From Commedia to Tragedy
VICTORIA KINGHAM talks to Jenny Miller about Barefoot Opera’s new project, La Traviata
Jenny Miller is taking Barefoot Opera from strength to strength. She is also taking it from comedy to tragedy. Last year’s production of La Cenerentola was a small triumph of minimalist, but brilliant, opera – a modern, relevant production of Rossini’s Commedia dell’arte re-telling of the Cinderella fairy tale. Auditions have taken place in London, but the rehearsals take place here in St Leonards in Jenny Miller’s almost-fairy-tale house, in a stately room that runs from the front to the back. It’s a wonderful facility, and she is clearly a gifted producer.
GREAT PATHOS
This year’s production will be a contemporary version of Verdi’s La Traviata, itself a retelling of Dumas’ La Dame Aux Camélias. I wondered about the difficulties involved in directing a tragedy rather than a comedy. “I know that the band will create a fantastic atmosphere” enthuses Jenny. “People think the accordion is a comic instrument, but it’s capable of great pathos.” She has always been enthusiastic about the accordion since she started the company in 2011. “It’s the poor man’s band” she tells me – indeed it has a long and interesting history. The word, from the German Akkord, meaning “concord of sounds” describes the way that the instrument provides both melody and accompaniment. It is believed to have been invented in Germany in the early 19th century. But because of various waves of migration throughout Europe and to the Americas, it has become used world-wide, in all kinds of music from the chamamé of Argentina, the tejano of Mexico, through the polkas of Poland, folk music in the streets of Budapest and Palermo, to the jazz clubs of France, Scottish ceilidh bands, and infinitely beyond.
ESSENTIALLY INTERNATIONAL
So the universal ‘poor man’s band’ takes on a new symbolism within this essentially international production. The original novel is French, the opera adaptation Italian, the singers (all newly-auditioned, since last year’s singers’ careers are now flourishing), from everywhere. Asked about the cast, Miller says: “There are seven soloists working as an ensemble. We have a Turkish soprano from the National Opera Studio [known to be the most prestigious opera training organisation in the UK, and where Miller herself trained as an opera singer, after being educated in France] and a tenor from Cape Town. He’s a lovely singer, and it gives him an opportunity to spread his wings because Cape Town has only one opera company. Then we have all the chorus work by a quartet of terrific soloists, a kind of ‘violin quartet’ of soloists working intricately.”
Verdi’s theme is as relevant now as it was when he wrote the opera. He wanted a contemporary setting when he wrote it, but was not allowed it. “The only reason why Verdi would need to put his characters in the past would be because of censorship. There was very strict censorship. Rigoletto was a scathing political commentary, and he was not allowed to set it in the present day. And for Traviata he wanted the hypocritical, two-faced bourgeoisie who surrounded him to be confronted with their cruelty and their disregard for human dignity and truth.”
MISOGYNY THEN AND NOW
Violetta, the heroine, is a courtesan, a high-class prostitute, who, though sought-after by men, is essentially abused and has little choice about how she lives. Verdi “wants to keep us focussed on her trying to lead a free life, a good life. He always keeps the human characters alive; no-one is a stereotype”, continues Miller. This new production will hone in on the misogyny theme: anyone who might have read Laura Bates’ Everyday Sexism will be conscious (if they weren’t already) of how much of this is still factored into the way we communicate and the assumptions behind our actions, both in private and in public. As a courtesan, Violetta led what could on the surface be called a life of luxury, but was completely under the control of men. There’s a telling mid-19th century German painting of the party in Scene I, in which Violetta stands Outrageous at the Gaming Table handling coins, entirely surrounded by men except for Annina, her maid.
NEW DIRECTION
There is a new director for this performance. Miller says she has ‘stepped back’ to allow last year’s assistant director, Michael Spenceley, to become this year’s director jointly with a new, younger member of the company, Alfie Chesney. Alex Milne is this year’s stage manager and assistant director. Miller herself acts as producer and adviser, “steering the ship, or whatever”, she explains, though I dare say her idea of stepping back is to do more work than ever, just in a slightly different capacity. The musicians in the band are as they were last year, with the exception that Andrew Sparling, who both played clarinet and sang in last year’s production, will this year concentrate on the instrument alone. There are also two different accordion players. The music will be arranged as usual by the music director, the exceptional Laurence Panter.
While the Barefoot company have again, deservedly, gained Arts Council funding this year, this is a compact and minimal production in the Barefoot tradition, born in the first place out of necessity. In Jenny Miller’s music room are some of the Opera props, which are used differently year after year and act as signifiers rather than static scene-content. It has to be stressed though that this is an absolutely professional company and production. The singers, though mainly young and recently graduated, are from the best music schools. The director Michael Spencely trained at Ballet Rambert and has vast experience of stage direction, including as part of the Olympics team in 2012. Laurence Panter gained a choral scholarship at Cambridge, later graduating from Trinity Laban. The whole band have solid musical credentials. The production, as last year, begins here in St Leonards in St John’s Church, but has tour dates arranged throughout London and the south-east. As always, local singers are incorporated into certain scenes – the traditional Brindisi (drinking song) in the first act will feature local choirs from each venue.
La Traviata is a more ambitious project than last year’s: the opera contains some of the most challenging passages for singers, particularly for the tenor, who notoriously needs to produce a high C, and the soprano who, towards the end of the lovely aria where she wishes to be sempre libre – ironic, given later developments in the story – traditionally produces a high E-flat, though I understand this is not in the original score. In spite of its popularity, only the very best can perform this opera, and Miller and the rest of the creative team will unerringly have chosen the very best. I can’t wait to see it.
Tour dates and venues
- 21 June: St. John the Evangelist, St. Leonards-on-sea (featuring Voiceworks choir and Bexhill College)
- 22 June: Crowhurst Place, Lingfield (outdoor performance featuring East Grinstead Choral Society and Imberhorne School)
- 29 June: Rye Creative Centre (featuring the Marsh Choir)
- 19 July: Findon Place, West Sussex (outdoor performance)
- 14 September: Down House, Lamberhurst (with Tunbridge Wells Choral Society)
- 17 September: Maidenhead Music Society
- 21 September: St. Michael and All Angels, Brighton (with Brighton and Hove 6th Form College and choir TBC)
- 24-28 September: Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre, Dalston (with Hackney Voices)
- 5 October: Wooburn Festival, Maidenhead
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