Opera and noh theatre combine
Unique collaboration draws inspiration and title from classical Japanese texts
Kayoi Komachi/Komachi Visited is a collaboration between composer Farshid Samandari and librettist Colleen Lanki. It features noh actor Yamai Tsunao, whose work inspired Samandari in the first place, and a number of local vocalists (including soprano Heather Pawsey) and musicians as well as visiting noh actors. We talked with Lanki, who has studied noh for more than 20 years, about the new chamber opera, and its unique blend of one of Japan’s oldest traditional arts (a blend of stylized movement and text) and Western classical music.
Q: This is mostly about two characters. What are the other singers doing? Are they like a Greek chorus?
A: In a noh play, as in a chamber opera, there are few lead characters. This one is predominantly about a man and a woman. In the original Japanese story, she’s a famous poet. In our piece, she’s an artist. She has a troubled relationship with her lover. They have to work out some of their challenges. She has memories of him, and trauma. It’s really about her coming to terms with that, and her work. Then we have a character who’s a listener. In noh, that’s usually a priest. In our performance we’ve turned it into what we call “the counsellor.” His role facilitates the telling of the story of the lead characters.
And yes, there’s a chorus. In noh, the chorus also takes the voice of the main characters. Sometimes the chorus sings for the main characters, sometimes they’re the narrators, and occasionally they’re going to act as other characters.
How did you create the libretto?
Yes. I took parts of two traditional Noh plays that are about (Ono no) Komachi (a Japanese poet from the Heian period) and her lover and put them together in the score, along with a number of her (Komachi’s) poems. It tells their story, from both of their points of view. Then I had experts in poetry and noh translation translate the work.
Were these texts familiar to you as a student of noh?
One of them was really familiar. Kayoi Komachi, which we’ve titled it after, is usually translated as Komachi and the Hundred Nights. I’ve seen that a few times. The other one (Sotoba Komachi) is a little more rare. It’s more philosophical. I’ve never actually seen it. For me, it’s a stretch because I’m working with these masters. I’ve studied noh but I haven’t been living and breathing it for 20 years. It’s really wonderful to watch these guest Japanese noh artists. It feels like a master class in noh just being in the room with them.
How is the opera’s story conveyed?
The text is all sung. Some is more aria-like, some is more like conversation. People will they’ll be able to understand it through the text, the sung lyrics. And quite a bit is told through movement, especially by the noh actors. And the music is beautiful. Farshid (Samandari) has done a beautiful job in conveying the emotions of this relationship. We did a workshop over a year ago of the initial score, and people were moved. They were crying. We thought, “Wow, this works.”