MOZART MADE ON 55 MOBILES
Seraglio Irishnationalopera.ie July 7-30★★★
Aproduction that involved five principal singers, 16 chorus members, 33 musicians, and 55 phones in 55 different locations provides the backdrop to Irish National Opera’s extraordinary presentation of scenes from Mozart’s Seraglio.
The show will be streaming online in a mini-series of eight episodes from Tuesday July 7, to Thursday July 30, every Tuesday and Thursday.
The opera contains some of Mozart’s most enchanting music along with a libretto that has a lot of spoken dialogue and a good mixture of serious and comic characters. It was to have been presented by INO in May, but like everything else, had to be dropped. This digital production is a testament to the determination of INO and to everyone involved.
Artistic director, Fergus Shiels explains: ‘We couldn’t present it in theatres in May, but we couldn’t just let go of this sparkling opera. We learned new skills and techniques. We rehearsed, staged, performed and videoed scenes from the opera while everyone – solo singers, chorus, orchestra, creative and technical teams – operated from their own homes , using the only equipment readily available to them – their phones.
‘Producing an opera at any time is a complex process, but producing one while re-inventing working methods at the same time, felt like trying to perform surgery on a person who is out for a jog, but the vitality and humour of Mozart’s great work carried us through.’
For director Caitríona McLaughlin, who recently appeared in the RTÉ production working on felt like ‘we were all part of some great method acting style experiment. All abducted from our
O’Casey In The Estate, Seraglio real lives and held captive inside our computer screens or rediscovering the therapeutic pleasure in domestic chores. Everyone delivered with generosity and skill.’
Lead singers include Claudia Boyle , Dean Power, Sarah Power, Andrew Gavin and Wojtek Gierlach from Poland and the conductor is Peter Whelan.
The original libretto has a young hero trying to rescue his beloved from the harem of a Turkish pasha, helped by his cheerful friend, while contending with a lascivious guard, one of the most memorable characters in the opera.
Seraglio can be seen at irishnationalopera.ie on Tuesdays and Thursdays from July 7 until July 30. Episodes will be available from 6pm.