BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Multi-award winning visual artist Angela Cavalieri was commissioned by the Arts Centre Melbourne in 2011 to produce a work in response to any opera she liked.
Fresh out of a residency in Venice’s La Scuola Grafica Internationale, she chose to produce a series of linocut prints inspired by Monteverdi’s final opera ‘The Return of Ulysses’.
Her artwork will be featured in an installation at the fortyfivedownstairs gallery, and accompanied by musical programs ‘Variations’ (performed by contemporary music ensemble Press, Play) and ‘Cantations’ (performed by harpsichordist John O’Donnell and singers from Accademia Arcadia). This project, ‘CANZONE – Music as Storytelling’, combines art and music for audiences in the Melbourne Festival this month. For details on when you can attend, see fortyfivedownstairs.com.au.
Why did you find yourself drawn to Monteverdi?
He was a musical innovator and led the development of opera in its earliest days. I did look at other composers but I responded immediately to the music of Monteverdi when my husband played it to me. I was especially drawn to the final duet in ‘l’incoronazione di Poppea’. It was the first historical opera, set in Ancient Rome during Nero’s reign and I could visualize this scene being translated into an artwork.
In his work, Monteverdi often looked to early Italian poetry. Prior to my in-depth research of Monteverdi’s madrigals, I too had an interest in this poetry, which has often inspired my work. With further investigation into Monteverdi during my Creative Fellowship at State Library Victoria in 2012-13, I was drawn to his exploration of word painting in music, where the lyrics and sound depict the mood and the emotions of the words. I wanted to create a new visual narrative from the words and lyrics of the madrigal.
Tell me about what ‘CANZONE – Music as Storytelling’ is all about, and how it got started.
From my first meeting with Mary Lou Jelbart, artistic director of fortyfivedownstairs (the producer and presenter of ‘Canzone – Music as Storytelling’), we discussed the opportunity to appeal to a variety of audiences both from visual arts and music backgrounds.
The intention is to have classical music performances of Monteverdi’s madrigals, contrasted with contemporary interpretations, drawing from four centuries of music that take Monteverdi as their starting point. The musicians will be responding to my artworks and particularly the madrigals and lyrics that I used to create my work.
Together, my artworks and the two music programmes will provide varied yet complementary interpretations and responses to Monteverdi. We wanted to combine the aural and visual interpretations of Monteverdi’s operas, and both the exhibition and the performances do this. A true Italian experience for people that visit the gallery.
How does this work in an aesthetic sense?
In the gallery, I am exhibiting eight large-scale, hand-printed works on canvas, two artists’ books, smaller works on paper, and a documentary film by Greg Wallis. The large works show my first response to opera with ‘Pur ti miro, pur ti godo…’ (2012), as well as the outcome of my Creative Fellowship at State Library Victoria with the prints ‘Guerra’ and ‘Amore’ (2012-13). I am also showing other works resulting from my research as well as the outcome of my recent Venice residency, ‘Il ritorno’ (2015) and ‘Giro’ (2015).
The majority of my prints are large in scale, some up to five metres wide. This allows them to be seen as more than prints on canvas or paper. They can take up entire walls in galleries or houses, taking on architectural, monumental and almost stage-like features, as opposed to being simply an artwork hanging on a wall.
You’ve spent four years exploring the madrigals – what are some of the most surprising or thought-provoking things you found?
After four years at looking at Monteverdi’s music and lyrics, I can still be surprised at how contemporary the sources and stories he used actually were. His interpretation of them are identifiable in present day. And are still open to more exploration and interpretation. When I started to investigate Monteverdi’s madrigals, I began by looking at the poetry that was used to create the madrigals. I found myself approaching these as I thought Monteverdi may have, by looking at some original texts. For example, during my Creative Fellowship at the State Library Victoria I looked at a 16th Century ‘La Gerusalemmme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered)’, by Torquato Tasso. As I had been using ‘text as image’ in my artwork, I found an affinity with the idea of ‘word painting’ in music, that I discovered while researching Monteverdi.
As well as looking at the original poetry that was used to create the madrigal, I also looked at musical scores and listened to recordings. From this, I visualized how the scene or sound would look. This was my response to how I imagined the madrigal could be created visually rather than aurally.
‘Variations’ is said to ‘weave a tapestry’ of music spanning 400 years – can you talk me through how this works in the concert?
In ‘Variations’, the contemporary performance ensemble Press, Play led by internationally acclaimed pianist Sonya Lifschitz performs a program tracing four centuries of music, taking Monteverdi as the departure point. It will be a moving performance throughout the gallery space. Sonya will perform with Laila Engle (flute), Callum Moncrieff (percussion), Tabatha McFadyen (soprano) and Berlin-based Alexandra Sherman (mezzo soprano). The ‘Variations’ program will respond to my work through the music of Monteverdi, as well as other composers that were inspired by him. Music for the program has been arranged by leading contemporary arrangers. They include London-based Paul Sarcich, who provides imaginative transcriptions, reinterpreting Monteverdi in contemporary terms. Another arrangement is by Tim Munro, flutist from the world-renown, Grammy-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird. Finally, the great Chaconne by Bach (originally for solo violin) is transcribed for piano (left hand only) by Johannes Brahms, accompanied by a vocal arrangement by José and Emilio Moreno, which adds a whole new dimension to the piece.
Contrastingly, ‘Cantations’ will see a historically accurate performance of work – why do you think this performance practice is important?
John O’Donnell, the celebrated musicologist and harpsichordist, is presenting ‘Cantations’, historically accurate performances of the operas and madrigals of Monteverdi and his contemporaries with singers from Accademia Arcadia. ‘Cantations’ provides a classical representation of Monteverdi’s music featuring singers Jerzy Kozlowski (bass), Dan Walker (tenor), Michelle Clark (soprano) and Christopher Roache (tenor and counter tenor) accompanied by harpsichord. Audience members will experience a significant difference between the two music programs.
Image supplied.
