Thursday, April 23, 1998
Trovatore
OPERA: Stephen Lawless’ new staging of Verdi’s work involves
more ballet, fewer curtain drops and a new sense of direction
By John Mangum
Daily Bruin Contributor
It’s been 29 years since Los Angeles saw "Il Trovatore."
But that will change when the L.A. Opera unveils a new
production of Verdi’s fiery drama Saturday night at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion.
"We didn’t want to do a traditional production," says Stephen
Lawless, director of the new "Trovatore." "The first image I had in
my head was sort of like the American war graves in Normandy, where
you have row upon row upon row of crosses, a very strong image,
very moving.
"So we came up with this idea of a field of swords that I hope
look like graves," Lawless continues. "All the way through the
piece, people talk about, ‘Kill me, stab me,’ codes of honor and
all of that. The sword is an image of justice, a thing people get
murdered with, and it’s also a cross. So we start off with 30
swords, and we end up with the one that kills Manrico at the
end."
In a series of pre-production sketches, swords pierce the stage
at the beginning of the opera, dramatically depicting the twisted
passions that propel the story of the troubadour Manrico and his
love Leonora against a background of war and revenge in 15th
century Spain. Perhaps because of its tangled, melodramatic plot,
"Trovatore" has been scarce on operatic stages compared to its
brethren "La Traviata" and "Rigoletto" in the trio that crowned
Verdi’s early period.
"It so happens that in 40 years of working in opera, I’ve never
worked on a new production of ‘Trovatore,’" says Peter Hemmings,
the L.A. Opera’s general director. "It’s an indication of the fact
that ‘Trovatore’ is no longer as popular as it was when Verdi died
in 1901. It was then supposed to be the most popular of all of
Verdi’s operas."
Of the stagings that Hemmings has seen during his career, one
sticks out in his mind. That memorable production nonetheless
pointed out one of the major obstacles that Verdi’s opera presents
to directors: crafting something dramatically continuous out of a
work fragmented into eight distinct scenes.
"I remember, best of all, the Visconti production of ‘Trovatore’
at Covent Garden, which was revived many times," Hemmings says.
"When it was first done, it was a brilliant concept, but it got a
bit tired as time went on. I remember vividly a performance I went
to sitting behind two middle-aged, very well-dressed ladies who
began, five minutes before the performance started, a long
conversation about making curtains.
"The curtain came down seven times during the production, and
every time the curtain came down, they continued the conversation
about curtains, so they must have been thinking about curtains in
between the bits when the curtain came down. It made me realize
that ‘Trovatore’ is not helped by having the curtain come down so
often, and this Steven and I were totally convinced about from the
start – that we should try to devise a production where the music
went straight on and the scene changes were done in the view of the
audience."
Lawless’ impression of the work resembles Hemmings’ – a coherent
and masterly opera from the musical standpoint disjointed by scene
changes. Lawless hopes to remedy this with his production for the
L.A. Opera.
"Listening to it, it’s not the case. It’s incredibly fast,"
Lawless says. "What we wanted to do was put on a production which
would facilitate very quick scene changes. Given the formal
structure of the opera, given the fact that it’s slightly
backward-looking in structure compared to, say, ‘Traviata’ or
‘Rigoletto’ – which are both forward-looking pieces – we wanted
something that would also break down this formal structure."
For those familiar with Verdi’s score, not only will the new
production try to mirror the work’s musical continuity in its
staging, but it will present an unfamiliar twist. Andrew George has
choreographed a portion of the rarely-heard ballet music Verdi
wrote for "Trovatore’s" Paris debut.
"It had its premiere in France, four years after it was first
given in Rome, with ballet music inserted and a new ending,"
Hemmings says. "We aren’t doing the new ending."
"We are including some of the ballet music. It’s not the tutu
kind of dancing. It’s very much bump and grind."
The elemental nature of the choreography underscores Lawless’
conception of the opera as whole, justifying the inclusion of the
ballet music. The music itself, unlike ballets Verdi wrote for
several other works, doesn’t interrupt the drama, but rather
furthers its denoument.
"What’s interesting about the ballet music, it’s 17 minutes
long," says Lawless. "We’re doing about six minutes of it.
"It’s the only ballet in which Verdi uses thematic material from
the work itself. What it provides is an opportunity to expand the
context in which the opera takes place – the Civil War, two sides,
two tribes. We wanted to find a way through the dance of telling,
of forwarding what I think is the story."
Lawless hopes that his production will topple popular
conceptions of the opera as contrived theater. He wants to convey,
in his staging, his firm belief that "Trovatore" is every bit as
passionate and compelling as any other work by Verdi.
"I think people perceive it as being dramatically rather
creaky," Lawless says. "I disagree with that. I don’t think it is
creaky. I think maybe presentations of it make it look creaky, and
I also think the Marx Brothers didn’t help it. I think there’s
something there with it, in the speed with which it moves, that’s
really advanced. There’s no lead-in with this piece. It just starts
and goes right through to the end."
OPERA: L.A. Opera’s "Il Trovatore" will run at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion for seven performances, April 25 to May 16.
Tickets are $24-135; $20 student rush tickets are available one
hour before curtain. For more information, call (213) 972-8001.
Director Stephen Lawless