Is there an artistic team, apart from yourself, who will write the libretto and / or the adaption of Camus’ novel? Yes. I work in collaboration with: 1) Annette Müller: dramaturge and theater director. She works in different theater productions in Germany. 2) Bart Brouns: He is an expert in the German language with knowledge of French literature. He is also a musician. Working with Annette Müller: The dramaturgy of this opera follows the chronological storyline as in the novel (ex: the funeral, the beach, the prison, the trial). I don’t want to produce a new text based on Camus’ novel but I will use a solid selection of the existent text, which will be the basic structure for my new work. “On the surface, L'Étranger gives the appearance of being an extremely simple though carefully planned and written book. In reality, it is a dense and rich creation, full of undiscovered meanings and formal qualities.” Carl Viggiani It is my aim to follow the story in a linear way looking for richness, mainly in the emotional aspect, from a musical perspective. I want the audience to be able to follow the story linearly but not in a “word
We don’t want to produce a new text based on Camus’ novel but to make selection of the existent text, sung in French with eventual subtitles in German translating but also commenting the actions in a sort of meta-text. The text in this opera works in different levels. Informative clear text: Text that helps to follow the story (as minimal as possible) and to emphasize dramatic contain (see my musical moment “Je t'aime- je ne t'aime pas”, or “Aujourd'hui, maman est morte”. ) Text as texture: singers and ensemble sing and speak texts from the original novel (in French). The text has not to be fully understood; only some significant words stand out from the general texture. Singers and instruments on stage create an intelligible language of an emotional nature[1]. The text is minimal, but that doesn’t mean that it´s not important. Together with Annette Müller and Bart Broens we want to create a substantial filter of the novel, selecting the phrases that, like pillars under a construction, hold the drama in a subtle but effective (and understandable) way. Bart Brouns, expert in German language with a deep knowledge of French literature, is also a musician. His collaboration in this
Musical structure concerning L'étranger, the opera, is shown organized in several scenes which follow the structure of the novel. The soloist, Meursault -preferably a low voice- is in counterpoint with the ensemble. We want a clear straight forward plot, easy to follow in narrative terms, so the audience can concentrate in the subtleties of music and visual design appealing to the audience own emotions and imagination. Each section of the opera establishes a different relationship with the main character and the others in the form of solo, duos, trios, and different choral scenes. Each scene, correspond to a different “stimmung” recomposing the atmosphere by means of music, text and stage design[1]. Written polyphony Camus’ text, creates elaborated polyphonic structures using words. The text does not attempt to organize vertically the voices the way they would be seen in a musical score, but instead tells how they are layered one upon another following a musical logic. The polyphonic structures, although expressed through words, create in Camus´ complex scenes in relation to traditional musical forms: soloist and choir, coro spezzato (Venetian choir ala Gabrielli), spread choir (ala Stockhausen in Licht), etc. “Choir” in our proposal means the confluence of instruments/objects and voices.
L'étranger, evidences the strangeness of Meursault within their social environment as a metaphor of the man in relationship with society. In a dialectical relationship with the world around, the opera faces a soloist against the ambiguous world around. In our work the outside world is represented by singers, instruments and objects. As in the novel, in our opera, Meursault carries the action. The rest of the singers have exchangeable roles (each singer represents more than one character): Maria, Celeste, Salamano and his dog, Raimundo, the lawyer, the judge, the journalist, etc. This exchange-ability of roles also represents the indeterminacy and fuzziness of the world around Meursault. Silence is also a very important aspect in L'étranger, as a metaphor of apathy and strangeness. Our soundscape swings back and forth from an austere speechless character to polyphonic crowded scenes referring to the multitude of voices around (and inside) Meursault´s head.
A careful reading of L'étranger shows that Camus experimented with certain structures and patterns that can be affiliated with music. L'étranger can be read as a musical score: concerning the form, the novel infers a musical logic in terms of structure and motivic development. It also contains innumerable sound-effect descriptions, which, apart from their direct sound references, provide a narrative rhythm which contribute to the creation of a deep psychological atmosphere close to the ones we find in traditional operas. The awareness of the architecture of music is significant in relation to his own ability to create music-like structures in his writing […] in relation to Bach´s art of composing particularly the aspect that emphasize complex, multilayered contrapuntal relationships. Opera, is a perfect media to transmit philosophical concepts, because it is an art that is not beyond words, not without them, but in between words. Following Camus´ existential journey through the human condition, this proposal is not willing to describe Camus´ philosophy of absurd, but to build a Stimmung where the audience can reflect on that concept, instead of into the explanation of it. An opera can create complex and psychological landscapes, which transmitting feelings rather than intellectual statements. The
Musique concrète makes music with second-hand objects, mostly bought in the markets or rescued from the trash. Two performers manipulate sound objects and slide-projectors in different spots of a dark room, producing performative installations in dialogue with the architecture of the space. Music, sound, and space design are organized in a score creating complete audiovisual scenes with simple means.
The human skin has its sonic representation on the whole orchestra like a flexible and elastic body, represented by big percussion instruments: timpani, thunder sheet, bass drum, lion’s roar, and tam-tam Big surfaces of skin, wood, metal, string and paper are hit, rubbed, stroked, scratched, and touched with the fingers by the percussionists, echoed by the rest of the orchestra. It is a “concerto” for big surfaces, where the soloists are not only the percussionists but “the matter itself.” The orchestra doesn’t play “around” or “with” the players but “inside”: in an implosive gesture, the percussionists “swallow” the orchestra which is playing from the heart of their matter. The orchestral tissue expands and contracts in various levels: density (from solos to full divisi), rhythm, and tone division (going from small microtones to wide intervals).
DRINNEN VOR ORT vier Landschaften – vier Jahreszeiten – vier Wege Die Klangspuren in unseren Köpfen – auch 20 Jahre Festival Rümlingen haben ihnen einige hinzugefügt. Jetzt sollen sie aktiviert werden, unsere inneren Lieder, und zwar an den schönsten Orten der Rümlinger Umgebung, an Orten zudem, die vom «Mythos Rümlingen», von Momenten der Festivalgeschichte, durchweht sind.
At café “Lidos”, in Buenos Aires, the Argentine poet Barbara Belloc orally recalls her poem “Esta tarde leo a Adorno”. She remembers and forgets different parts of it, quoting it and reinvent it at the same time, and then she talks about Adorno, Brahms, vinyls and typewriting machines. It is summer in Buenos Aires and the coffee is great. Back in Holland, I start exploring Barbara’s palace of memories to write my own piece. Even in spring, the weather is really cold.
The Daughter of the Sorceress... Full opera (2004/...)for 5 singers and chamber ensembletexts and visuals: Luciana Ardittomusic and concept: Cecilia Arditto• "The daughter..." opera page