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https://doi.org/10.29013/EJA-21-1-67-70
Kozyk Daria Serhiivna, Postgraduate student at the Department of Interpretology and Music Analysis Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts, Kharkiv, Ukraine E-mail: [email protected]
THE LEGEND OF TRISTAN AND ISOLDE: FROM THE MYTHOLOGY OF OPERA GENRE TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF POP CULTURE
Abstract. The article conceptualizes a unique work by F. Martin through the analysis of its genrestyle specifics and stage performance principles. The study of the score of F. Martin's work "The Magic Potion" and video recordings revealed the polygenre nature of the work, which determined the dual interpretation and performance tasks. The staging of the Canadian theater Ballet-Opera-Pantomime (BOP) directed by P. Boutin has been analyzed in the context of modern opera production as an interpretation of the traditional images deconstruction.
Keywords: Frank Martin, oratorio-opera, modern vocal performance, postmodern.
Opera as an art form attracts both audiences and The purpose of the article is to identify the genre
enthusiastic composers and performers around the and stylistic principles of the oratorio-opera "The
world. Combining musical and theatrical elements, Magic Potion" in the aspect of performance tasks of
this genre provides an ideal research platform for its stage production.
new mass media. This certainly encourages research- The main sources that contain short research
ers to develop new technologies, to find solutions on the works of the Swiss composer of the twenti-
that explore at a high level the interaction between eth century are: a monograph by Charles W. King
audience, music, and composition. At the same time, "Frank Martin: A Bio-Bibliography" [5], a book
modern opera genre challenges composers, direc- by German pianist and musicologist Siglind Bruhn
tors, performers and producers, as well as intendants "Frank Martin's Musical Reflections on Death" [2]
of opera houses. and the latest edition - "Treasured Memories: My
Analysis of a new oratorio-opera stage embodi- Life with Frank Martin", which is a translation of
ment is always of special interest for modern inter- Erica K. Pentud's book by Maria Martin "Souvenirs
pretology. This also applies to the stage productions de ma vie avec Frank Martin" [3]. of the Swiss composer F. Martin (1890-1974), In Russian musicology, the first and only study of
which are widely known, but have not been studied F. Martin's creativity is a dissertation of V. Meljush-
in terms of performance interpretation. Thus, the huk [1], which provides an overview of the com-
topicality of the article lies in the conceptualization poser's works. Among the oratorio genres, the au-
of the oratorio-opera work by F. Martin, which de- thor chose "The Magic Potion", "In Terra Pax" and
serves to be introduced into the scientific context of Requiem, which were epoch-making for Martin's
European musicology. creativity. However, the provided general analysis
of the oratorio-opera "The Magic Potion" does not fully explore either genre and stylistic features or director's interpretation. Therefore, focusing specifically on these aspects of F. Martin's vocal and performance creativity constitutes the topicality of the proposed article.
The oratorio-opera "Le Vin Herbé" ("The Magic Potion") for twelve voices, seven string instruments and piano (1938-1941) became a milestone for the creative evolution of Frank Martin. Full of true beauty and intense drama with laconic means of expression, it mirrors the individual style of Frank Martin, and therefore it belongs to the mature stage of the composer's evolution as the most significant work of the war period. Its appearance represented the European artistic searches of the first half of the 20th century.
"The Magic Potion" was originally conceived as a 30-minute piece commissioned by Robert Bloom for the Zürich Madrigalchor. The libretto was based on the excerpts from the modern French translation of the medieval legend of Tristan by the outstanding philologist Joseph Bédier. This first, early version of the "The Magic Potion" called "Le Philtre" ("The Potion") was performed at the concert on April 16, 1940 by the Zurich Madrigal Choir in Zurich under the direction of Robert Bloom. The libretto focused on exposing the love theme between Tristan and Isolde, without touching on the theme of death. After the successful premiere of the first version, the composer decided to enlarge the oratorio by including in the libretto two more chapters from Bedier's book ("La forêt du Morois" ("The forest of Mo-rois") and "La mort" ("Death")), which made the oratorio more complex, and centered on two eternal themes - love and death.
The composer escalated the conflict of the literary source: in his concept, the story of Tristan and Isolde acquired new, intime, sensitive, expressive sounds. Martin delegated the function of the choir's narrative to an ensemble of twelve voices, which received the same role as a choir in ancient Greek tragedies - almost the directorial function of
the drama driving force. As in the performance practice of baroque passion, the plot characters - Isolde, Tristan, mother of Isolde, Brangen, servant - come from the vocal ensemble, they are part of the action, not its opposition. Musically, they are also embedded in the narrative, while their emotional words clearly stand out from the ensemble. This principle works until Tristan and Isolde (who is called Isolde with Blond Hair here, because another Isolde will appear later) confess their love and find out where it comes from - from the Magic Potion. Monologues rather than dialogues dominate in the protagonists' parts, filling the musical fabric with emotional focus on the unhappiness of lovers and the consequences of their love, inevitable and therefore cruel.
Using the legend as a basis, Martin chooses not only an epic but also a dramatic, more personal world-view, as in a romantic opera. This is a significant difference from Richard Wagner's "Tristan". Martin keeps a sense of "distance" to convey the historicity of the material - through musical form and tonal language, in order to combine archaic, more sensitive sound with the modern means of musical composition, in particular, the twelve-tone technique. He strives for chamber sound rather than for Wagner's monumentality.
The music unfolds with a hypnotic repetition, which resembles a song, while the organ points, polyphony and repetitive harmonious sequences create the feeling of something spiritual, sacred (in a sense of medieval).
F. Martin conceived "The Magic Potion" as a secular oratorio, without the possibility of performing music as an opera, but did not deny the possibility of stage production, where the main characters would be depicted as soloists who do not belong to the choir. The name of the peace does not contain any genre indication, but numerous features point out the presence of polygenre.
Researching the performance version helps to identify the specific problems that must be solved in order to successfully stage "The Magic Potion". Perhaps the biggest of these problems relates to the genre
nature of the piece, which obviously influenced its difficult stage fate. This work can be defined as: a secular cantata, dramatic oratorio, chamber opera, mystery. After all, "The Magic Potion" does not fully fit any of these definitions, it is somewhere nearby. At one time, Frank Martin agreed that for the oratorio-stage version (regardless of how stylized it was) the guiding principle of the original work would be transgressed, namely: the main characters - Isolde, Tristan, Bran-gena and Mark - would be portrayed as soloists who do not belong to the choir. This outlined the further reorganization of stage and concert performances.
The first stage performance of the oratorio in German took place on August 15, 1948 as part of the Salzburg Festival in Austria. This is the concept that BOP (Ballet-Op éra-Pantomime) replicated in its modern production of2016 (premiere June 16-19, 2016) [7]. The analysis of one of BOP's modern stage productions revealed current trends in modern vocal performance. Ballet-Opéra-Pantomime mostly presents their performances outside the box - their bright "shows" are not based on financial and intellectual elitism, addressing opera as an art for the upper strata of society and pre-trained connoisseurs, rather on the principles ofaccessibility and community. The production ofBal-let-Opéra-Pantomime is aimed at all members of the audience and seeks to break down traditional barriers to understanding classical art and performance.
BOP performances appeal to the representatives ofvarious audiences (from neophytes to well-known opera experts) with the desire to break down traditional barriers in conventional art forms, which contributes, according to the organizers, to a deeper emotional perception of music and performing arts by spectators. Ballet-Opéra-Pantomime collaborates with visionary artists from various disciplines, aiming at "radical decompartmentalization of the art forms approached" [8].
At the moment, the company has presented seven performances, including the creation of a paraphrase of the oratorio-opera by F. Martin "The Magic Potion", genre of which is defined as "pop opera" [8].
Throughout the performance, there are more than 60 artists on stage (12 singers, 8 musicians and more than 40 actors), who work not in a traditional theater (within the physical stage space), but in a huge open acoustic space of the former factory, which has been transformed into a giant art gallery [7].
Interestingly, the director Philippe Boutin has never seen an opera before working on this project. He points out that he likes to be "pure and naive" in relation to this genre, and emphasizes: "it gives me freedom" [9]. "The first opera I will go to will be the one we put on", - says the director. In our opinion, it was the lack of prior acquaintance with classical opera that influenced the director's idea based on the collision of two opposite universes. Idols of the modern pop culture have found their place in this project: "King Marc will be Freddy Mercury there and Iseult's mother is Celine Dion", - says Philippe Boutin, also recalling Lady Gaga, John Snow and Yoda on this list [9]. So for the director Philippe Boutin, this decision was a new, unknown experience: "crossroads between opera, rap, martial arts, lip-sync and theater".
The director's idea brings the stage production of F. Martin's work closer to a musical. Even the visual effects emphasize this: bright shiny costumes of the soloists, enlargement of the troupe (60-70 people), the introduction of a pantomime group. The narrative is characterized by a non-strict focus on the historical stereotype of the characters perception (the legend of Tristan and Isolde) rather by the desire to layer new associations, rethink the images of the work, giving them additional semantic load (identification of the legend heroes with the images of pop idols). It is clear that, due to the innovation of the director's concept, the performers of this production were to have a set of professional skills.
Modern trends in vocal art are largely determined by the situation of postmodernism, namely:
- gravitation towards new formats of musical communication, ie understanding of vocal and performance creativity and its interpretation as a result
of mass media development and synthesis of artistic means of expression;
- growing interest in new, unexplored venues that deconstruct the traditional concept of "theater" as an architectural unit, a building with a carefully crafted acoustic component, designed specifically for the performance of music within its walls.
In the context of modernity, performers of classical vocal art, on the one hand, tend to exaggerated simplicity, austerity, even asceticism; on the other hand, a dramatic, tense, romantic style is developing along with a laconic style of vocal performance. Distinctive features of the modern vocal performance style are intellectualism, philosophism, marked by the influence of postmodern aesthetics. As a result of mass media development, synthesis of artistic means of expression and methods of communication, a new approach to vocal-stage interpretation is being formed, which is extremely demanding not only for the performers, but also for the audience.
Opera stage performance is a multidimensional communicative situation in which a singer deals with acting, choreography and singing, and all of them must be at a high level of professional mastery. These tasks might seem unachievable to musicians who are not used to modern music performance. Therefore, the practice of performing modern works and opera-stage productions is currently urgent in the system of professional vocal performance education.
The perspective of the research topic is to further study the ways of communication between composer, director, performers and listeners on the example of a polygenre work not only "by score", but also through the prism of its stage creation (performance version of oratorio-opera text). In order to remain relevant, opera explores new ways of communication, unusual venues; introduces elements of shows, the latest technologies of Internet broadcasts and premieres in cinemas around the world.
References:
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2. Bruhn S., Frank Martin's Musical Reflections On Death. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. 2011.
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8. Bopbop.ca. À propos. (online) 2021. Available at: URL: <https://bopbop.ca/a-propos/> (Accessed 15 February 2021).
9. Montpetit C., Autour de Tristan et Iseult. Le Devoir, (online) 2016. Available at: URL: <https://www. ledevoir.com/culture/actualites-culturelles/473071/autour-de-tristan-et-iseult> (Accessed 15 February 2021).
10. Guimond V. Tristan et Iseut: le mythe éclaté. Le Journal de Montreal, (online) 2016. Available at: <https://www.j ournaldemontreal.com/2016/06/10/tristan-et-iseut-le-mythe-eclate> (Accessed 15 February 2021).
