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In a school year marked with听distance,听challenges, and听a list of things听we听weren鈥檛 able to听do,听it brings extra joy to see the听culmination of work brought to life with brio and tenacity.听听
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It is听remarkable to witness the听creativity,听perseverance,听and听can-do听spirit of our听professors, coaches, directors,听and conductors.听And it should come as no surprise that the folks at Opera McGill found ways to deliver on the promise of听high-level听education and unique performance opportunities.听To our faculty,听it has always been a question of how.听How to thrive.听How to share. How to connect.听

This year marks the听very听first Lisl Wirth Unboxed Festival: two weekends of performances by Opera McGill. Works by Handel, Rodgers听&听Hammerstein, Verdi, and听Bologne听are sure to captivate and delight.听听

We caught up with some of the artistic staff to learn a bit听about the听productions听and听what they鈥檝e uncovered, discovered, and听can't听wait to share!听

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WEEK 2听PERFORMANCES

Verdi's听Un Giorno di Regno with Opera McGill and Jennifer Szeto on piano will be听webcast听from Pollack Hall on
Saturday, April 10 at 7:00 pm
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Joseph Bologne's L'amant anonyme听with Opera McGill and the McGill Symphony Orchestra听will be webcast on
Sunday, April 11 at 7:00 pm
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Stephen Hargreaves
conducts听students from the听McGill Symphony Orchestra听and Opera McGill in L'amant anonyme by Joseph Bologne,听Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

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How did the selection of Joseph Bologne鈥檚 opera 尝鈥檃尘补苍迟 anonyme come about?

One preamble, Joseph Bologne represented himself in all of his publications and concerts as Chevalier de Saint-Georges; as this is the name he chose, I鈥檝e referred to him as such in these responses.

This past summer, Patrick Hansen and I were collaborating on how to plan Opera McGill鈥檚 2020-2021 season given the reality of our new existence brought on directly by Covid-19 coupled with a need to address pre-existing inequalities that were further magnified by the virus. While we were listening to hours of video auditions, contemplating ways we could engage our singers in a career that was suddenly turned on its head, we also began looking for ways to spotlight the BIPOC voices that have been routinely ignored. I came across an article which listed a number of operas by black composers 鈥斕齛mongst them was 尝鈥檃尘补苍迟 anonyme by Chevalier de Saint-Georges; it had not even been recorded. I found a pdf copy of his manuscript through the Biblioth猫que Nationale and, after perusing the details of the score, felt we had the singers to produce the opera. It should come as no surprise that, despite being a contemporary of Mozart and achieving significant renown during his lifetime, most of the Chevalier鈥檚 works are simply not well known. It is believed that much of his music was lost during and after the French revolution; he wrote 6 operas, but this is the only one known to have survived in its entirety. I felt like it was important that this opera was heard again 鈥斕齣t鈥檚 a musically beautiful work and deserves a place in the repertoire.

I understand you had a hand in writing听the score 鈥� could you tell me about that? How long did it take?

Ha! I did not write the score 鈥斕齮hat鈥檚 all the musical composition of M. Saint-Georges 鈥斕齜ut I created individual instrument parts and a new edition including the detailed markings contained in the Bilbioth猫que Nationale manuscript. Developing a new edition by means of transcribing the music is interesting 鈥斕齧any times there are interpretations to be made that attempt to achieve the desire of the composer which becomes especially difficult when that person has been dead for hundreds of years. I think any two transcribers/editors would come up with quite different versions of the piece. My goal was to fairly represent the intention of Saint-Georges to the best of my ability by viewing each detail within the context of the whole. I began the process in July 2020, distributed musical numbers as they were finished to the cast throughout the fall. The current version was finished around the end of December, orchestra parts were finished not long after. The score is not done though! Many of the discoveries from the rehearsal process will make their way back into the edition afterwards.听

What surprised or delighted you when putting the score together?

Musically, Saint-Georges鈥� syntax fits within the period he lived 鈥斕齮here is wit, effervescence, lyricism, and a transparency to the scoring that is both economical and compelling. Yet one of the elements that caught me most off-guard was his unexpected setting of the 鈥渓ove鈥� music: he consistently chose F minor, most often with lots of chromaticism. Most people would not associate a minor key with love which got me thinking about something I had read in Gabriel Banat鈥檚, The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow. Just prior to the composition of 尝鈥檃尘补苍迟, it is thought that Saint-Georges was in a relationship with a married woman, Mme. Montalembert, and had a child. The husband, when he discovered the child was not his own, sent a squad of assassins including police officers to kill Saint-Georges. He survived the attack, but the assassins were released from jail less than a day later. For Saint-Georges, love may have well been cloaked in a minor key 鈥斕齪erhaps the story of the anonymous lover who is reluctant to reveal his identity is based upon his own undoubtedly complex experiences.

Can you talk about the moment when you heard the music played for the first time? Was it as you imagined?

Live music is never quite how one imagines. I played through every bit of every orchestral and vocal line in my head and at the keyboard but the moment you add another person in the form of a singer, instrumentalist, or dramatic collaborator it all changes and evolves. I have always enjoyed this process 鈥� which is why I chose and continue to choose opera as one of the main vehicles of my musicianship.

Music is a living thing, but when you look at what you鈥檝e written, do you ever think: maybe I should stop tweaking now?

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Music is definitely a living thing but unlike when I compose myself, my transcription choices and resulting tweaking has more to do with whether I鈥檝e made choices true to the markings (intention) Saint-Georges included in his manuscript. For example, one surprising moment was in the supporting soprano鈥檚 aria in Act I 鈥� I kept Saint-George鈥檚 slur markings in the first and second violin parts. The slurs not only did not match but almost always conflicted! I thought when we first rehearsed the number, I would have to make them align, but, in actuality, the difference of textures between the violins significantly adds to the interest of the accompaniment. Throughout the process, some elements have continued to change 鈥� in the dances, even a key signature changed as it was unclear whether it was intended to be in major or minor. And, of course, we keep finding errata 鈥� wrong notes, either from my transcription or from the manuscript. The latter poses a particularly challenging problem as we want to correct mistakes that would have been addressed in rehearsals without removing the individual choices of Chevalier de Saint-Georges as an artist.

What鈥檚 the most out-of-the-box thing you had to do for this production?听

The final chorus for 尝鈥檃尘补苍迟 anonyme in the manuscript is missing text 鈥� it is fully orchestrated, around vocal lines which are completely blank. I searched fruitlessly through a plethora of sources to find anything which might have functioned as the chorus text. Over reading week, I gave up and decided to attempt a text based loosely on Alexandrine verse (the poetic style of the time) which was not a success and pretty amusing 鈥� I asked my colleague, Olivier Godin, to weigh in and what we came up with hopefully functions until some historian hopefully rediscovers the original text.

Is there anything you鈥檝e learned in the putting together of this production that you蜜桃传媒appl box up and take with you?

The importance of a purpose鈥� Patrick Hansen, the students of Opera McGill, and the orchestra have been so enthusiastic and supportive of this project because this is a work that needs to be heard and explored. In a time when we are all wondering 鈥渨hen will performance return?鈥�, we can and should be re-envisioning and redesigning what it looks and sounds like when it does.

What鈥檚 one thing everyone should know about this performance?

At his time, Chevalier de Saint-Georges was widely regarded as one of the finest violinists, musicians, and fencers in Europe. Haydn鈥檚 Paris Symphonies were written for Saint-Georges鈥� orchestra due to its outstanding virtuosity. His musical voice harkens from a time period in Paris with which current audiences have little acquaintance. Prior to the composition of 尝鈥檃尘补苍迟, Saint-Georges was being considered to be the music director of the Paris Opera. He was the top candidate until a trio of singers sullied his chances. Who knows what he might have accomplished if he had larger scale support for his operatic pursuits?

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WEEK 2听PERFORMANCES
Watch them all on the Schulich YouTube channel
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Verdi's Un Giorno di Regno with Opera McGill and Jennifer Szeto on piano will be webcast from Pollack Hall on
Saturday, April 10 at 7:00 pm
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Joseph Bologne's L'amant anonyme with Opera McGill and the McGill Symphony Orchestra will be webcast on
Sunday, April 11 at 7:00 pm

If you missed听Week 1 ...
Check out Part 1 of our look inside the Festival with Partenope conductor Dorian Bandy and Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella director Jonathan Patterson

Catch up on Burning Questions with a video featuring Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella artistic team听Jonathan Patterson and Chris Barillaro

Both performances of Partenope with Opera McGill and the McGill Baroque Orchestra can still be found for the next little while on our YouTube page!

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Keep discovering


A new online database, BIPOC Voices is place to learn about works for voice and instruments by diverse composers.

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