Boston
Singers' Resource News Bulletin, October
27, 2006
Under
the careful watch of General Director, Carol Charnow, Opera Boston has
presented high quality, innovative repertoire and important but rarely
performed works. Eight of the thirty operas Opera Boston has presented
to date were named among the 'Best Opera in Boston' by the Boston Globe.
Opera Boston is a true Boston gem from the inside out - nearly 85% of
the singers in their casting pool are from the New England area.
http://www.operaboston.com
Originally from
Michigan, Carole Charnow began her career in the theater with a degree
in drama from Emerson College in Boston. She taught briefly in the Newton
school system but felt, after a few years, that there was something
more for her somewhere else. ‘I always flirted with the idea of
being on stage, but I lacked the confidence. So I thought maybe what
I’ll do is bite the bullet and really make a go at being a performer
and see where it takes me.’
Where it took her, for the next fifteen years, was to London, where
she studied voice with Regina Sarfaty, Eduardo Asquez and the Royal
Academy of Music. She found good, steady employment appearing in feature
films as well as in television drama and comedy for the BBC and Yorkshire
TV. But by 1987, despite these successes, she began to feel that her
true calling was, perhaps, behind the scenes. She found work as a producer
and joined the Moving Target Theatre Company in England, a company which
was devoted to developing new works for the stage. In the late 80’s
through the mid 90’s this company produced five or six important
premiers in London, won several awards, and performed at the Edinburgh
Festival and at the Young Vic Theater. In 1993 she received her Masters
in Directing from the University of London. Shortly afterward, she and
her family decided to return to the US.
Carole Charnow began her association with Opera Boston in 1996 as the
Executive Director of the Boston Academy of Music, as it was known then.
In 2003, when long-time Artistic Director, Richard Conrad*, left the
company to found The Bostonian Opera and Concert Ensemble, she assumed
the role of General Director of the renamed Opera Boston. She and Music
Director Gil Rose (who is also on the BSR Advisory Board) have grown
Opera Boston into one of the premiere opera companies in New England
- with a staff of just six people and a budget of just under two million
dollars. Eight of the forty operas Carole has presented to date were
named among the ‘Best Opera in Boston’ by The Boston Globe.
Joe Stroup: What makes Opera Boston what it is? Why does it succeed
where other companies might not do as well?
Carole Charnow: We struggle, as well as do a lot of other companies,
for funding. We really have to look under every rock and stone for our
funding and I think that is a very, very big problem for all the opera
companies in the country right now; certainly in this area.
But what I think helps us is that we have a smaller theater (Emerson
College’s Cutler Majestic), we have less seats to sell, we have
a smaller staff, we have a small office. So our overhead is in keeping
with what is achievable with the level of funding we have. We are not
aspiring to be a big opera company and to do standard repertoire. We
think of ourselves as a 'boutique' opera company.
Another reason I think we do well artistically is that, because we are
relatively small, we have the ability to have our hands on almost every
detail related to the company. Gil (Rose) and I are involved with each
opera. We do all the casting ourselves, we hire every director, every
scenic designer. I am involved in the concept from the very beginning:
every single piece of scenery, prop, and costume. I think that that
kind of handmade feel shows. I think that when people come to an Opera
Boston performance, they feel that there is oversight of the production.
Gil and I are conscious of our missoin and the scale of our productions.
We’re not planning to move to a bigger house or to do operas that
are bigger than what we can accomplish.
We also try to serve the work. Our watchword is that the composer is
the first conductor and director; that everything is in the work. We
see ourselves as servants to the composer. We really meticulously try
to do our best and the most careful and most caring interpretation that
we can do.
JS: Opera Boston has just completed its run of Mozart’s
final opera ‘La Clemenza di Tito’ this past weekend. Had you
worked on this opera before?
CC: No, it was my first Clemenza. In fact, it was my first Mozart
and I fell in love. It is a privilege to be able to become so intimately
involved with a Mozart work. It’s so multi-layered. I think the
closest thing I could compare it to is when I began to study William
Shakespeare, as a young performer and director. Both have such a remarkable
understanding of human nature.
JS: How does Opera Boston go about deciding what operas to produce?
CC: It’s a very complex and lengthy process to pick the
operas every season because there are so many filters, so many bench-marks
you have to meet with every single work.
First and foremost it has to suit the Mission, absolutely. That is our
Rosetta Stone. (http://www.operaboston.org/mission)
The next thing is the scale of the piece: Will it fit in the pit? and
Can our modest theatrical budget accommodate the narrative? If you need
armies, if you need burning of towns, you really need, for a company
like Opera Boston, to ask yourself, ‘Can we do this?’, ‘Can
we make it believable?’
Even before they’re writ in stone we’re already casting and
thinking about who might direct it and what kind of production we’d
do. I don’t think Gil and I have actually ever chosen an opera
without having a context for it: at least a person in mind for a pivotal
role or some director that might have a particular take on it. I think
that the best kinds of artistic direction come from an organic process
where you’re not just picking titles. Then, of course, there’s
always the question ‘Can I cast it with the funds that I have?’
To give you a sort of time-line, everyone was in place for this season’s
cast by about June and right now we’re about to choose our operas
for the 2007-2008 season. We’ve been working on these operas since
February.
JS: How do you determine the cast of your operas? With so many
great singers in this area, how do you make a decision on who is best?
CC: We first go to our Boston singers. Always first. We have
a casting book and probably 85% of it is made up of local singers. When
I say local I mean Boston, Greater Boston, and New England. And we ask
ourselves ‘Can this person do this?’ and ‘Are they available?’
We do bring in singers from New York and elsewhere; usually one or two
per production, but not more. We find that we don’t need to because
there are so many excellent singers in Boston.
Another thing we sometimes do is choose an opera for a local, notable
singer. We chose ‘The Crucible’ for James Maddelena (April
2005). Before we even decided to do ‘Candide’ (November 2003),
we asked Sanford Sylvan if he was interested in doing Pangloss. The
same was true with Joanna Porackova in ‘The Consul’ (October
2005). The best example of all is this season’s ‘The Pearl
Fishers’. We went to Robert Honeysucker and said we wanted to do
something that he really has always wanted to do. He came to us with
three ideas and the one we chose was Pearl Fishers.
JS: What opportunities to you offer for less well-known performers?
CC: Every year we hold open auditions for local principle, comprimario
and ensemble candidates. That’s usually in the spring and is in
conjunction with one of the music schools. Last year Boston University
helped us organize that audition and we had people there from the New
England Conservatory and Boston Conservatory. We also had a number of
local professionals and principles who have moved to town or we hadn’t
heard before. Gil and I will do two days where we just sit and listen
to 70 or 80 people.
We also, throughout the year, have small auditions. If we know of a
singer who we think might be able to sing a role but we’ve never
heard them perform a kind of music we’ll say ‘Can you come
along to the studio and just prepare this aria for us?’
And then we have another kind of audition where someone will be in town
who we’re very interested in and we’ll fit in a time to hear
them.
Then we also, every late fall, like in November, will go to New York
and do one day. Not an Open audition; we’ll notify maybe 12 or
15 agents and say ‘These are the parts we’re casting. We’re
hearing people on this date. Can you put forward candidates?’
JS: Do you have a preferred forum, one where you regularly find
good candidates?
CC: Well, the Boston Singers Resource was an excellent opportunity
for us last year. We’ve hired a lot of people from that. Most of
those people were for small parts in ‘Lucrezia Borgia’ (April
2006) and other operas from those auditions. I know this year our ensemble
leader and our chorus master are going to those auditions. They’ll
go and say ‘Hey, this person really should be seen as a principle.’
(Note: The next BSR Select Audition will be on Saturday, November 18,
2006. For more information go to http://www.bostonsingersresource.com/annual_audition.asp)
JS: It’s good to hear you say that the Select Auditions
(November, 2005) were such a good resource for you. As one of auditors
that year, did the event meet your expectations?
CC: I thought they were great. The pianist was there, it was
not fussy, people walked in, they sang, they left. When we organize
auditions we always put in our request for the exact requirements of
what people need to bring, etc. Even still, it’s quite amazing
how sometimes singers do not appreciate the process. I think that in
the BSR, what we saw was that you really had it well organized, very
professional.
JS: Would you talk about some of your experiences, impressions
or expectations of the audition process in general, and of singers who
audition?
CC: There’s one thing I always think is so critical and
a lot of singers don’t know this. They should prepare auditions
based on what they know that the person wants to hear and they should
keep it brief. It never ceases to amaze me how someone will come to
an audition and sing the whole ‘Glitter and Be Gay’. It’s
like a six minute piece, but we all know what we’re waiting for.
So you can just do one of the verses and then the good part.
It may shock you to hear this but all you need to know from a singer
at an audition you can learn within the first minute and a half to two
minutes. Everything; the way they hold themselves, the presentation,
whether they have musicality, whether they have warmth, color. I don’t
think Gil and I have ever sat thru an audition where at the end of five
minutes we go ‘Wow, they started out badly but by the end they
were fabulous’. That sort of tells you something, too, about a
singer.
Also, many times Gil and I will go to an audition and people will not
always speak up when they announce their songs. It would be a really
nice thing if singers would present to the auditors what they’re
singing on a piece of paper. If they have a selection of four or five
arias, we could ask for a specific selection that we’re interested
in.
JS: What do you think makes Opera Boston stand apart from other
companies in what it achieves?
CC: I think it’s that we do all new productions. We have
not borrowed scenery or costumes for a production from any other company.
Every single thing we do is from scratch. The company makes everything
and builds everything for each individual production. I think that there’s
a real fresh feel to what we’re doing because it’s all made
and built by people in the city. I think this translates to the audience.
JS: Can you reveal any of Opera Boston’s long term goals?
CC: We are soon going into the last year of our five-year strategic
plan which went thru the 2007-2008 season and we are starting to get
ready to do a new strategic plan. In that plan we’re going to be
assessing things like new works and how adventurous repertoire is going
to figure into Opera Boston’s future.
Another thing is we need more opportunity to take care of our donors
and subscribers; to steward them. We have an incredibly educated and
loyal donor and subscriber base. People who come to Opera Boston are
really not coming for anything more than the artistic experience and
they are extremely vocal and articulate about what they want from us
and what they get. And I’d like to take better care of them; learn
more about them, help them become more involved.
We’re always trying to find ways to make opera meaningful; doing
more and more outreach. We are starting work on an opera program for
people with disabilities. Our education program has really grown this
year. We now have a very good partnership with Young Audiences of Massachusetts
who invited us to be part of their roster. This is spinning out in wonderful
areas, working with children all over the state.
JS: How does the relationship with YAM work?
CC: We are presenting an opera that we chose, Menotti’s
‘The Telephone’. It’s a fabulous opportunity for our
younger singers to get performance experience and some touring experience.
We cast it and I directed it. The only control we give up is that they
book us, they find jobs for us. These programs are feeder groups for
the company. A lot of times you’ll have a wonderful singer who
just needs a little more polish. They’re just coming into the profession.
This is a way for them to get a lot of TLC from us and a lot of training
and exposure, and they get paid.
JS: You’ve had such a diverse education and background that
has enabled you to be doing the work you do now.
CC: Yes. It’s funny. Young people will come to me say ‘I
want to be a General Director. How do I do that?’ I just say ‘learn
and learn and learn and learn.’ It’s not something you graduate
college and pop into. I think the only way you can ever do it is to
have a lot of life behind you. I think you also have to have a lot of
inner calm because it’s an extremely stressful arena.
JS: Do have any personal dreams or goals?
CC: I love the idea of creating an opportunity for large numbers
of families and children who can experience the excitement and the drama
and passion of opera.
One of my most favorite things, that I loved so much, was when we did
those two productions in the Charlestown Navy Yard in the open air for
the general public and they were free. There is just something so fabulous
about giving it away free. I get such a charge out of that and I would
love to do more. (‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ on the USS Constitution,
and ‘South Pacific’ on the USS Cassin Young attracted over
20,000 audience members.)
Personally, at some stage I’d like to start directing our operas
once in a while; to actually have a vision for a piece of work, a particular
opera, and be able to realize my own concept. I am a director and I
apply my craft to every single production. I somehow feel I direct almost
every production in a way. But it’s not time yet; we still have
a lot of building to do before I feel I can let go of the producing
reins for a while.
JS: What other ways, other than as a singer, can BSR members
experience Opera Boston?
CC: Well, one thing that would be enormously helpful to us is
we’re always looking for people to volunteer and help. We do have
such a small staff and we’re trying to put together a brigade of
volunteers. If there are people that have a little extra time and they
believe in our mission and they’d like to help us along, we’re
always looking for people to help.
JS: Even with such a small staff Opera Boston, you, and Gil Rose
are making an important contribution to the quality of life in Boston
and New England. We all hope you’ll continue to bring great operas
to the stage for many years.
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The remaining 2006 – 2007 Opera Boston season:
Brecht / Weill: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Welcome to Mahagonny, a sunny place for shady people, where the only
capital crime is failure to pay the bar bill.
Sung in English translation with projected titles
Leocadia Begbick: Joyce Castle
Jenny: Amy Burton
Bank Account Bill: Stephen Salters
Fatty: Frank Kelley
Conductor: Gil Rose
Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:30 PM
Sun Feb 25, 2007 3:00 PM
Tue Feb 27, 2007 7:30 PM
Bizet: The Pearl Fishers
Set in the enchanting isle of Ceylon, The Pearl Fishers tells the heartbreaking
story of two friends’ rivalry over a lovely priestess. Be seduced
by Bizet’s exotic and romantic score.
Sung in French with projected English titles.
Zurga: Robert Honeysucker, baritone
Nadir: Yeghishe Manucharyan, tenor
Leila: Jee Hyun Lim, soprano
Nourabad: David Cushing, bass
Conductor: Gil Rose
Fri May 4, 2007 7:30 PM
Sun May 6, 2007 3:00 PM
Tue May 8, 2007 7:30 PM
All performances are at the
Cutler Majestic Theater, 219 Tremont Street, Boston
For more information
Call 617-451-9944 or go on-line at http://www.operaboston.com/