Huge, deep black shadows fall on a backdrop of calligraphic foliage in every conceivable shade of grey. Director Peter Sellars intently follows the movements of the three main characters during a run-through of 'Feather Mantle' at De Nationale Opera. Together with 'Always Strong', this short opera forms the double-bill Only the Sound Remains by Kaija Saariaho with which 15 March the Opera Forward Festival opened.
Only the Sound Remains is based on two traditional pieces from Japan's Nôh Theatre. This is reflected in the magnified, slow movements of countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, baritone Davone Tines and dancer Nora Kimball-Mentzos. Saariaho's diffuse, ethereal music is performed by a seven-member instrumental ensemble and a four-part choir. At rehearsals over two weeks before the premiere, the two soloists already sing everything by heart, the choristers read from sheet music.
Tenor Albert van Ommen explains how difficult the choral parts are: 'We are very dissonant among ourselves, don't have any hold on each other. We're now learning from which instrument to play our cue be able to pick up and because of that I finally start to understand and appreciate the music.' Jaroussky also acknowledges that Saariaho's language is tricky. He has had great difficulty memorising his role, but is delighted with her method: 'Because my voice is electronically manipulated, I can concentrate completely and make the smallest inflections. This way, the opera will sound different at each performance.'
After the rehearsal, I speak to Kaija Saariaho, whose operas DNO also produces Emilie and L'amour de loin produced. As also during previous interviews, including on Circle Map which she composed for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2012, the Finnish-French composer formulates thoughtfully. An exuberant talker she has never been.
Only the Sound Remains is the opening of the Opera Forward Festival. Is it necessary to secure the future of opera?
'The institution of opera is inherently old and heavy, because so many art forms come together in such large formations: big choirs, big orchestra, countless soloists, sets, costumes et cetera. But even with those traditional elements, you can do things that appeal to us differently today. If only because they are made by composers of today. Specifically in this double-bill, I'm doing something completely different: I only have seven musicians. In return, there is a huge battery of live electronics and although it is stage demanding, I can Only the Sound Remains can also be performed in places other than an opera house.'
New operas attract fewer audiences than the mainstream repertoire. How do you deal with that as a composer?
'Well... (She smiles apologetically) I honestly think it is the organiser's job to explain to the audience that this can be interesting art, even if it is not Puccini. In this case, we have fantastic singers, including Philippe Jaroussky, who is exceptional. I can imagine that many people who love singing come to the opera, even if a priori they have no positive feelings about my music. Maybe they come to see and hear Philippe. '
Peter Sellars suggested asking Jaroussky, how did you respond?
'I had a countertenor in mind from the beginning for the spirit in 'Always Strong' and have known Jaroussky for a long time. In Paris I attended many of his concerts, I really like his voice and way of singing. Somehow he seemed out of my reach, as I had never heard him in contemporary music. So when Peter came up with the idea of asking him, I was pleasantly surprised. We said to each other: we can always try!
Philippe Jaroussky agreed and then we started working together. We studied his voice and he sang several things to me. At first I was a bit cautious, because I didn't know all his capabilities, besides, every countertenor is different. When I finished 'Always Strong', we got together again to go through the score. He made some suggestions, on which we adapted some passages. Then he suggested that he would also like to sing the angel in 'Feather Mantle' and now I can't imagine how it could have been different. '
Jaroussky said he delighted in the electronic manipulations of his voice. What should we imagine from this?
'All electronics will be real time deployed, so his voice is edited live with various forms of echo and delay. I developed new software especially for this opera, together with Christophe Lebreton, with whom I have worked for many years. The electronics in the two operas are very different. In 'Always Strong' we multiply Philippe's voice by stacking his vocal lines on top of each other, so to speak, creating dark overtone tones; in 'Feather Mantle' we apply an effect that gives his voice a bell-like texture.'
Together, the two operas are called 'Only the Sound Remains', whence this title?
'Which is taken from a line from Tsunemasa ('Always Strong'). The lyrics are very profound, and when Peter and I were thinking about an overarching title, we realised that all matter disappears from our lives. That idea is tangentially struck in this phrase, which comes from a poetic sentence about nature. Anyway, both pieces contain beautiful descriptions of nature. It also sounds a bit mysterious, which suits this work well.'
What attracts you to the two Nôh pieces?
‘Both are symbolic and metaphorical, so everyone can make their own interpretation of it, which is what attracted me to it. 'Always Strong' is about the spirit of a warrior who returns because a memorial service is being held for him. He is killed on the battlefield and the libretto describes his relationship with the world, constantly moving on the border of (in)visibility.
The second piece Hagorono ('Feather Mantle') tells of an angel who has dropped her feather mantle and cannot fly back to heaven. Her feather mantle is found by a fisherman, who does not want to give it back. Only when the angel promises to dance for him does she get the cloak back, after which she disappears dancing above Mount Fuji. This is another simple story, which you can interpret according to your own feelings.‘What is your own interpretation?
'I came upon these plays through Ezra Pound's translations. Earlier, in Sombre for baritone and six musicians, I used a text of his. His language is SO inspiring, he says a lot with few words, even in these fairy-tale stories. That fitted perfectly, because my intention was to give the music a lot of space in this project. Moreover, I wanted to work with a countertenor, find characters who are supernatural and use electronics. So many things came together in my choice of these two pieces. The ghost and the angel are a bit mysterious, but I won't elaborate on my own interpretation. My music is my interpretation!
How did you choose the occupation?
'I have never worked with a countertenor before and want to take on a different challenge in each new piece. Moreover, this ambiguous voice type - neither male nor female - suits the subject matter well. As a counterbalance, I chose a more earthy baritone. I definitely wanted a flute, not only because it is mentioned in both texts, but also because I was keen to work with Camilla Hoitenga, who knows my language inside out. Common sense then dictates that you also use a string quartet and, of course, percussion.
A special percussion instrument is the kantele. This Finnish chopping board is related to the Japanese koto, but has a very different sound because it has steel instead of silk strings. The kantele is popular in Finland, but I had never written for it before and was attracted by its tinkling sound. In Emilie I had experienced how I could colour the music with a harpsichord. That way I could give it its own identity; now the overall timbre is partly determined by the kantele. The four-part chorus comments on and describes the characters' actions, similar to the chorus in Greek tragedies.'
You are working with Peter Sellars, with whom you previously realised L'amour de loin, Adriana Mater, and La Passion de Simone. What draws you to his approach?
'He pays an awful lot of attention to the project as a whole and to the music. He knows how to motivate singers to sing really expressively in his very own way and can always explain exactly why he does what he does. People often call his staging provocative, but don't see how much effect he has on the singers. That gives enormous depth to their interpretation, an aspect of his work that is often overlooked. I find it a privilege to work with him.'
I made a report for SWR2 Cluster, which was broadcast on 18 March 2016. It can be listened to on YouTube:
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