Friday, November 12, 2010

ON DIRECTING MOZART’S MAGIC FLUTE

By Wilhelmina S. Orozco

Directing an opera in the Philippines is like putting up a business in the Makati Central District, meaning it is an expensive venture. But Alegria Ferrer, or Ria, the director and voice professor at the University of the Philippines, is a very convincing cultural mover that she has been blessed with grants to present the Magic Flute, her 4th opera.

For Ria, presenting an opera requires an analysis of the composer as well as the piece. The Magic Flute is a Singspiele, a popular form during Mozart’s time that includes both signing and spoken dialogue. It integrates music, libretto (words and lyrics) concept, set and lights design, and costumes. Hence, a director needs to consider these and on top of that, must have that dedication to the arts with the objectives of being able to educate and entertain, Ria expounded on her philosophy on theatre.

“Good triumphs over evil. The opera centers on the battle between the two and the good triumphs over all. (Moreover) Mozart’s Magic Flute showcases his mastery of the classical opera and stretches the vocal limits of singers to perfection, no wonder that it has become one of the most beloved works in the operatic repertoire,” commented Ria in the program.

She viewed the Magic Flute production as a great opportunity for both amateurs – students, and professionals. The students learned from the production while the professionals experienced nostalgia of being in the academe again to experience working in a production. “Mangiyak-ngiyak ang mga professionals kasi ‘nakakamiss pala,’ they said, seeing the college again.

Before the performance, Ria held acting workshops so that the singers would know how to carve their characters on stage. “When doing theatre, we should allow ourselves to look like fools and otherwise. That’s theatre,” she told them, alluding to the seemingly questionable need for actors to forget their real selves and immerse themselves into their character roles.

How did Ria get her actors? She tapped voice students who were more than willing to take on the chance to play opera, except for the role of the slave which she offered to a guy whom she met while walking along the corridors of the UPCM, and who turned out to be a choir member but from outside the college.

The Queen of the Night posed a challenging task to fill up because it requires a voice that could reach high F. Luckily there is one graduate and now a professional singer who could do that, Joy Abalon and who has sung that aria already, Ria said.

Joy studied voice under Prof. Cecilia Valena at the Philippine High School for the arts, Teacher Bechie in her pursuit of Bachelor of Music at UP. Her awards include the 2002 NAMCYA top prize, and semi-finalist at the 2010 Lucia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Vocal Competition in New York City. Actually, at 3, a very young age, her parents already saw her potentials as she was already singing for the houseguests in her hometown in Bacacay, Albay.

Twice a week, Ria held rehearsals for three months and increased the sessions more often during the last two weeks prior to the opening date. Meanwhile, her other co-member, Kitchie, took care of the fund-raising, design and printing of posters, selling of tickets, and budgeting, such tasks actually so necessary in any production.

“We had two SRO (standing room only) nights, the first time that the College earned well from an opera.

“For me, the over-all preparation is the more important of all steps to producing a show. A good performance is only a bonus. If the process is not good, the performance is nothing. I think that the production filled up the task of an academe, to educate the students to come out well as students as all opportunities are given them,” said Ria.

“Before the start of the production, I had already visualized how each scene would run,” said Ria. Despite that, Ria said that working with the set designer and the music conductor of the orchestra were both critical in the production. She said that her having sat down with the set designer gave her pointers on how the set would look like to make her characters move on stage. She also sat down with Chino Toledo, the conductor of the orchestra, who provided live music, to make the tempo faster in keeping with the actors’ request. (Maybe during Mozart’s time, the tempo was all right for the audience who did not feel the need to rush their life.)

Ria rued that her fee for directing was not enough to make the presentation a success. Luckily, Chino waived his fee as well which could have run into hundreds of thousands. But she could not ignore nor dismiss her love of theatre easily.

The other operas that Ria has directed include: Dialogues of Carmellites which revolves around the guillotine execution of nuns for their Catholic religious belief, Hand of Bridge, which shows how two couples play bridge but with their thoughts running on other matters; and Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night, an adaptation of Emily Dickinson’s writings. The latter is Ria’s favorite as it depicts a one-man woman who waits for her lover to marry her for 50 years until she loses her mind.

Thus, when Ria ventured into directing Mozart’s Magic Flute, she already had been used to the ins and outs of operatic productions.

Now, she hopes to appear in an opera or a play herself, no longer as a big figure backstage but as the major character, a play that will challenge her acting skills this time regardless of whether she will sing or not.