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@photosocrates
Recently, Photo Socrates librettist Klara du Plessis did an interview with The Small Machine talks. You can listen to the entire fascinating interview (there’s also a second part), or simply listen from ca. 14:40 to hear her speak about her collab with Clio on the opera.
Forthcoming October–November 2016, with work from: Syd Staiti, Amaranth Borsuk + Andy Fitch, the Unauthorized Narrative Freedom Organization, Stefan Christoff + Kaie Kellough, Eric Schmaltz, Laureen Burlat, Charles Bernstein, Felipe Otondo, José A. Rivera, M. NourbeSe Philip, Sebastiane Hegarty, Holly Melgard, Staalplaat Soundsystem, Michael S. Hennessey, Julian Hou, Clio Montrey + Klara Du Plessis, Patrick …
Very pleased to announce that excerpts of Photo Socrates, by Clio Montrey (composition) and Klara Du Plessis (libretto), will be featured in the upcoming Textsound issue, Sonic Materialities.
Photo Socrates Preview: Mannequins Reassembled, in Montreal
Clio Montrey's composition on Klara Du Plessis' Poems, Five Mannequin Songs, is coming to Montreal for a soiree at Cafe Resonance on April 2! More details to follow.
Soprano Anne Wieben sings the role of Femme Fatale in the world premiere of Clio Montrey's chamber opera "Photo Socrates. Libretto by Klara du Plessis. Recorded live on October 26th, 2012 in Vienna, Austria. For more information, please visit http://www.annewieben.info http://www.cliomontrey.com/ String Quartet: Benjamin Gilmore (Violin 1) Christabel Lin (Violin 2) Magdalena Bernhard (Viola) Loukia Loulaki (Cello). Toy Piano: Clio Montrey Visual art by Halina Montrey: http://www.halinamontrey.com
a tremendous premiere
Our preview premiere at Nikki Bogart was a resounding success. All the performers did a fantastic job. Free admission and beautiful artwork helped complete the positive atmosphere. Further performances are planned in Europe and North America. Details will be released as we know more. Stay tuned, and get ready to get excited once again.
world premiere | 26.10.2012 | nikki bogart | vienna
premiere credits
music | clio montrey
libretto | klara du plessis
visual art and costumes | halina montrey
allegra giagu | socrates
anne wieben | femme fatale
marc antoine d'aragon | camera 1
victor hugo sánchez don | camera 2
stage assistance | extra camera | julija karakorska
violin 1 | benjamin marquise gilmore
violin 2 | christabel lin
viola | magdalena bernhard
violoncello | loukia loulaki
toy piano | clio montrey
rehearsal pianist | aki moriya
Composer Profile: Clio Montrey
Clio Montrey earned her Bachelor of Music (Honours) in Composition with a Concentration in Piano from McGill, where she was composer-in-residence for the McGill Chamber Singers (2007-2008). There, she studied composition with Jean Lesage, Brian Cherney, and Jonathan Wild, electroacoustic composition with D. Andrew Stewart and Sean Ferguson, and piano with Tom Plaunt. Clio earned her Master's in Composition from the Konservatorium Wien, studying with Christian Minkowitsch.
Clio's 2012 composition projects are partially supported by the Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur (BMUKK), Austria. She has had her work performed in North and South America as well as Europe at many concerts, including an operetta duet that was premiered in the Wiener Musikverein, as well as a work that was performed live on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) radio. Currently, Clio is working on numerous concurrent commissioned compositions from organizations such as TaleSpin Tales and the Polnisches Institut Wien.
Clio is also a mezzo-soprano and earned a university diploma in classical operetta from Konservatorium Wien, under the direction of Wolfgang Dosch. She has studied vocal technique with Gabriele Sima, Anne Wieben, and Helen Tintes- Schürmann, and has participated in the masterclasses of Birgid Steinberger, Ulrike Sych, Shirley Close and Chanda VanderHart. As a pianist, Clio has performed both her own compositions and standard concert repertoire in various concerts, as well as in the masterclasses of Alexander Jenner and Graham Johnson.
http://www.cliomontrey.com
Librettist Profile: Klara Du Plessis
Klara du Plessis, alternate resident of Cape Town, South African, and Montreal, Canada, recently completed the manuscript of her first collection of poems, Painted Women, tentative release Fall 2013. Currently she is working on a multi-disciplinary show, including poetry, burlesque dance, and installation art.
Klara enjoys coupling her poetry with other creative media. Similar to the libretto she wrote for composer Clio Montrey’s chamber opera Photo Socrates, Klara also completed the text for Five Mannequin Songs (2011, premiered at the Konservatorium Wien, Vienna), a song cycle by Clio Montrey, and Three Tapestries (2010, premiered at the Prix d’Europe Competition, Montreal), a song cycle by Matthew Ricketts. Klara pursues an ongoing verbo-visual dialogue, Shadow Girl, with Bloemfontein-based artist Dot Vermeulen – a poem inspires an artwork, which in turn inspires a poem, and so forth – the eventual product will be exhibited at the Johannes Stegman Gallery at the University of the Free State in 2013.
Klara’s poems have appeared in journals such as New Contrast Literary Journal, Scrivener Creative Review, Steps Magazine, and The Veg. She also has first-hand working experience of the publishing industry, employed first as poetry editor, and then as head coordinating editor, for the Montreal-based, international literary journal, Scrivener Creative Review. She founded an amorphous poetry publication, Writing Pamphlet, distributing contemporary poetry as bookmarks, leaflets, or magazines. These have served as print culture accompaniments to the more spontaneous poetry readings Klara has assisted in throughout Africa, Europe and North America.
Formal education includes a Master of Arts degree in English Literature with a thesis focus on postmodern poetry by woman writers (2011), and a Joint Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English and German Literature (2010), both from McGill University. Klara participated in Creative Writing workshops with novelist John Beckman (2010), and playwright Marianne Ackerman (2010).
Visual Artist Profile: Halina Montrey
Halina Montrey is a visual artist and professional engineer. She earned master's degrees in mechanical engineering from AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Poland and University of Calgary, Canada. She also did postgraduate studies in biomechanics and human anatomy in the faculties of Engineering and Medicine at the University of Calgary, where she performed research involving mathematical modeling of the human body. Being able to understand the physical structure and functions of a human body was for her both illuminating and fascinating. This experience started her gradual transition to fine arts by engaging in life drawing sessions, which have since constituted the backbone of her art practice. Halina has created thousands of life drawings and paintings in various media. From life drawing, her artistic activities have expanded to include conceptual pieces in two and three dimensions, poetic texts, and narrative painting series. Halina furthered her knowledge of fine arts by studies at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary and The Visual Arts Centre in Montreal.
Halina has participated in many juried exhibitions in North America and Europe. Her works have been exhibited in Gross Innovations international juried show held in Chicago, USA and in Aberdare, UK; Cardiff Anniversary Exhibition international juried show in Cardiff, UK; Capturing the Canadian Spirit – Winter Olympics international juried show in Vancouver, Canada; and other national and international exhibitions.
http://www.halinamontrey.com
Soloist Profile #4: Allegra Giagu - Socrates
Australian-born Soprano, Allegra Giagu, gave her Sydney Opera House debut at the age of eleven, and has since performed as a young artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, with the Sydney Symphony and with many respected conductors, directors and ensembles throughout the UK, continental Europe and Australasia.
A graduate of London's Royal College of Music, she has appeared on soundtrack and screen with productions including Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, and the (2012) film adaptation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, directed by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Hanna), with a score composed by Oscar Winner, Dario Marianelli.
Allegra was the soloist for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo - Salute to Australia. She has performed for the Dalai Lama; at St Peters in the Vatican City, and with Dame Judi Dench. She continues to tour internationally during 2012/13, with recent engagements including her Debut on London’s West End as the Principal Soprano in Chloe Charody's acclaimed Circus Opera The Carnival.
http://www.allegragiagu.com
Soloist Profile #3: Marc-Antoine D'Aragon - Camera 2
Canadian baritone Marc-Antoine d’Aragon has distinguished himself in many vocal competitions, taking, among other honours, audience prize in the 2012 Classical Idol Competition in Rochester, NY, the Francis Poulenc Prize at Les Jeunes ambasssadeurs lyriques 2009, 3rd place plus "best Canadian work interpretation" at the 2008 Montreal Symphonic Orchestra Competition. He is the 2011 Josef Traxel Foundation Sponsored Artist. Mr. d’Aragon graduated from Université de Montréal, where he completed his undergraduate degree in voice with Catherine Sévigny, and from McGill University where he completed a Master’s degree and an Artist diploma in Opera Performance with Mrs Thérèse Sevadjian. He then pursued private studies with Mrs Ruth Golden, Mr. Jean-François Lapointe and Mr. Hratchia Sevadjian. In 2007-2008, he was a member of Opera Lyra Ottawa’s Studio Artist Program.
Marc-Antoine made his debut with Verona Opera in Italy as Schaunard in a production of Puccini’s La Boheme in January 2010. In April 2009, he made his debut with Seattle Opera as Starveling in Britten’s A Midsummer night’s dream, in the Young Artist Program production. He was featured in the world premieres of Julian Wachner's Évangéline, as Père Félicien and in the role of Jérôme Bigras in the cabaret-opera Bungalopolis.
For more information, please visit http://www.marcantoinedaragon.com
Soloist Profile #2: Victor Hugo Sánchez Don - Camera 2
Victor Hugo Sánchez Don was born in 1988 in Guadalajara, Mexico. As a teen, he commenced his journey in the performing arts by attending the Fine Arts School of Toluca, studying with the Mexican Mezzo-Soprano Lisset González Rodríguez and the Mexican Soprano Rosalva Mancilla. After developing his Mexican musical roots, Victor Hugo Sánchez Don yearned for an international experience and moved to Vienna, Austria in 2009. Mr. Sánchez Don expanded his vocal techniques as a baritone by studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with the English Baritone Christopher Norton-Welsh and the German Mezzo-Soprano Regine Köbler, respectively. Since October 2011, he has been studying to pursue his vocal career in opera at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz, under the tutelage of the English Bass William Mason.
The poster/flyer for Photo Socrates is ready (art Halina Montrey). Thank you for the design, Nikki Bogart!
Soloist Profile #1: Anne Wieben, Soprano - Femme Fatale
"Sensual" , "secure" (Münchner Merkur), "captivating", "radiant" (Neue Merker) and "a velvety voice with a hint of femme fatale" (Süddeutsche Zeitung) is how critics have describe American soprano Anne Wieben. Most recently, Wieben reprised the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Kammeroper Weißenhorn, a role she debuted in 2011 at the Pasinger Fabrik, Munich. Also in 2011, she sang the lead role of Diana in Anton Urspruch’s opera Das Unmöglichste von Allem at the Leverkusen Forum and Dolce Theater in Bad Nauheim . She also recorded the role for Marco Polo Records. Prior opera and concert engagements include Avril in Michael Nyman’s minimalistic opera Love Counts, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Musetta in La Boheme, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro amongst others.
Wieben holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and Konservatorium Wien.
For more information, please visit http://www.annewieben.info
Rehearsals for Photo Socrates to begin tomorrow
The rehearsals for Photo Socrates begin tomorrow at 17:00 in Vienna, Austria.
In view of this very exciting time, every day one or more members of our team will be profiled on this blog. We will begin with the opera soloists, moving on to the creative team and other people whose participation has been essential to the project.
A costume design by Halina Montrey (http://www.halinamontrey.com) incorporating symbolism from the story.
Musical Outline | by Composer Clio Montrey
In order to best convey the literary ideas present in Photo Socrates, I decided to use a spare and atypical musical ensemble.
Two sopranos sing the two female roles: one is Femme Fatale, the other, Socrates. These two sopranos balance and complement each other. I made every effort to cast two sopranos that were physically and vocally similar to each other. These two singers have similar pitch ranges, timbres, and general stature. The difference between them lies in how they make use of their voices. The Femme Fatale singer must navigate a prodigious amount of coloratura writing, an element which may be seen as a symbol of passion, while her Socrates counterpart has a more lyrical, "solid" vocal line which can be considered a representation of logical argument. Femme Fatale's coloratura acrobatics reinforce and reiterate her invisibility and abstraction. Socrates' full and rich vocal line lends aural credibility to the concepts of physicality and tangible reality. These two voices, which begin from similar vocal characteristics, become opposites of each other, thus illustrating the revised Platonic affirmations which lie at the centre of this opera. The development of a similar phenomenon is encouraged between Camera 1 and Camera 2, played by two baritone singers. However, the male singers are allowed to operate as a sort of musical unit, further reinforcing the concepts that the libretto dramatically conveys.
The instrumental ensemble has a string quartet at its core. This may be seen as a symbol of Socrates, and what the character represents in the context of this opera, i.e. logic, tangibility, and physicality. In order to account for the Femme Fatale element, I added toy piano and small percussion (xylophones and rattles). This instrumental combination seems absurd at first glance, but it is precisely the same style of contrast which has already been developed between the two sopranos. The toy piano is a visually appealing and unusual instrument which arouses curiosity in an audience. Throughout this opera, the toy piano assertively conveys many melodic ideas which are essential to the dramatic and aural development of the story. The small percussion set creates more contrast and adds elements of surprise, especially when the Femme Fatale or the Cameras are singing. I do not, however, restrict any specific instrument to an association with one character. Elements of Socrates and Femme Fatale can be found in all the instruments. Strings are especially versatile, because extended playing techniques allow me to create a palate of diverse auditory possibilities to choose from. These in turn can be used very effectively for musical characterization.
The opera is composed in a semi-traditional manner reminiscent of the style of Benjamin Britten in terms of divisions between arias and recitatives. This means that there are no divisions as such, but the scenes are built dramatically much in the way that Britten developed his scenes in "The Turn of the Screw" (based on the Henry James novella). My tonal language is quasi-tonal with the aim of both remaining accessible and bringing new auditory ideas to a receptive audience. I attempt to move away from musical cliches while retaining a sense of the whimsical, the dramatic, the severe, and the playful. The libretto by Klara Du Plessis deals with extremely serious subject matter. It is only fitting that I should set such material with the richest complexity of human emotion, viewed both subjectively and objectively, that my compositional palate will allow.
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