Indian Folk Tale Blooms at Cincinnati Opera
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(first published in Express Cincinnati, June, 2011)
Just how do you change a girl into a tree?
That is one of the challenges in staging John Adams’ “A Flowering Tree,” to receive its Cincinnati Opera premiere June 30 and July 2 at Music Hall.
Express asked Cincinnati Opera production director Glenn Plott that question last month at Music Hall. Director of artistic operations Marcus Kuechle weighed in on the musical aspects. What emerged was an exciting preview of a brand new opera in a brand new production.
Based on a 2,000-year-old South Indian folk tale, “A Flowering Tree” takes its cue -- conceptually at least -- from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” (to be performed by Cincinnati Opera in July). Both are about transformation, innocence, maturity and love.
Kumudha (her name is a flower) is a poor girl who wants to help her mother support the family. She prays for magical powers and conspires with her older sister to turn into a tree, a feat accomplished by pouring water over her. The sister plucks blossoms from the tree, turns Kumudha back into a girl by pouring water over the tree, and the two make garlands to earn money for their mother. A Prince, who has secretly witnessed Kumudha’s transformation, marries her and on their wedding night, asks to see her metamorphosis. Though disappointed, she complies. The Prince’s sister sees a subsequent transformation and asks Kumudha to do it for her and her friends. Jealous of her powers, they rip off her branches, but neglect the reverse transformation, leaving a stump half-tree, half-human.
Kumudha crawls into a gutter and eventually joins a band of beggar minstrels, having retained her beautiful singing voice. The Prince wanders grief stricken in search of her. His guilty sister takes pity and sends Kumudha to him. The Prince recognizes her and turns her back into his wife as love triumphs over all.
As in “The Magic Flute,” the characters undergo trials, reach reconciliation and finally, a new awareness of themselves. The story is told by a Narrator, who with Kumudha and the Prince, is one of three principal roles. There is a chorus of about 24, said Plott, and nine dancers. Adams composed “A Flowering Tree” for a Mozart festival in Vienna on the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth (2006).
Cincinnati Opera considered a production by Lyric Opera of Chicago, “but the logistics just didn’t work out for us,” said Plott, who formerly served as director of production for San Francisco Opera. “We said, OK, we’ve got a lot of talent here.”
“Marcus had seen the Christmas show at Crossroads Church and got excited about some of the video stuff there. (Houses of worship are the fastest growing venue for entertainment industry equipment -- projectors, lighting, rigging -- Plott said.) They used it to good effect, so we met with Jennie Chacon and Paul Rakestraw at Crossroads. They were intrigued by the story. It fit their work, and they have a real give-back-to-the-community program, so they’re stepping on board in largely a volunteer capacity.”
Focusing on video, however, was “sort of putting the cart before the horse. We still didn’t know what it was going to be.” Plott met with his creative team, including scenic designer David Centers, costume designer Rebecca Senske, lighting designer Thomas Hase and sound designer Brian Mohr in January and February. “Our first sketches came out at that time. We started with the notion that it was easy to tell this story because no one has any expectations about it.”
They began with a deck and a semi-circular rear projection screen. “We realized as we explored the piece that video by itself can be boring. You might as well stand there and watch a movie.”
Designer Centers began with an earthen floor, then graduated levels. They ended up with three round platforms raked in different directions and at different angles, all within the surround of the rear projection screen. The largest platform is 28 feet in diameter. “The field of platforms is populated with what we’re calling reeds, a series of tall pipes, rods and sticks,” said Plott. “Some are straight. Some bend slightly.”
But, again, how do you transform a girl into a tree? “That’s the crowning achievement. If you do anything in this show, you better turn her into a tree,” said Plott, who calls himself an “enabler”: “Evans’ department (Evans Mirageas, Opera artistic director) hires directors and choreographers, so that’s Brian Robertson and Devon Carney. I get to hire the designers. The short version is if it sings, plays music, directs, dances, choreographs, Evans and Marcus do it. If it doesn’t, I do.”
Each transformation is slightly different, said Plott – “musically, emotionally and visibly, because it takes Kumudha through steps. There’s the innocence she starts with. As the Prince woos and marries her, he’s interested in her as a novelty, so suddenly there’s shame. In the third transformation, she doesn’t transform all the way. Finally, there is the beautiful transformation of acceptance and maturity. Each one has to be a little different, because like the music, it has to compel you in a different way.”
Plott and his team went “from the highest tech to the simplest non-tech solution (lifting with ropes to represent growth).” They settled on different solutions, but all involve the dancers and chorus. “It sort of takes a village,” he said. The transformations are supported by light, projection, costumes, props, scenery -- all of the elements, “so you will feel like it’s a very organic part of what you’ve seen. It’s not like suddenly, OK, cue the tree.” (Plott declined to be more specific because rehearsals had not yet begun.)
Singing the principal roles will be the world premiere cast, with bass Eric Owens as the Narrator, soprano Jessica Rivera as Kumudha and tenor Russell Thomas as the Prince. The chorus and dancers will do a variety of things, including filling in subsidiary roles. “I’m sure there will be some parallel storytelling, but I don’t think you’ll find that anything stops for the ballet dancers. Devon said it’s going to be low, sweeping and wide, not formal in any way.”
The opera will be sung in English, with the chorus in Spanish. There will be English supertitles. Why Spanish? “Because Adams was looking for a language that would represent something exotic,” said Plott. “He speaks Spanish, so that’s where he went.” By direction of the composer, the singers will be miked and there will be some “careful” miking in the pit.
The opera uses a very large orchestra, 69 players, including harp, celesta and soprano and alto recorder. There will be four percussionists playing myriad instruments, among them glockenspiel, bass drum, bongos, castanets, chimes, Chinese cymbals, Japanese bowl gong, maracas, tom toms, temple blocks, triangles, wind chimes, wood block and rain stick. It will be the largest orchestra since Richard Strauss’ “Elektra” in 2002, which numbered in the 80s, said Kuechle.
“For me, the most interesting part is the change in rhythmic texture. Adams will go from a very beat heavy texture to one that feels like it has no beat at all. That depends on the context -- where the narration is at that moment. Is it in a very literal place, like the marketplace or the palace? Or this mystic aspect, where she’s in transformation? That has a shimmering texture which very much hides the beat.”
John Adams’ “A Flowering Tree” will be sung in English and Spanish with English supertitles at 7:30 p.m. June 30 and July 2 at Music Hall. The Narrator is Eric Owens. Kumudha is Jessica Rivera. The Prince is Russell Thomas. Brian Robertson will direct. Joana Carneiro will conduct the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. For tickets, $26-$165, call (513) 241-2742, or order online at www.cincinnatiopera.org