EDMONTON OPERA PRESENTS 2012/13 ATB CANADIAN SERIES
SHELTER a nuclear family adrift in the atomic age
MUSIC: JULIET PALMER || LIBRETTO: JULIE SALVERSON
Co-produced with Tapestry New Opera
Bravo, Edmonton Opera. We are proud to support original opera productions—made by Canadians... for Canadians.
WELCOME It’s certainly not every day that the world premiere of an opera happens in Edmonton. So to be able to present Shelter for the first time ever, as part of the brand new ATB Canadian Series, is doubly exciting. The idea behind the series was to provide audiences with a chance to experience contemporary Canadian opera, while also building new audiences for this living art form. With the support and leadership that ATB Financial has demonstrated with their corporate investment, we are able to produce and present two shorter operas in more intimate venues, in addition to our three regular mainstage productions. It’s a balanced mix — fall in love with the classics for the first time (or again!) on our main stage, while experiencing something new and intriguing during the ATB Canadian Series. The two Canadian works that make up the ATB Canadian Series complement each other nicely — while Shelter has never been performed before, Svadba — Wedding (January) toured Europe in October and composer Ana Sokolović received a Dora Award for Outstanding New Musical/ Opera in summer 2012. With support from individuals, corporations, foundations and grantors, this is just one more way that we are making opera come alive in the capital city. Ladies and gentlemen, the curtain is about to rise.
Sandra Gajic CEO | Edmonton Opera
3
THANK YOU LIQUOR DEPOT FOR HOSTING THE EXPERIENCE EARLIER THIS MONTH This exciting prelude to the Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival was a success again and benefits two great organizations in the community, the Edmonton Opera and the University Hospital Foundation. Through this event, Liquor Depot has been able to donate $3.5 million in total to the community since The Experience began.
4
Edmonton Opera ATB Canadian Series Presents
SHELTER A co-production with Tapestry New Opera Nov. 15, 16, 17, 18 Music by Juliet Palmer Libretto by Julie Salverson Premiere: Nov. 15, 2012 Music Director: Wayne Strongman Director: Keith Turnbull
CAST
(in order of vocal appearance)
Lise Meitner — Andrea Ludwig Thomas — Peter McGillivray Claire — Christine Duncan Hope — Maghan McPhee Pilot — Keith Klassen Supernumerary — Connor Lafarga
ORCHESTRA Jesse Dietschi — Double Bass & Electric Bass Sharon Lee — Violin Robert MacDonald — Electric Guitar Gregory Oh — Piano Ryan Scott — Percussion Robert Stevenson — Clarinet & Bass Clarinet
Scenery and Costumes designed by Sue LePage Lighting designed by Beth Kates Video designed by Ben Chaisson Movement Director: Jo Leslie Assistant Music Director: Michael Hidetoshi Mori Production Director: Aidan Cosgrave Production Stage Manager: Isolde Pleasants-Faulkner Assistant Stage Manager: Anna Davidson Lighting Assistant: Jennifer Lennon The performance is approximately 75 minutes long. *SURTITLES™ by Gunta Dreifelds *SURTITLES™ invented by the Canadian Opera Company in 1983 and introduced worldwide with their production of Elektra by Richard Strauss.
Edmonton Opera is a professional company operating within the jurisdiction of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Edmonton Opera is a member of the Professional Opera Companies of Canada and Opera America.
5
LIBRETTIST’S NOTE
Julie Salverson
I’ve always been attracted to catastrophic events. Joseph Campbell says “Follow your bliss,” and while most people go after love or fulfillment, I’m drawn to tragedy and the fault lines in the psyche of a culture, the secrets that fester in families, leak quietly into communities and eventually — sometimes — explode. Such is the story of Shelter. In 2002 I entered Tapestry’s composer-librettist laboratory with a story about how, during World War Two, uranium had been mined on the land of the Sahtúgot’ine — the Bear Lake People of the Northwest Territories. Years later, the Dene discovered that the product of their labour — and that of white miners — made its way, if indirectly, to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Their response to this news was to fly to Japan in 1998 and apologize to survivors. I heard this story from scholar Peter van Wyck, who had stumbled upon Peter Blow’s documentary Village of Widows. In the lib-lab, I met composer Juliet Palmer. Juliet was wickedly adventurous and ready to dive into the wackiness of this project with all her compositional hutzpah. What followed was a 10-year adventure. We worked incredibly, sometimes impossibly, collaboratively. We researched every angle on the atomic story, from the lives of the scientists, to the structure of the atom, and eventually departed from the historical events along the Highway of the Atom into the world of fable. In 2003 Tapestry gave us our opera “audition”: a short piece to open the company’s new studio. The response to Over the Japanese Sea encouraged us. Instead of sitting back immobilized by the idea of the bomb, audience members chatted about their connections to the atomic story. The reaction, this engagement, confirmed our desire to make the opera about the effects of the atomic age on ordinary people, not a creation of iconic figures, heroic or tragic. Early workshops involved singers, actors, even students in my Queen’s University acting class, willing to explore the world of clown. This was helped enormously by Vancouver’s Leaky Heaven Circus Director Steven Hill. “Clown” evolved into a vocabulary that we now draw from the world of the contemporary cartoon. But the roots of the red-nosed clown are important to how Shelter was written. Inspired by the work of French teacher Philippe Gaulier, our clown begins with nothing, is in fact ridiculous but is innocent of the impossibility of hope. Ridicule, loss and suffering are a part of life; flopping, messing up is inevitable. “In the face of this, let us begin,” says this clown. It is frightening, there is a nakedness in this kind of contact. The clown is not a hero but is heroic in courage, in being available to the possible, no matter how absurd and unlikely. Pleasure, joy and fun in this context are not spectacle or escape, but rather the deadly game of living with loss, living despite failure, despite the humiliation of trying endlessly. As Hill says, “Always stay in the shit, that is where the humanity and the possibilities lie.”
6
My thanks to my husband Bill Penner, and to Peter van Wyck, fellow traveller along the Highway of the Atom.
COMPOSER’S NOTE
Juliet Palmer
The Cold War hovered over my childhood, threatening imminent catastrophe and planetary doom. Growing up in New Zealand was no guarantee of safety — the governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United States all conducted nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean. This was brought home in 1985 when I heard the explosive boom as the French government bombed the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour. Skip ahead 15 years and I became a citizen of Canada, a country with a strikingly different atomic history. The lights in my house are powered by nuclear power and my neighbourhood in Toronto hosts a uranium fuel pellet processing plant. At night I lie in bed listening to the haunting sound of train whistles and wonder if another shipment of uranium has arrived from the West. In some sense we all live along the Highway of the Atom and everywhere is downwind. Tripping over tailings and bogged down in radioactive mud, perhaps laughter and beauty will cause us to linger a moment and consider which path leads us out of this mess. Inspired by both the wondrous beauty and terrible danger of science, I’ve drawn upon music from along the Highway of the Atom: • Scientists at Los Alamos listened to big band music on the radio as they waited for the weather to clear before detonating the first atomic bomb in the desert. This prompted me to underpin Thomas and Claire’s love-at-first-sight meeting with a distorted version of Duke Ellington’s I’m Beginning to See the Light, a song which topped the charts in 1945. • The physicist Lise Meitner was an ardent lover of Brahms Lieder: much of Meitner’s musical language inhabits this world. Three songs form the bedrock of her character: Nein es is nicht auszukommen mit den Leuten (“No, there’s no getting along with other people”); Flammenauge, dunkles haar (“Flaming eyes, dark hair”); and Sind es Schmerzen, sind es Freuden (“Are they sorrows, are they joys?”). • As Hope and the Pilot fall in love, the Pilot sings a fragment of an Otomi song from the desert people of the Trinity Test site: “In the sky, a moon.” • Hope’s character sings in the spirit of the post-atomic age — from rock and roll to Japanese punk. My thanks to my husband and fellow composer James Rolfe.
7
SYNOPSIS Shelter: a nuclear family adrift in the atomic age. Since Prometheus stole fire from the gods, we have flirted with the dangerous beauty of science. In this cartoon fable, a father protects his family at any cost. Thomas and Claire fall madly in love at a fundraising party. Thomas has decided to “find a wife, get a life,” while Claire wants a man “with a heart and a bank account.” As they birth a glowing daughter called Hope, a midwife hovers in the background. She is physicist Lise Meitner, co-discoverer of fission, who warns that “chemistry isn’t enough, you need form, elegance, physics, to release this fire, this hidden energy.” As the growing girl wanders restlessly from basement to attic, “stuck within this house, a secret in this house,” Thomas tries desperately to hide his daughter from outside eyes. He hires Meitner to be Hope’s governess, and the young girl presses her teacher to explain the bewildering world of war and love. On Hope’s 21st birthday, a mysterious force draws a young man to her door. He is the Pilot, with a destiny to fulfill.
8
ARTISTS' PROFILES JULIET PALMER – COMPOSER Based in Toronto, Juliet Palmer's work has been featured around the world with performances at New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Southbank Centre, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Bath International Festival, Voix Nouvelles France, Italy’s Angelica Festival, Evenings of New Music Bratislava, Musica Ficta Festival Lithuania, NYYD Festival Estonia, The Istanbul Festival, Soundculture Japan, the Adelaide Festival, the New Zealand International Arts Festival and Canada’s Sound Symposium. Juliet is the artistic director of Urbanvessel, a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration. Recent works include Stitch, Slip and Voice-Box. Upcoming projects include Sweat, an a cappella opera with writer Anna Chatterton and director Tim Albery (Soundstreams Canada), Daughters of the Ocean with playwright and singer Sharada Eswar, and a new work for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Juliet was the 2011/12 Creative New Zealand/Jack C. Richards composer-inresidence at the New Zealand School of Music and is the 2012 composer-in-residence of Vector Wellington Orchestra.
JULIE SALVERSON – LIBRETTIST Julie Salverson writes plays, essays and libretti, and has published extensively about the artist as witness to stories of violence, historical memory, ethics and the imagination. Plays include Boom, Thumbelina and The Haunting of Sophie Scholl. In 2011/12 she was Playwright in Residence at the Royal Military College of Canada. Her feature about Canada and the atomic bomb, “They Never Told Us These Things,” appears online in Maisonneuve Magazine (Summer 2011) and was nominated for a National Magazine Award. She edited Community Engaged Theatre (2011), and Popular Political Theatre and Performance (2010), Playwrights Canada Press. She received an honourable mention in 2008 from Malahat Review, Creative Nonfiction Prize (with Peter van Wyck) and in 2009 she was a CBC Literary Awards finalist. She performed her prose poem The Loyal Wife at Ekphrasis 12, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010. Julie teaches drama at Queen’s University. She is working on the book Lines of Flight: an atomic memoir.
9
WAYNE STRONGMAN – MUSIC DIRECTOR One of Canada’s most distinguished music directors, Wayne Strongman is the Artistic Director and CEO of Tapestry New Opera. He has commissioned and premiered over 30 new Canadian operas, including the Cantonese-English Iron Road (Brownell/ Chan, 2001), Facing South (Hannah/Smith), The Shadow (Poch-Goldin/Daniel) and Nigredo Hotel (MacDonald/Gotham). He is the director/dramaturge of Tapestry’s Composer-Librettist Laboratory, and is committed to a contemporary practice within the operatic form. After conducting and premiering Sanctuary Song (Chan/Richardson) and Dark Star Requiem (Battson/Staniland) for Luminato, Wayne has increasingly focused on relationships with like-minded producers like Edmonton Opera and Scottish Opera UK to develop homes for the exciting new operas emerging from the Tapestry New Opera Works studio. He is one of 50 Canadian Ambassadors for New Music (Canadian Music Centre, 2009), and honoured as a member of the Order of Canada (2010) for his innovative leadership of Tapestry and dedication to the children of Regent Park.
KEITH TURNBULL – DIRECTOR Keith Turnbull’s directing career is highlighted by a commitment to contemporary and new work in both theatre and opera. He worked as a producer, designer and director in London, Ont., before becoming the assistant to the artistic director at the Stratford Festival. He has also worked as an artistic director for the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Neptune Theatre Second Stage, as a director at Tarragon Theatre, founded NDWT Co., and worked as the artistic director/executive producer of theatre arts for the Banff Centre. Keith has directed 90 plays for theatres across Canada and directed and developed operas for Coups de Théâtre, nexmap, Norbotten Music Theatre, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Music Theatre Wales, Peteå Chamber Opera, Tapestry New Opera Works, Welsh National Opera and Vancouver Opera. Most recently, in Sweden he directed the much-acclaimed world premiere of Carl Unander-Scharin’s The Crystal Cabinet for which he was co-librettist.
10
ANDREA LUDWIG – LISE MEITNER Andrea Ludwig has had great success as a performer of contemporary opera, premiering new works as well as in the traditional mezzo-soprano repertoire. Her charm and warmth, as well as her easy sense of humour are perfect for stage, and her vibrant musicality makes her a favourite to all her audiences. Very much in demand for contemporary opera, this June she was heard with Tapestry New Opera in Toronto in the new opera The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. (Gervais/Murphy). Also, as part of the multi Dora-nominated Queen of Puddings production of Svadba – Wedding, she will be reprising that role in France and Serbia (October 2012) and then again with Edmonton Opera in 2013. With concert work, Andrea returns to Symphony Nova Scotia next season to premiere Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs, after having been featured for their Orchestral Currents series in 2011.
PETER MCGILLIVRAY – THOMAS Award-winning Saskatchewan baritone Peter McGillivray has been gaining accolades on both the concert and operatic stage. Stage works last season included Pagliacci (Silvio), Gianni Schicchi (Betto) and Moby Dick (Stubb) for Calgary Opera, Gianni Schicchi (Marco) for the Canadian Opera Company and La Bohème (Schaunard) for Opera Lyra Ottawa. He was also featured at the Festival of the Sound (Parry Sound) and in Tapestry’s Shelter workshop last summer. This coming season will see him as the Vicar in Pacific Opera Victoria’s Albert Herring. A former member of the Ensemble Studio of the Canadian Opera Company, he made his professional debut with the company as Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), followed by Coffee Canata, Albert Herring and Faust. Highlights of past seasons include Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Tanglewood, a Debut Atlantic tour of the Maritime provinces, recitals in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Saskatoon and Ottawa, and engagements with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Regina Symphony and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec.
11
CHRISTINE DUNCAN – CLAIRE A musical chameleon with a near five-octave range, Christine Duncan uses her voice as an instrument, exploring its full tonal, timbral and textural range. She is involved in everything from jazz, R&B, gospel, improvised music and sound poetry, to new music and musique actuelle. Christine has been a member of the Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation big band for over 15 years. She is one half of Barnyard Drama, an improvising duo of drums, electronics and voice, with Jean Martin, who also runs Barnyard Records. Christine and Jean also have a trio with DB Boyko called Idiolalla which has an album on the Ambiances Magnétiques label in Montreal. Christine has created, developed and regularly performs with an improvising choir in Toronto, called the Element Choir. Christine is an active educator and teaches in the jazz programs at the University of Toronto and Humber College. For more information on Christine Duncan and upcoming events, see www.barnyardrecords.com. MAGHAN MCPHEE – HOPE A native of Timmins, Ont., soprano Maghan McPhee’s voice has been described as “brilliant, with warm lyricism” (Times Argus). Maghan was a semi-finalist in the Montreal International Voice Competition and winner of the silver medal at the esteemed Eckhardt-Gramatté competition, which focuses on new music. The bilingual Ontarian made her debut at Carnegie Hall where she gave the world premiere of a work by Ryan Carter. Other highlights include her debut recital at the National Arts Centre, a recital at the Juilliard School with pianist Joel Harder and performances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, on the main stage at the National Arts Centre under Pinchas Zukerman’s baton, and at the National Gallery of Canada. She has sung throughout Canada and in Italy, France and Austria. Maghan was pleased to join the voice faculty at Carleton University this past fall.
12
KEITH KLASSEN – PILOT Keith Klassen has emerged to become one of Canada’s busiest tenors, with engagements across Canada, Scotland, Germany, the United States, Ireland and the Czech Republic. This past season he was featured with the Pax Christi Chorale in Elgar’s The Kingdom and as Prince Edwin in Gypsy Princess with Toronto Operetta Theatre. Appearing frequently with the latter, he has starred in Count of Luxembourg (Count Rene), Die Fledermaus (Alfred), The Bird Seller (Count Stanislaus), Patience (Reginald Bunthorne), Gondoliers (Marco) and The Chocolate Soldier (Alexius). He has also been seen with the Canadian Opera Company as Nick (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Spoletta (Tosca), with Vancouver Opera as Jimmy (Lillian Alling), with Saskatoon Opera as Don Jose (Carmen), and as Alfred with Opera Hamilton (Die Fledermaus). Keith was last seen with Edmonton Opera in Falstaff as Dr. Caius and is pleased to continue his work with Tapestry New Opera Works, joining their newly formed studio company.
SUE LEPAGE – STAGE & COSTUME DESIGN A Toronto-based set and costume designer, Sue LePage’s design credits include Arms and the Man, Candida, Ragtime, Saint Joan, The Magic Fire, Bus Stop, Something on the Side and Pygmalion (Shaw Festival), The Real Inspector Hound and The Chairs (Soulpepper Theatre Company), The Ventriloquist (Factory Theatre), Lillian Alling, Frobisher and Filumena (Calgary Opera/Banff Centre), No Exit, The Human Voice and The Elephant Song (Stratford Festival), Fish Wrap, Capture Me, Side Man, Soldier’s Heart, Perfect Pie, The Four Lives of Marie, The Memory of Water and Lion in the Streets (Tarragon Theatre), Zadie’s Shoes (Factory Theatre and Winter Garden Theatre), The Lonesome West, Billy Bishop Goes to War (national tour), The Glorious 12th, Dancing at Lughnasa, Death and the Maiden and The Elephant Man (CanStage), Juliet (and Romeo), Merlin, Jacob Two-Two, Anne and Treasure Island (Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People/Young People’s Theatre) and Anastasia (Ballet Jorgen). She has also worked on productions with companies in Charlottetown, Halifax, Ontario, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. BETH KATES – LIGHTING DESIGN Beth Kates is an award-winning theatrical lighting, set, costume and production designer, a production manager, a project consultant and the co-creative director/designer of Playground Studios (founded with partner Ben Chaisson). Career highlights include lighting design for Spurt of Blood and Miinigoowezewin (Banff Arts Festival), Anaconda (Tangent Montreal), Music for Contortionist (Shaw Festival and Tarragon Theatre, Dora Award winner), and numerous works by choreographer Learie McNicols. She has done set design for Assassins (Adam Brazier) and production design for Such Creatures (Judith Thompson, world premiere), Dark Star Requiem (LuminaTO/Tapestry New Opera Works) and Yichud (Julie Tepperman). She is developing in-depth projection workshops with Playground Studios and Playwrights Workshop Montreal while leading master classes and workshops in projection and theatrical design. Other projects include The ToyBox (SummerWorks Festival commission) which is in further development with other arts and community organizations, while Playground Studios will produce a new work (Untangled Headphones), and Night Light Travels for Nuit Blanche Toronto.
13
BEN CHAISSON – VIDEO DESIGN Ben Chaisson is an award-winning professional theatre designer based in Toronto. He works in sound and video projection for theatre, across Canada and around the globe. He has worked on stages in places as far off as New Zealand, Scotland, Italy and Germany. In Canada his designs have been seen and heard in theatres in St. John’s, his native Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria. His sound, video and set designs for Bigger Than Jesus (with wife Beth Kates) were nominated for two 2005 Dora Awards, as well as two Betty Mitchell Awards. His latest projection design project, The Eco Show with Necessary Angel Theatre Company, received its world premiere at the Festival TransAmeriques in Montreal, and recently enjoyed a successful run at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. One of his latest projects included making noise and images for Hard Sell (Daniel Brooks/Daniel MacIvor), which premiered at Toronto’s Berkeley Downstairs Theatre in April 2009. JO LESLIE – MOVEMENT DIRECTOR Jo has contributed to over 120 productions in theatre and dance as a choreographer, movement director, dramaturge, director and coach. Highlights include Paris 1994 (The Dietrich Group, World Stage), A Chair in Love (new opera, Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea, Wales), Vaudevilles of Chekhov, Hamlet, The Wrong Son (National Arts Centre), Taming of the Shrew, The Odyssey and The Liar (Stratford Festival), The List (Nightwood Theatre), and Tour BusT (on a travelling Greyhound bus). Upcoming projects include the new opera, Elephant Man, with NorrlandsOperan, Sweden. Jo was the company movement coach at the Stratford Festival (2005–08) and principal movement teacher at the National Theatre School (1990–2001).
14
MICHAEL MORI – ASSISTANT MUSIC DIRECTOR Michael's experience includes 20 years as a performer and recording artist, eight years as an opera director, and seven years as a music director, including a Juno nomination with musica intima. His training encompasses theatre, dance and music, including a master’s in opera performance. Michael had his Toronto directing debut with Tapestry New Opera for Opera Briefs in September 2012. Michael is currently being mentored under Wayne Strongman as a conductor. ISOLDE PLEASANTS-FAULKNER – PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Isolde Pleasants-Faulkner has most recently been working for the University of Toronto, C.O.S.I. in Italy, Mirvish Productions, and Koerner Hall. Isolde has stage managed many productions for Tapestry, Opera Atelier and the Canadian Opera Company. Additional favourite projects have ranged from a trip to Riga, addressing “Eastern European Technical Directors,” and production operations for the Rolling Stones' SARS Concert. Isolde is ever grateful to her two sons, Gavin and Ryan, for their support. ANNA DAVIDSON – ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Anna is excited to be working at the opera again! Previous Edmonton Opera credits include: The Mikado, The Barber of Barrhead and Carmen. She has also worked as a stage manager for the Citadel Theatre, Northern Light Theatre, Shadow Theatre, Workshop West, Theatre Network, Concrete Theatre, and L’Uni Théâtre. Anna is a graduate of the theatre production program at MacEwan and the theatre performance program at Red Deer College.
15
SHELTER PRODUCTION WARDROBE
HEAD ELECTRICIAN
Industry Costumes
Alison Hardy
TITLE CUER
ASSISTANT HEAD ELECTRICIAN
Jacquie Dawkins PROPS
The Rabbit's Choice & Air Magic CRIB BY
McWood, welded by Josh Hall WIGS BY
Jacqueline Robertson-Cull MAKEUP CONSULTANT
Samantha Miller HOUSE TECHNICIAN FOR LA CITÉ FRANCOPHONE
Joseph Race WARDROBE RUNNING
Michelle Warren HEAD SCENIC PAINTER
Shanna Orgovan ASSISTANT HEAD SCENIC PAINTER
Melanie Brasch PROPS RUNNING
Katie Hartfeil
Eric Martin
TAPESTRY NEW OPERA ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CEO
Wayne Strongman BUSINESS DIRECTOR & COO
Caroline Mackey ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR METCALF FOUNDATION INTERN
Michael Hidetoshi Mori DEVELOPMENT & DONOR STEWARDSHIP MANAGER
Lauren Shoolman RESIDENT DIRECTOR
Tom Diamond BOOKKEEPER
Tammi Hensch 16
EDMONTON OPERA CEO
Sandra Gajic
BOX OFFICE BOX OFFICE MANAGER
Tara-Lee LaRose FINANCE CFO
Analee Roman ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT
Serene Yau
COMMUNITY RELATIONS DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Jelena Bojic ADMIN COORDINATOR & BOARD SECRETARY
Gwen Horvath EDUCATION & COMMUNITY OUREACH COORDINATOR
Amanda MacRae CREATIVE COORDINATOR
Cameron MacRae GRANT WRITER
Kelly Sheard COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Catherine Szabo MARKETING COORDINATOR
Lauren Tenney
BOX OFFICE CLERK
Rebecca Anderson
ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATOR & CHORUS MASTER
Michael Spassov COMPANY MANAGER & STAGE MANAGER
Ha Neul Kim
PRODUCTION & TECHNICAL STAFF DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION
Tim Yakimec TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Clayton Rodney ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Jeffrey McAlpine HEAD OF PROPS
Chantel Fortin HEAD OF WARDROBE
Deanna Finnman HEAD SCENIC CARPENTER
Greg Brown
SPECIAL EVENTS COORDINATOR
Stacy Young
17
Are you ��–��? DISCOVER OPERA at a great price! E $25 season membership gets you and a guest:
edmo
nto n
op e ra
X PLO R – S VA D ja n u
BA–
ary
2013
$20 TICKETS to 3 operas GREAT SEATS FREE DRINKS on Tuesdays EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS
ERS
edmontonopera.com/explorers
Are you ��–��?
Continue your love affair with
OPERA JOIN
EDMONTON OPERA
encore!
GREAT PERKS & DISCOUNTS WITH NO MEMBERSHIP FEE!
edmontonopera.com/encore
SHELTER BACKGROUND LISE MEITNER (1878-1968) Lise:
In 1915 I almost lost my love — of physics — 40 kilometres from the Russian front. Every day more wounded men While I made X-rays of their broken bodies. Hitler takes Austria. I am Jewish, so leave Berlin with no goodbyes. Escape across the border to exile in Sweden. After 30 years of work, Shall I be left without even a few books? I’m as free as a bird, of use to no one. But still I refuse the invitation, This Manhattan Project. I refuse to answer death with death.
Meitner hated being called “Mother of the Atomic Bomb.” Born to a Jewish family in Vienna, she gained a PhD in physics before embarking on a 30-year research partnership with chemist Otto Hahn in Berlin. “When our work was going well we sang duets, mostly Brahms Lieder.” During World War One she developed X-rays on the front lines, an experience that gave her a horror of war. When Hitler invaded Austria in 1938 Meitner escaped to Sweden. Her part in articulating the process of fission should have awarded her the Nobel Prize, an oversight that was partly corrected when she, Fritz Strassmann and Hahn were given the Enrico Fermi Award in 1966. She refused the security, recognition and comfort that would have accompanied a job on the Manhattan Project, and when Hollywood came calling, told an executive, “I would rather walk the length of Broadway in the nude than see myself in a movie.”
SCIENTISTS Lise: Pilot: Lise:
I take my place in this family. With Fermi, Bohr, Einstein... The secret to penetration is to slow down. The indivisible can be divided.
An extraordinary group of scientists was involved in the discovery of nuclear fission. Italian Enrico Fermi was the first to artificially generate radioactivity in 1934. He and his colleagues discovered that the radioactivity of a metal was 100 times greater when the neutrons bombarding it were slowed down by water or paraffin — an experiment successfully performed in a goldfish pond. Albert Einstein developed the theory of general relativity, proving that the indivisible could be divided and the solid was not stable. 19
FISSION Lise:
The atom hides a nucleus, Electrons in an atom, like raisins in a pound cake! The journey to fission is a jumble of paths, blind alleys. Chemistry isn’t enough. You need form, elegance, physics To release this fire, this hidden energy. To shatter, to split, you need physics. Can you see me walking in the snow with a young man? Physics warmed us both — our voices rising to a fever pitch As we talked our way to fission.
In December 1938, chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman bombarded uranium with neutrons and identified barium in the residue, “splitting” the atom and creating nuclear fission. Hahn, bewildered by the results, wrote immediately to Lise Meitner in Sweden. It was Christmas and her nephew, physicist Otto Robert Frisch, was visiting. Frisch went for a ski in the wood, Meitner hurrying beside him through the snow, carrying the letter. Stopping to rest, they sat on a tree trunk while Meitner made calculations on a scrap of paper. She was able to articulate, in the first theoretical explanation of nuclear fission, what had just happened in the German laboratory.
MANHATTAN PROJECT Hope:
My bones hold secrets. Men carried me. Science handled me. A jumble of paths from the mine to the lake, Through burial grounds thick with bones To the desert’s burning heat!
Roosevelt, Churchill and Mackenzie King signed the secret tripartite Quebec Agreement in 1943. In the United States, control of atomic research was transferred from scientists to a Military Policy Committee, code name the Manhattan Project. Barely a dozen of the 150,000 people eventually employed knew the scope of the project, and few knew it was focused on an atomic bomb. Many of the scientists and their families lived in the remote New Mexico mesa town of Los Alamos. The other two “secret cities” were Hanford, Washington, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
20
TRINITY TEST Pilot: Your eyes are brighter than a thousand suns. Claire: I see shining… two suns. The first atomic bomb was exploded in the desert in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. The brilliance of the light overshadowed the shockwave that arrived later. Witnesses remember the sound bouncing off the mountains, while “the heat was like opening up an oven door, even at 10 miles.” Some people saw “two suns.”
PILOT Pilot:
I fly the plane. I’ll try anything they throw at me, and get the boys home when it’s done. The physicist told me: “Turn 149 degrees as fast as you can. Then get the hell out of there.” Two twenty-seven a.m. Climbing to thirty-one thousand feet. I see it! All clear!
The character of the Pilot draws upon two historical pilots: Paul Tibbets and Claude Eatherly. Tibbets was captain of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Naming the plane after his mother, Tibbets never expressed regret for the mission, saying the job had to be done and he did it. Claude Eatherly, a cavalier young Texan who wore a silk scarf and married an actress, flew the weather reconnaisance plane and was responsible for sending the signal to bomb. Eatherly was haunted after the war and, when his mental health deteriorated, committed robberies and sent money to victims in Hiroshima. Eventually, he was confined to a mental institution.
THE HIGHWAY OF THE ATOM Pilot:
I fly the plane. I check the instruments, follow the curve of the earth. I look below: a lake, a river, a mine that glows in the dark.
“The Highway of the Atom” was the name given to the Canadian trade route over which uranium ore from the Eldorado Mine on Great Bear Lake, near Déline, N.W.T., was transported. Ninety-pound sacks of ore were carried by Dene workers who lived on the mine site and slept in tents made from the sacks. The ore was taken by boat, portage and train to be refined in Port Hope, Ont., and then sent to the Manhattan Project.
Quoted texts and sources include Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics by Ruth Simes; Flammenauge lyrics by Georg Daumer (trans. Palmer); Sind es Schmerzen, sin des Freuden lyrics by Johan Ludwig Tieck (trans. Palmer) and Otomi song. 21
SVADBA–
WEDDING T here were five chances that Svadba – Wedding would earn some recognition at the Toronto Dora awards last June, but composer Ana Sokolović said she was still surprised that she was presented with the Outstanding New Musical/Opera award.
“It’s very important to me that I got this award, of course, because it proves that my ideas passed, my artistic idea was clear to the audience — this is why we are working, why we are putting this together,” she said over the summer.
Svadba tells the story of five women on the night before a wedding, preparing their best friend, Milica, for the ceremony the following day. Using Serbian poetry for inspiration and drawing on the rhythmic quality of the Slavic language, Sokolović said she is telling a universal story, so language comprehension isn’t always necessary. “We will have the surtitles, but the idea is, even if you don’t understand the words, the main idea of this opera is just to look and understand the feelings,” she said. Traditionally, Serbian wedding preparations take place over seven days, she explained, which is why the opera takes place in seven acts. Other than the language, the rite of passage could be taking place anywhere in the world, Sokolović said. “That was my idea. To be inspired by my origins, to be inspired by the Serbian language, to be inspired by many, many things, but to be universal at the same time,” said Sokolović, who was born in Belgrade, Serbia, but moved to Canada in 1992. In fact, the 20th anniversary of her international move was in July 2012, she said, quickly calculating the days. 22
During the 2011/12 season, the Société de musique contemporaine de Québec organized a year-long celebration of her music in Montreal; former honourees have included Claude Viver and Gilles Tremblay. The commission parameters for Svadba were that it was to be for six female voices, Sokolović explained. This is the third opera and the fourth piece that she’s done with Queen of Puddings Theatre; other commissions include work for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Banff International String Quartet Competition, to name a few. And in addition to having an established relationship with Queen of Puddings Theatre, this is the second time she’s working with the same stage director, which also helps communication, she said. “(Queen of Puddings) understand art, they understand opera, and I think this is the key of the success of our relationship,” Sokolović said. “We have a lot of respect artistically, and they just trust my artistic knowledge and artistic instincts.” Growing up, she was involved in ballet, theatre and music, even though her family was not particularly musical. By the time she was about 15, she had decided that composing was what she wanted to do. “It’s not something that is usual, especially not in Serbia,” she said. “We know composers, people who are doing film music, but classical composers, we don’t speak about that much, even in the musical society. But I had huge support from my family, especially my father, who understood me and said, ‘This is not easy, but if you want to be a good lawyer, it’s not easy either. So just do what you think you should do, believe your instincts and work hard.’ So that’s what I did.” She continues to use her background to make the connection between words, movement and music on stage, she said, explaining that good union between all those elements is key to a good performance. Some of the acts are simple, Sokolović explained — the women colour their hair and do other small tasks. But emotionally, she said she thought the opera should be more complex, and the night before a wedding offered a good range of emotions. “The end is very emotional, and when I wrote the first version, I asked (Queen of Puddings Theatre), ‘What do you think about this?’ because there is some kind of sadness in it, and they said, you know, this is how it is. There is a separation, life is continuing in another way. And this is completely true, so that’s why we kept it the way it was.”
COM ING JANUARY 2 013
She learned French and then English, earning her master’s degree at l’Université de Montréal, where one of the pieces she wrote for her studies began earning her recognition. Since then, her list of commissions and awards has continued to grow, including recognition by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, CBC and UNESCO’s International Rostrum for Composers.
EDMONTON OPERA DIRECTOR'S CIRCLE SEASON SPONSORS $250,000 Dianne & Irving Kipnes Rob Hood Fund PRODUCTION SPONSORS $150,000 Francis Price & Marguerite Trussler VISIONARIES $50,000 Jim & Sharon Brown $25,000 C.J. Woods MAESTROS $15,000 Dr. Thomas & Melanie Nakatsui $11,000 Fred & Alma Gojmerac $10,000 Laurence Jewell Oline Markine Glen & Sandra Woolsey
LEADERS $7,000+ Arnold & Grace Rumbold Russell & Marjorie Purdy $6,000+ Kyle & Colleen Murray Jack & Esther Ondrack $5,000+ Derek & Joanne Beaton Larry & Ellen Eberlein Sandra Gajic Mark & Nancy Heule Steven & Day LePoole Axel Meisen & Barbara Girard Ed Wiebe & Marcia Johnson PATRONS $4,000+ Richard S. Cook Eira Spaner $3,000+ Thomas Fath Stephen & Lynn Mandel Chris & Vivian Varvis
Sincere thanks go to the included individuals who, through their gifts, have demonstrated their belief in making opera a vital part of our cultural community. To donate or for additional information, phone the donor services line at 780.392.7837 or email individual.giving@edmontonopera.com. 24
edmontonopera.com
BENEFACTORS $1,750-$2,999 Tricia Abbott Darlene Acton James Archibald & Heidi Christoph Sam & Sonia Azer Rhonda Baker Douglas Bingham & Sheila Janki-Bingham David & Carol Cass David & Patricia Cassie Mary Chisholm Bill & Carol Clark Marian Clarke Elaine Coachman John & Ann Dea Patrick & Joan Dea Anne Marie Decore Christine Dirksen Heinz & Donna Feldberg Dr. Joseph & Mrs. Pat Fernando Laura Fitzgerald Peter & Astrid Griep Linda Hamilton Brian & Jeanne Hetherington Karen & Pamela Hofmann John & Susan Hokanson Jeffrey Jansen William Johnston & Mary Ritchie
Harold Kingston & Marie Desrochers Juri & Helle Kraav Christine Kyriakides Mary LeMessurier Joan Lopatka & Bill Rutledge Hillard & Nancy Macbeth Laurel McKay Carman & Averie McNary Hugh McPhail & Yolanda Van Wachem Michael & Mariette Meier Arliss Miller Ken & Gerda Miller Neil & Susan Miller Reza Mostashari John Oberg Eleanor Olszewski Linda & Gene Pilarski Aline Pratch Leonard Ratzlaff Kelly & Renee Redinger James E. & Vivian Redmond Alan Rose & Judy Schroder Hilary Rose Douglas & Kathleen Sabo David Steer & Larissa Whiting Stella Varvis & Paul Grossman Robert A Wilson Paola Zanuttini Gerhard & Inge Zmatlo
IN MEMORY Donations made in memory of Ernie LeMessurier Sandra Gajic Louis & Mary Hyndman Dianne & Irving Kipnes Stephen & Lynn Mandel Hilary Rose
Donations made in memory of Kimberly Heard Monique & Curtis Bandura James & Kelly Barnie Reta Berte Gail Dennis-Moisey Nicole Duhamel Christine Jones Maureen Yates-Millions & Keith Millions Motion Industries (Canada) Ltd. Derek & Glenda Pickering Salisbury Composite High School Laura Svajlenko Dennis & Sharon Turner
25
FRIENDS of EDMONTON OPERA SUSTAINERS ($1000-$1749) Peter & Barbara Allen Joyce Buchwald Branko & Ava Calic Doug Cannam Marian Clarke Sheila Davidson Robert & Doreen Fessenden Phyllis Fleck Marie Foster Douglas Goss A.R. Grynoch Dwayne Hunka IBM Patricia Kiel Alan Kuysters Libuse Kuzel Bertrand Malo Risha Milo Alan Mather & Helgard Proft-Mather Rod & Heleen McLeod Kevin Neveu Larry Pals Protostatix Engineering Consultants Maria Schneider Martin Thorne Dr. Dennis Todoruk & Dr. Susan Stauffer Catherine Von Hohenbalken
26
SUPPORTERS ($500-$999) John Adria Joan Bensted Bruce & Carol Bentley Bob Bowhay Katherine Braun John Burlet Sheila Davidson Glen & Kristie Demke Ivan & Ksenia Fedyna Robert Gilles Bill Grace Gabor Gyenes & Erika Mullner Rob Jolley Stewart & Julie Hamilton James & Hasmik Houlder Bernadette Kollman
Peter & Jean Langford-Jones Rachel Mandel Devon J. Mark & Allen Vander Well Les Moss Wesley Pedruski George & Teresa Pemberton Fay Plomp Clarence & Elizabeth Preitz Robert Prybysh Dwayne & Salwa Samycia George Schluessel Devin Sears & Hayley Wan Kelly Sheard Michael & Nance Smith Geri & Lloyd Strain Patricia Taverner Joan Welch
Beth MacIntosh Peter Mantyniuk Paul Manuel Peggy & John Marko Denis & Ruth McGettigan Elisea Mori Aaron & Jean Oshry Edward & Geri Papp Raj Pisani David Rees Orla Ryan J. Douglas & Devika Short Barbara & Gerry Sinn Lillian Strangway C.T.S. & Rosalind Sydie Frank Van Veen G. Vermeulen Jim Ward Ezekiel Weis Lorraine Wilgosh
CONTRIBUTORS ($250-$499) Stella & Walter Baydala Jennifer Brown Janet Carle Phyllis Clark Craig Corbett Donald Cranston Brenda Dale Sharon & Milton Davies Ken & Judith Duffin Kevin & Rachel Foster Jim & Shirley Funk Stacey Gibson Brad Gilewich Richard Groom Sheila Gynane Dave & Janet Hancock Lois Hingley Michael Hobart Douglas & Dorothy Hollands Elizabeth Hurley Roger & Rose Hutlet Ruben Jeffery Pavel & Sylva Jelen Robert & Dr. Erika Juthner-Krtschan Kent Kanfield Richard Kirby Loretta Klarenbach David & Sandra Kraatz Don & Lorna Kramer Igor & Galia Kwetny Neil & Jean Lund Brenda MacDonald Kelly MacFarlane Sue Marxheimer
MEMBERS ($100-$249) Sonia Allore Laurie Anderson Bradley Armstrong Diana Bacon Steve Baker Henry Banman Vicki Barrow Jim & Barbara Beck Alan & Alice Bell Brian Bengert Tim Berrett Gino Bit Dennis Blumenthal Grace Bokenfohr Vivien Bosley Ailsa & Tom Bray Diane Briner Annabel Brophy Ryan Brown Robert & Helen Buck Aubrey Burrowes John Cameron Orietta Caterina Tony Caterina Frank Cavaliere Chris Chandler Donald Chisholm Chris Chodan Bruce Clark Janet M Clark Roger & Carol Cohen Sharon Cohen Joseph Collier Karin Conradi Heather Coon
Diane Cox Gwen Davies James & Gail Defelice Kathy Demuth Julie Denep Dan & Lorna Dennis R.J. & Janet Dmytruk Betty Lou Docherty Peter Doig Wendy Doughty & Jim Klingle Arthur & Heather Belle Dowling Harvey & Elizabeth Duff Dwayne Dufva Frank & Muriel Dunnigan Tim Eckert Casey Edmunds Marion Elder E. Ruthanna Elson Kevin Erker Rick & Noella Fagnan Alred & Coleen Falk Werner Fenske Ferdinand Filiplic David Finlay Karin Fodor Joan Forge Derrick Forsythe Randy Garvey Allan Gatenby Shirley Gifford F.S & Margaret Golberg George & Judy Goldsand Robert Gomez Jon Goor Carol Graham Deanna Gupta Mary Ellen Haggerty Hans Hahn Donald Harbridge T. Hayashi Kenneth Heavenor R. Henderson Judith Hibberd Georgette Holyk Fred Horne Barbara Howarth Arlene Howell Marianne Howell Sheila Hughes Barr Humphreys Louis & Mary Hyndman Erik & Franziska Jacobsen Christian Jager Janet Jansen Yvonne-Marie Johnson Ryan Jones Valerie Keates Richard Kennedy Hugh & Shirley Kent Adam Kilbrun Valerie Kneteman Betty Kolodziej Lorraine Kucey Michelle Kuysters
John Kuzyk Thierry Lacaze-Masmonteil Nancy Lang Walter & Kay Lachman Jack & Diane Latham Vincent Lee Leo Levasseur Rena Liciniuk Richard Loken Doug & Joan Longley Ronald Lucas Tom Lumsden Richard Lyne Lowell & Donna Lyseng Marion MacIntyre Berniece Malone Greg & Patrece Maluzynsky Antoinette Marchand Graeme Marr Joan H. Marshall John & Cathleen Matthews Robert Mauro Linda Medland-Davis Jacqueline Meffen Ronald & Carole Middleton Janet Millar Dallas & Laura Miles Renn Moodley Marion Morgan Chris Morrison Marney Mustard Ruth New Larry Newton Danny & Erin Nianchuk Chris Nicholas Brent Nimalovitch Michael O’Dell Hanne Ostergaard Fred Otto Tim Paetkan Frank Palko C.H Parks Fred Parton Anixa Patel Mary Pemberton Homsanith Phetlathy Bruce Picton Sam Prochazka & Andrea Neilson Natalie Prytuluk Eugene & Jeanne Ratsoy Yvonne Rekken Lindsay Reynolds Nancy Reynolds Mary Richardson Gunter & Ingeborg Richter Dean Rokosh Alex & Mary Lou Rose Carolynne E Ross E.J Rudnisky Ena Rudovics Kathleen Ryks Kathleen L. Savey Jelena Savic
Tom & Bev Sawyer Don Schultz Werner Schulze M. & A. Schwabenbauer Tony Scozzafava Philip Sembaliyk Sheelagh & Andrew Semper Alison Seymour Charles Shelley Paul Shelley R & W Sherbaniuk Anurag Shourie Chris Sieben Kierstin Smyth David Sparrow Mike Staines Joseph Stang John & Sparkle Steeves Sheila Steinhauer-Mozejko Anne Strack Ronald Streeter Jean Sult Martin & Heike Stribrny Louis Te Michael & Elizabeth Thain Janette & Tom Thorvaldson Michael & Heime Thwaites William Tonn Karen Trace Dennis Vance Maureen Vandenberg Harold Vanderschoe Terry & Michele Veeman Trudy Velichka Joe Viana Duane Vienweau A.C Visman Jackson Von Der Ohe Tom Wakeling Todd Wandio Sherri Wawrow Donna & Marv Weisler Shawna Wenchulak Kim Wheaton Jolanta Wiens Doug & Mary Wright H.C Yip Daniel Zalmanowitz Mark Zutz Christine Zwozdesky
27
SPECIAL THANKS
Canadian Opera Creation Fund — a program of opera.ca, made possible through the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT OF SHELTER Guillaume Bernardi Lisa-Marie DiLiberto Christine Duncan Tim Fort (Queen's University Department of Drama)
Dean Gilmour Charlotte Gowdy Steven Hill Claire Hopkinson Adam Lazarus
Thank you to City Lumber for sponsoring the two Dene delegates. 28
James Rolfe Martha Ross Wayne Strongman Keith Turnbull
EDMONTON OPERA SEASON SPONSORS
Dianne & Irving Kipnes
ATB CANADIAN SERIES SPONSOR
ATB CANADIAN SERIES MEDIA PARTNERS
EDMONTON OPERA SURTITLE SPONSORS
EMERGING ARTIST SPONSOR
EDMONTON OPERA SPONSORS
29
IN EG N 3 O 1 E 20 EN IL G PR EU A
Give the gift of
opera Starting at $76, the Opera Duo includes tickets for productions of both Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. BOX OFFICE:
780.429.1000
S LE A M FF O 013 ’H 2 D Y S R TE A N RU B CO FE N
N
edmontonopera.com
UPCOMING EVENTS Svadba – Wedding || Eva O. Howard Auditorium Saturday, January 12 • 8:00 pm Sunday, January 13 • 2:00 pm Wednesday, January 16 • 11:00 am Friday, January 18 • 8:00 pm Saturday, January 19 • 8:00 pm Opera 101 || Art Gallery of Alberta, Ledcor Theatre Complimentary Les Contes d'Hoffmann Panel Discussion
Wednesday, January 23 • 7:00 pm Les Contes d'Hoffmann || Jubilee Auditorium Friday, February 1 • 8:00 pm Sunday, February 3 • 2:00 pm { New Matinée! } Tuesday, February 5 • 7:30 pm Thursday, February 7 • 7:30 pm Join us for Opera Talks 45 minutes before curtain in the Kaasa Lobby
Valentine's Gala || Shaw Conference Centre Thursday, February 14 • 7:00 pm Opera 101 || Art Gallery of Alberta, Ledcor Theatre Complimentary Eugene Onegin Panel Discussion
Wednesday, April 10 • 7:00 pm Eugene Onegin || Jubilee Auditorium Friday, April 19 • 8:00 pm Sunday, April 21 • 2:00 pm { New Matinée! } Tuesday, April 23 • 7:30 pm Thursday, April 25 • 7:30 pm Join us for Opera Talks 45 minutes before curtain in the Kaasa Lobby
For tickets please call our box office at 780.429.1000 or visit us online at edmontonopera.com
31
E D M O N TO N O P E RA PR E S E N TS
NEW ATB CANADIAN SERIES
SVADBA – WEDDING by Ana Sokolović
Produced by Queen of Puddings Music Theatre
JANUARY 2013
12 8.00 13 2.00 16 11.00 18 8.00 19 8.00
pm pm am
pm
pm
EVA O. HOWARD AUDITORIUM
Winner! OUTSTANDING
NEW MUSICAL/OPERA
2012 Toronto DORA Awards
The night before a wedding, girlfriends prepare the bride-to-be in a ravishing and cathartic Balkan rite of passage. Join us for an intoxicating a cappella tour de force for six female opera singers, produced by Toronto's Queen of Puddings Music Theatre. “These days, it’s hard to find an opera composer whose theatrical instincts are daring and sure-footed at the same time. So let’s be thankful that Ana Sokolović chose Canada as her home.” —Colin Eatock, The Globe & Mail SERIES SPONSOR:
edmontonopera.com