Robert Beattie in dialog with Cameron Menzies, Inventive Director of Northern Eire Opera, and baritone Yuriy Yurchuk
I’ve been reviewing Northern Eire Opera’s productions for some years (hyperlinks to a few of my evaluations may be discovered right here). I’ve been struck each by the very prime quality and infinite number of their productions. They’ve produced a string of extra typical operatic productions, together with La bohème, La traviata and Tosca which have acquired glowing evaluations from the Press. Opera Journal commented: ‘Northern Eire Opera’s La traviata means that the inventive director Cameron Menzies has in the end realised the area’s ambition to have a grand opera firm really deserving of the title.’
As well as, they’ve additionally produced a number of profitable Broadway musicals together with Sweeney Todd, Kiss me, Kate and Into the Woods. The Occasions commented on the latter: ‘Cameron Menzies’s manufacturing storms together with such irresistible zest and unflagging power that it deserves packed homes all through its run’. Extra lately, they’ve moved into the sector of chamber opera and produced a smaller scale manufacturing of The Juniper Tree by Philip Glass and Robert Moran. The Stage commented: ‘Seems to be pretty much as good because it sounds’.
Northern Eire Opera have produced a captivating and once more extremely profitable ‘Salon Sequence’ that includes opera, artwork track, cabaret and music theatre. These performances have taken place throughout completely different venues throughout Northern Eire together with the opulent rooms of Hillsborough Citadel and the gloomy lobby of Crumlin Street Jail. Yearly they run the ‘Glenarm Competition of Voice’ within the historic coastal village of Glenarm. Now in its thirteenth yr, this occasion brings collectively BBC Radio 3 recitals, outreach occasions, performances by rising artists and culminates within the Competitors Finale. Throughout the summer season they run a track recital collection in partnership with First Church in Belfast.
I spoke to the Inventive Director of Northern Eire Opera, Cameron Menzies, and to baritone Yuriy Yurchuk about previous and future productions. I spoke to Cameron concerning the challenges concerned with taking over the position of Inventive Director in the midst of the Covid pandemic and the corporate’s successes throughout this era. I additionally requested him concerning the forthcoming manufacturing of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and different work strands the corporate are taking ahead. I requested Yuriy how he approaches the position of Onegin and the challenges of this position. Yuriy is a British-Ukrainian citizen and he has made numerous statements concerning the present struggle between Russia and Ukraine. I spoke to him concerning the influence which this battle is having on the world of classical music and for his views on this.
Robert Beattie: Cameron, you assumed your position of Inventive Director of Northern Eire Opera throughout the Covid lockdown interval. How did you negotiate the challenges related to this era?
Cameron Menzies: I used to be appointed in October 2020 which I used to be nonetheless dwelling in Australia. With all of the restrictions I used to be not capable of journey to Northern Eire till March 2021 which was at that time utterly shut down due to Covid. We weren’t capable of do dwell performances, however we have been capable of movie so I shot a 40-minute movie referred to as ‘Previous Mates and Different Days’ which featured the music of William Vincent Wallace and one among his contemporaries, William Balfe, which gained a collection of awards around the globe together with in London, Paris and Madrid.
I took over the corporate at a time when there was no programming in place as a result of every thing had been cancelled. Usually, once you take over an organization there’s a grace interval of 12-18 months when you possibly can comply with another person’s programming and watch and see how issues are carried out. The great thing about that problem was that we might do what we needed and tailor it to assets accessible to us. I couldn’t get venues to open due to Covid however we have been capable of do a gap manufacturing of Puccini’s La bohème in a good looking, dilapidated outdated church in North Belfast referred to as the Carlisle Memorial Church. This allowed me to achieve out to a number of performers who have been accessible as a result of restrictions positioned on them on account of Covid. Yuriy was one of many folks accessible and he sang Marcello for us in that manufacturing. So, whereas this era was difficult, it additionally introduced alternatives; we have been solely capable of get Yuriy at quick discover on account of the restrictions imposed by Covid. It allowed us to get some amazingly gifted folks into that manufacturing. We have been solely capable of play to 100 folks an evening within the church. However we efficiently raised the stage and sank an orchestral pit within the venue. There have been about 35 instrumentalists within the pit, all of whom have been freelancers from throughout Northern Eire. Covid additionally introduced alternatives as there have been no guidelines round how greatest to return out of it. So, the state of affairs supplied us with the liberty to check out completely different new issues.
RB: Northern Eire Opera has numerous completely different work strands which it’s taking ahead for the time being. You could have the primary productions and the following one developing in September is Eugene Onegin. You even have smaller scale productions, and in addition your extremely profitable Salon Sequence in addition to a summer season track recital collection and the Glenarm Competition of Voice. Are you able to inform us concerning the completely different work strands you’re taking ahead?
CM: We clearly do grand opera within the Grand Opera Home yearly, however we additionally current opera on plenty of completely different platforms throughout the 12-month interval of programming. The Salon Sequence was one thing that I pitched once I was recruited as one thing that I want to strive. The primary collection consisted of six 50–60-minute concert events. They consisted of every thing from French opera to chanson, Irish songs, theatre music and cabaret as a little bit of a tasting plate throughout numerous musical genres to reveal audiences to various things in addition to works they could already know and love. It additionally allowed us to tour round Northern Eire with a choice of different music. The collection has been an enormous success and really properly acquired by audiences throughout Northern Eire. We began a second collection on the 22 June within the Palace Demesne in Armagh with ‘The Stars, the Moon and the Georgian Sky’. This live performance featured works by Gilbert and Sullivan, Handel, Poulenc, Verdi and Humperdinck celebrating the heavens. Now we have a programme of summer season concert events on the Foyle Maritime Museum in Londonderry/Derry and the Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart.
Earlier this yr we produced two smaller scale productions: a pastiche to have fun Valentines’ Day, ‘Cupid’s Bow’, and a Philip Glass/Robert Moran opera referred to as The Juniper Tree which was based mostly on one among Grimm’s fairy tales. These have been each very profitable as properly. Each these productions performed within the smaller Studio of the Grand Opera Home and this gave us a chance to do some chamber work. We do attempt to present opera in all completely different platforms and in any respect completely different entry factors.
RB: Your subsequent massive manufacturing is Eugene Onegin. What do you see as the important thing challenges of staging this work?
CM: All nice operatic works have their challenges. I’ve cherished Eugene Onegin for a really very long time; it’s such an exquisite piece. Musically, it is without doubt one of the most satisfying items of opera ever written and it has a few of the most shifting music. It presents as a chunk that matches Belfast and Northern Eire very properly in 2024. Once I was excited about singers that might carry out for this manufacturing, I concluded there have been very sturdy native feminine singers we might solid. The 4 feminine leads are all from Northern Eire or from the north of Eire. Mary McCabe, Sarah Richmond, Carolyn Dobbin and Jenny Bourke have been solid in these lead roles. I feel that may be a large achievement for the corporate to solid these roles domestically. Mary is making her major stage debut in her hometown. It additionally allowed Yuriy and I a chance to carry a undertaking to fruition which we mentioned in 2021 once we have been doing La bohème. Once I was pondering of casting the male roles, Yuriy was the particular person in my head to carry out the position of Onegin.
Onegin works thematically for Northern Eire and it additionally works thematically for the world. At a frivolous flip inside the piece, two greatest mates set themselves on a tragic path they can’t come again from. Onegin kills his greatest pal Lensky and arguably metaphorically dies as properly. The superbly constructed duel which occurs in that opera has common influence. For me making an attempt to seize that sense of two sides who gained’t again down or attempt to discover a approach out of that battle is a sound matter to be placing on an operatic stage or certainly any stage for the time being.
Now we have beforehand carried out La bohème, La traviata and Tosca; Onegin offers a chance to step outdoors of this Italian repertoire. It’s already proving highly regarded and tickets are promoting very properly. The music may be very accessible and exquisite. If folks love The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, they may completely fall in love with this as properly. Whereas each opera has its challenges, we attempt to meet them head on. With the solid and the staff now we have obtained it’s already proving to be a tremendous expertise.
RB: I generally suppose with Onegin you’ve got the primary two acts that are longer acts and you’ve got the great Letter Scene within the second act with Tatiana. After which you’ve got the final two acts that are a lot shorter. In some methods it may be seen as a bit bit unbalanced as an opera. Yuriy, do you’ve got a view on that?
Yuriy Yurchuk: I feel it’s a aware selection by Tchaikovsky. Generally with films, books or in theatre there’s numerous motion however by the top of the work it has not made an influence and also you don’t care what occurs to the characters. This may occur as a result of the exposition to the work doesn’t correctly introduce the characters to the viewers. On this work you care about Lensky as you see him within the prime of youth and excited about love and his future life. We find yourself rooting for the characters whether or not or not it’s Lensky, Onegin or Tatiana. Tchaikovsky may be very calculated and good on this work in permitting us sufficient time to get to know the characters and floor ourselves within the story. The ending may be very quick paced however he takes his time establishing the scene and permitting us to get to know the characters.
RB: I agree. The characters are superbly fashioned and he’s utilizing Pushkin’s great poetry to assist flesh out the characters. How do you method the character of Onegin? He’s generally seen as very conceited however there are additionally extra nuanced points to the character.
YY: Some folks say the opera needs to be referred to as ‘Tatiana’ as she is the primary character, and we see her journey by the opera from a younger, inexperienced woman to the mature, refined younger girl we see on the finish of the opera. If you play Onegin you can’t consider your self as a nasty man. If you stand on stage you might want to have your personal causes to justify your actions and what you say. His refusal to take up Tatiana’s preliminary declaration of affection to him is usually seen as conceited however I don’t suppose that’s the case. His major folly is his lack of ethical compass but in addition his youth and inexperience. His major crime is killing his pal, it’s not turning away Tatiana.
Onegin’s smaller crime takes place on the finish of the opera when he declares like to Tatiana regardless of the truth that she is married. It was after all inconceivable at the moment for a married girl to elope with one other man with out destroying her title and character. Onegin is extra mature concerning the methods of the world and the court docket than his pal Lensky. Regardless of this he doesn’t take the required motion to resolve the battle with out killing his pal. This is without doubt one of the issues which makes this opera so related to trendy audiences. It exhibits how occasions can escalate within the blink of a watch to an irreversible tragic consequence. It’s vital for the viewers to dwell by the occasions of the opera. In future conflicts to return it would remind folks of the necessity to step again and take inventory earlier than permitting a battle to escalate additional.
RB: You could have taken on main roles in numerous Italian operas previously together with Marcello in La bohème and in addition in Un ballo in maschera and Andrea Chénier. How is the position of Onegin completely different to earlier roles?
YY: Onegin is in Russian and that is my native language and what I grew up talking. Tchaikovsky is usually referred to as the grasp of melody and also you come out whistling a few of the tunes from the opera. The journey of Onegin can also be fairly fascinating to discover. Onegin shares the title position with Tatiana and it’s fascinating to have a look at how this relationship develops. It’s a very completely different opera to Andrea Chénier, which is a extra heroic work. We have to do not forget that Onegin is simply 18 throughout the time interval of this work however he feels he has seen every thing and carried out every thing. You may see his preliminary rejection of Tatiana as an try to avoid wasting this inexperienced younger woman from making a idiot of herself. The outcomes are devastating for her as she has invested a lot on this one man and is constructing a fortress within the air which Onegin then tears down.
RB: What are the vocal challenges of singing Onegin?
YY: There are challenges within the final scene the place Tchaikovsky makes use of a somewhat thick orchestration. Onegin has been unable to recover from the lack of his pal and he sees Tatiana as his one hope of salvation. Dramatically, you need Onegin to look into Tatiana’s eyes. Nonetheless, you can’t do that as you must undertaking over massive orchestral forces, so you might want to face the viewers immediately. Tchaikovsky was a grasp of vocal writing and his rating provides all of the performers a chance to shine. You may her the quantity of labor he has put into the rating in each phrase and set piece quantity.
RB: I generally want opera homes would carry out extra Tchaikovsky operas within the West. Apart from Onegin and The Queen of Spades the opposite operas are not often carried out. In Russia and Jap Europe the opposite operas are carried out way more often.
CM: Iolanta is a tremendous work but it surely’s in all probability more durable to promote outdoors of Jap Europe.
YY: We carried out Iolanta within the Royal Albert Corridor within the Spring below the baton of Vasily Petrenko. It’s a nice piece.
RB: Yuriy, I do know that as a British-Ukranian you’ve got expressed views on the latest battle between Russia and Ukraine. Within the classical music world some Russian singers have been banned from performances and Russian rivals have been barred from competitions on account of the battle. Within the latest Queen Elizabeth Competitors, the successful violinist refused to shake palms with a Russian decide. What view do you are taking of those points?
YY: In some methods this can be a advanced situation however in my opinion it’s also a easy one. The present Russian invasion of Ukraine is illegitimate, immoral and felony. Each particular person within the civilised world is making an attempt to assist cease it or to help these most affected by it. Northern Eire Opera has carried out some work to attempt to elevate donations for Ukraine. I’m towards discrimination based mostly on somebody’s private traits whether or not that’s race, gender or sexuality. I communicate Russian myself and my girlfriend is Russian. Nonetheless, discrimination based mostly on what an individual says or does is a special matter. I do know numerous Russian and Ukrainian artists who don’t condemn the invasion and carry out for Putin. Permitting these folks to carry out within the West and to profit from the Western public appears mistaken to me. I additionally know numerous Russian artists who dwell within the West and who actively assist Ukraine. Equally, there are individuals who dwell in Russia who’re against the struggle and the present authorities though protest is turning into more and more tough in Russia. If Russian artists are against the struggle then it doesn’t appear proper to discriminate towards them.
There are some fascinating methods through which Ukrainian tradition affected Tchaikovsky and his music. Within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there was an effort to assimilate Ukraine into the bigger Russian empire and to disclaim the nation its id and proper self-determination. Tchaikovsky’s household have been from Ukraine and he spent numerous time within the nation. His opera Mazeppa contains a Ukrainian hero. His music in some ways is influenced by each Russia and Ukraine and is a shared heritage for each nations. Tchaikovsky was an brazenly homosexual composer however many homosexual folks in Russia face widespread discrimination these days. Tchaikovsky exhibits in Eugene Onegin how battle and violence can emerge out of nowhere. It’s vital to reveal younger folks to the concepts within the opera and to point out them the broader hurt which violence may cause. If extra younger individuals are uncovered to the concepts on this and different operas, maybe they will help affect them to make higher selections in future.
Most of my efforts within the final couple of years have been to carry as a lot consideration to the struggle as doable. Because the struggle drags on, it’s not being reported so prominently within the information. It’s vital to remind folks around the globe of the continuing violence within the struggle and the way it’s impacting on the lives of abnormal Ukrainians. I imagine we should always do every thing we will to assist the folks of Ukraine and to lift funds to assist them.
RB: Folks generally don’t realise that Prokofiev is a Ukrainian composer. He was born in a metropolis situated in modern-day Ukraine despite the fact that he’s typically seen as Russian. There may be after all an awesome custom of Russian musicians defying the official authorities coverage. Rostropovich, for instance, made his emotions very clear concerning the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia when he was performing the Dvořák Cello Concerto on the BBC Proms when he held up the rating on the finish of the efficiency. So, there’s a position for Russian musicians to publicise their views about what is occurring in Ukraine though I think about it’s more and more tough for folks dwelling in Russia to try this. Cameron, what are your future plans for Northern Eire Opera?
CM: Our main precedence is staging Eugene Onegin in September. I’m additionally making an attempt to construct the corporate and to develop a brand new programme. We additionally must safe extra authorities funding – now we have been on standstill funding since 2013 – so as to assist us develop a brand new, formidable and artistic programme. We’re seeking to carry out a chamber piece once more initially of the yr and we’ll proceed to tour round Northern Eire with smaller items which lend themselves to being extra cell.
RB: Are there any explicit items which you want to stage?
CM: The Philip Glass opera, The Juniper Tree labored very properly and was properly acquired by the viewers. I’m excited by exploring comparable repertoire, maybe by Bernstein, though I haven’t come to any agency views on this.
RB: I like Philip Glass operas and I’m at all times happy when firms stage them.
CM: The Fall of the Home of Usher is one among my favorite Glass operas.
RB: Yuriy, which future roles are you planning to tackle?
CM: In every week’s time I’m beginning work on Mozart’s Don Giovanni in Finland. I’ve been solid within the title position and am wanting ahead to engaged on it. After that I might be engaged on Verdi’s Don Carlos in France after which I might be working with Cameron on Onegin. I actually loved my expertise of working with Cameron and his artistic staff on La bohème so it’s good to return again and discover new repertoire with them.
RB: Don Giovanni is one among my favorite operas and there have been so many fantastic performances of the title position.
YY: I used to be lucky to have the ability to spend a while working with Thomas Allen on the position. He’s wonderful by way of the insights he brings to the piece and the character. One factor which hyperlinks Don Giovanni and Onegin is that each the primary characters are unsuccessful in love. Don Giovanni doesn’t handle to seduce any of the ladies within the opera and Onegin can also be unable to forge a relationship with Tatiana.
RB: In that sense, they each get their simply deserts. Cameron and Yuriy, thanks very a lot for speaking to us.
Robert Beattie
