Organised Shouting: the European Opera Centre in Liverpool
by Andrew Hammond
Only a certified lunatic would start an opera company; or, indeed, work for one. Watch the 1991 film 'Meeting Venus' and you will see why. This was the film in which Glenn Close plays an international diva, lip-synching (brilliantly well) to the singing of a real international diva, Kiri Te Kanawa. The world of opera, in that film, is peopled by as eye-popping a cast of grotesques as any opera plot could offer.
Of course 'Meeting Venus' is (something of) a caricature. But opera as an art form is extraordinarily comprehensive. It combines theatre, music, dance, visual art and literature: it brings together the artists in all those forms, as well as all the related support staff. One look at an opera programme shows the numbers involved. It is not surprising therefore that opera can yield breathtaking results, when all the elements coalesce into a whole that is, in the proper sense, an ecstasy; and that it is very hard for that coalescence to happen every time. The majority of those involved, from the star singer or conductor to the proudly painstaking costume maker, are passionate about what they do. When people take what they do very seriously, they don't always behave well if they feel threatened or undervalued. The more important you think something is, the more badly you can behave in its defence.
With all that in mind, we can only admire the vision and courage of those who founded and run the European Opera Centre in Manchester, especially its Managing Director, Kenneth Baird. This is one of several flagship EU artistic ventures which are based in the UK and receive substantial support from the European Commission (along with the European Union Youth Orchestra, European Chamber Orchestra and EU Baroque Orchestra) - a notable critical mass, of which the UK might justifiably be proud.
The EOC began in 1997, to provide opportunities for training and performance for young singers from across the EU. This was, and remains, firmly orientated towards professional careers in the world of opera. Very astutely it also has openings for budding directors, designers, repetiteurs (those who play the piano for rehearsals and help coach singers) and technical and administrative staff. They bring in established artists and other practitioners to give serious weight to the quality of training. Names such as Kent Nagano and Renata Scotto leap off the page here.
The chance to participate in a programme like the EOC is a great gift, especially for young artists who believe opera is going to be their life. It helps to have that sort of sense of vocation, incidentally. Like actors, artists, writers or dancers, they need to feel a real hunger, a real consuming belief that they cannot do anything else. For a singer, the passage from student to professional life is probably harder than for any other artist - if only because every singer develops at her own pace, and not necessarily gradually. The singer's body has to be got ready, to put it crudely. And the process does not stop once professional engagements have begun. Singing, the great Pavarotti used to say, is really 'organised shouting'. Nonetheless they continue to develop, and their vocal and dramatic range can change substantially over time. The shouting gets more organised.
Singers' personalities also develop, one hopes, deepening their dramatic range. It is classically said, for example, that a bass or baritone does not come into his prime until he is in his mid-forties! Although all (creative and performing) artists develop as they mature, singers simply are not usually 'ready' at the same point that dancers and instrumentalists normally are (at the end of their full-time training, let's say). So programmes for 'young' singers ('young' having to cover up to 30 or 32 years old, standardly) are a vital maturing ground. Many of the great opera houses run apprentice schemes to meet this need, such as the Jette Parker at the Royal Opera House, London,[1] or the Opera Studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper München.[2] The EOC has a particular relationship with the latter, and will feature in a documentary currently being filmed.
One highlight of the EOC's work was its involvement in the animated film of Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen (Príhody Lišky Bystroušky). This was produced for the BBC, and involved some seriously heavyweight musical expertise in the person of conductor Kent Nagano, with the Deutsches-Symphonie Orchester of Berlin.
This production found itself in several Best of Year lists in music and recording journals, and received reviews such as
Alert to nature's sounds… Janáček's wondrous animal opera, a lovable yet unsentimental celebration of nature… Janáček's incandescent score glows musically under Kent Nagano's baton, and under Geoff Dunbar's luminescent paintbrush, the film glows, literally. …a film that presents opera as something real and yet fantastical. Kids should see it, and this DVD is the only way.' **** Stars (Los Angeles Times)
For the young singers who took part, this was a more exposing experience than would be normal for a programme like EOC. But it gave them not only time to learn a brilliant repertoire piece with a world-renowned conductor (a formula which characterises the best young artist projects); it also gave them some very specific experience, preparing for a studio recording. This sort of experience is very hard to come by, especially with the level of preparation which they received. The project was also repeated subsequently with Spanish- and Czech-language casts, so three teams of young singers from three corners of the EU shared in this opportunity. Not only that, the Spanish cast also recorded a Catalan version, and the Czech cast sang in Janacek's preferred Moravian dialect. This is serious stuff.
One singer who took part in the English-speaking cast - as the Fox - was British tenor Richard Coxon [3]. He remembers bracing himself to work with a demanding conductor, only to find the experience a rather warm and positive one. Indeed, Nagano invited him to sing in another production in the US. He says, 'this was one of the most memorable projects of my career… I remember seeing the film for the first time at the BBC, before we started recording, and being bowled over by the beauty of the drawings and characters, and realising that this was going to be something special.'
The EOC continues its work apace. Its association with the city of Liverpool has meant that it has significant contributions to make to the 2008 Capital of Culture celebrations there. It performed Donizetti's Emilia of Liverpool (if not then, then when?!); also in Gdansk and Bremen, members of the Cities on the Edge grouping. Later in the year they will work with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In their recent round of auditions they heard 700 singers, including in cities which they have not visited either for a long time or at all - such as Zagreb and Istanbul.
EOC is European in conception, not just name, which is why it has won continuous support from the EU's institutions. Opera is as international an art form as is possible, which helps - not least in the press coverage. Opera critics will travel much further to hear performances than most other critics. This adds another layer: not only is the activity of the Opera Centre intrinsically European, fostering collaboration and offering training, but this is made known widely. A good European story is being told. Voltaire might have thought that what was too stupid to be said had to be sung. In this instance, what is well worth saying is being said rather cleverly while singing.
[Photographs © EOC]
For more information on EOC, see their website: http://www.operaeurope.org/index.htm
[3] He can be heard on this clip from the film:
© Andrew Hammond. All views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to the European Commission.