Contemporary opera Ainadamar: A Fusion of Flamenco and Classical Music tells the true story of queer poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. Written by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov, Ainadamar explores Lorca’s life and assassination through the eyes and voice of his muse, Catalan actress Margarita Xirgu.
While the thought of opera may conjure up images of bombastic Italian works several centuries old performed in stuffy 19th-century theatres, it’s an art form still undergoing innovation by contemporary composers, and this is clearly evident in the Spanish flamenco stylings of Ainadamar, written in 2003.
The music of Ainadamar (meaning “fountain of tears” in Arabic) is an amalgam of musical styles incorporating traditional Western music with that of flamenco, Sephardic chant, electro-acoustic, and Middle Eastern influences. Pacific Opera Victoria principal conductor Giuseppe Pietraroia is excited for the new experience.
“For me it’s an opportunity to do a new work that I’ve never done, and incorporate all these styles. It’s the kind of piece that you really get into after hearing it the first time,” he says. “The rhythms really make you want to dance and move, but at the same time there are moments that draw you in that are very intimate and introspective. It’s the variety of sound and colour that [Golijov] brings out of the orchestra, with all of the elements that he uses, that make it a really interesting work.”
Using music to tell a story in cooperation with theatrical arts was what inspired Pietraroia to conduct opera.
“Although the actors and singers and stage directors are in charge of telling the story in terms of the action, we as the musicians in the pit have to tell the story musically, so it’s about how the music unfolds, and the pacing that’s involved,” says Pietraroia. “That’s what made me want to be a conductor, and in particular opera, because it’s so all encompassing—you have the magic of theatre and the lighting and costuming, and all of that, but it’s being able to experience that from beginning to end and tell the story.”
The magic of classical music is how it’s imbued with new life and personality with each unique performance, says Pietraroia, giving scored instrumental music an enduring timelessness.
“No two performances are the same—you have a different orchestra and it will have a different sound. It’s the same instruments, yes, but the way they produce the sound, the hall they’re in, the way they record it, it can all be different,” he says. “That’s I think what keeps music alive, that’s why we keep playing music that’s centuries old, because it is different every time you hear it, and a new performer brings a different perspective to it.”
Even static art remains new and fresh because of the individual perspective of the viewer or listener, says Pietraroia. With so many factors influencing how we perceive any work of art on any given day, the power of art comes from how it impacts each individual on an emotional level.
“You can say that a work of art doesn’t change, like the Mona Lisa, but people flock to see it all the time because it’s got such a rich history. I’m sure that even when you go to the Louvre, depending on the lighting that day, or what angle you see it at, or how you’re feeling, you probably see it differently,” says Pietraroia. “I think that’s why art is so alive, because our own perspective changes from day to day, so even if we’re listening to the same piece, our state of mind one day might make us listen to it a different way than the next day.”
Ainadamar: A Fusion of Flamenco and Classical Music
Various times, Wednesday, February 21 to Tuesday, February 27
Various prices, Royal Theatre
pacificopera.ca