the production conditions he has been given by the inviting Opera House, since he had experienced much better times, having being a world star in the eighties and nineties.
While Jeff is trying to combine the most beautiful musical pieces of baroque opera history with the personal tragic, heroic and iconic story of his singing idol Farinelli, Rosie is trying to raise contemporary questions about gender and identity within the context, making the point that "Art has no gender!"
For his show, Jeff has invited a young counter tenor called Lukas Dahlberg, to enact the life of the young castrato but has also been searching hopelessly for a mezzo soprano with a voice high enough to meet Farinelli's vocal range. As such voices are only to be found with the help of miracles, we will never really figure out, how the magical appearance of the unbelievable Maddalena Cigno, the singer who safes "Their Masters Voice" can be understood or explained.
Michael Sturminger