An interview with Alain Maratrat, the stage director and production designer of Rossini’s opera Il barbiere di Siviglia, which will be premiered at the end of October at the Mariinsky-II.
– Il barbiere di Siviglia is your fourth production at the Mariinsky Theatre, and two of those have been operas by Rossini. How did you get the idea for this production? Did the management of the theatre offer it or was it your own initiative?
The offer to stage Il barbiere di Siviglia came from the Mariinsky Theatre, more specifically from Larisa Gergieva. Possibly after Il barbiere di Siviglia more productions of Rossini’s operas will follow.
– The Russian press calls you “a professional who knows absolutely what he wants”. What meaning are you revealing for yourself and for audiences with this production – what is your production about?
Why Il barbiere di Siviglia in particular? My attention was drawn by one very important fact. De Beaumarchais wrote his play during the French Revolution, and Rossini was alive during the Bourbon reign, so they both witnessed monarchical France. Both these periods are very important as they heralded the structure of modern society. Back then it changed completely and utterly. It marked the end of rule by the aristocracy with its devotion to social order, which it considered a pledge for world harmony, and the advancement of the bourgeoisie with its reverence for money and the despotic supremacy of the individual. That was when a completely new class emerged, and it is embodied by Figaro the barber – a man who suddenly finds himself independent. Almaviva’s former lackey has become master of his own life. He has his own trade and uses this to make a living. Figaro can turn his hand to anything and is keen to assist anyone. He is also independent. It comes as no surprise that de Beaumarchais’ play was censored at the time. For the age, the character was totally new. The nobility had power, titles and money, but the bourgeoisie was becoming an increasingly dangerous rival. It was in just such circumstances that the plot of our tale was born. A youth from high society is enchanted by a young girl and wishes to marry her, but in order to achieve his dream he must battle against conditions, social order and his own situation in life. He is a man who wishes to be admired for his own qualities rather than his personal status. There is something of the hero in him: he tries to discover himself as well as the meaning of life. And in this sense the plot is completely new – here de Beaumarchais is very close to modernity. Moreover, this story reflects his own life: you know, he was the son of a watchmaker and achieved everything under his own steam. And he achieved a great deal: he was elevated to the ranks of the nobility and became a trusted advisor to the king and a purveyor of weapons during the American War of Independence.
– It is well known that Il barbiere di Siviglia is an opera not just with a rich history of productions but also with a huge number of production and performance clichés. How do you plan to tackle these?
A cliché is the systematic on-stage embodiment of an incredibly superficial glance at the lead characters, situations and performance style (meaning “so-called” tradition). From the word itself it is clear that a cliché is literally a repetition of a situation or an image purely because it has a defined effect on the audience. In other words, it involves the use of tawdry jokes or caricature depictions of people with one single aim – to please the public. For example, don Bartolo is often portrayed as a ridiculous and naïve man who lets himself be manipulated, but that’s not true: he understands immediately that Rosina is concealing something – it is merely that he is blinded by the surrealist and absurd life situation into which he has fallen. He is touching and pathos-filled rather than ridiculous. Intuitively he senses the lie that surrounds him and he suffers from that. But his jealousy does not allow him to accept reality in full.
Tradition in opera is terrible because it only exists to serve the egocentric whims of performers who have nothing in common with what the composer wrote and what he based the work on. It is an established fact that the renowned conductor, music historian and Rossini specialist Alberto Zedda researched the composer’s original score and discovered that the role of Rosina was not actually written for a soprano: it was performed by a mezzo, the same singer who sang in L’italiana in Algeri! And in new versions of scores – to which changes were often made by the singers themselves – there are a huge number of deviations. In particular, the role of Basilio was written in D Major. For a bass that is rather high, and so, when singing “La calunnia”, the singer really has to push himself. But this tension reflects the state the character is in – Rossini wanted to show how worked up Basilio gets when Bartolo relates that Count Almaviva has come to Seville. In this aria we can sense a touch of slight madness or hysterical joy – you see, he has found a way truly to harm someone close to him without dirtying his own hands. The high notes of this aria should be strained, the character has to be beside himself – because that is how he reveals his true nature to us.
So in this production I am trying to tell a simple story of characters who find themselves in unusual circumstances.
– What part of the production is most important for you – the instrumental, the vocal or the drama – or perhaps you focus on the visual aspect of the production?
With Rossini, and particularly in this work, it is staggering that the music itself and the vocals already incorporate the drama based on de Beaumarchais’ text. And so when staging the opera it is vital first to study the content, to find its human message, and only then create the visual imagery of the opera – which may change during the production process. You can see that here everything is interconnected – the teamwork of the set designer, costume designer and stage director, the work of the singers, looking for interpretations. We are staging a story about how, in a certain social and human context, people mercilessly battle against each other in order to attain their own aims.
– Your previous productions at the Mariinsky Theatre have been interactive. Will you be involving the audience in your production this time too?
I think that people love being part of the on-stage action. For example, we have the cinematographer: there the viewer is totally involved in the process. He sits in the dark watching a story that unfolds on the screen and is totally immersed in the film. He experiences true catharsis – he completely identifies with the story on the screen. And I always try to stage a work so that it is an event, a celebration for the audience. That’s why I decided to move the stage forwards and have a bridge between the auditorium and the orchestra – to bring the action as close as possible to the audience.
– You have admitted that you see your place as a stage director as being “between the composer and the modern day”. Do you plan to translate the plot of Il barbiere di Siviglia into contemporary language?
All social classes are involved in this story: those of the past, the present, the emergent and the developing. Basilio is a ruined and embittered nobleman. Meanwhile, Bartolo is a representative of the bourgeoisie – there are such people even today. Almaviva represents a noted aristocratic family. Rosina is also an aristocrat, while Figaro is a man who runs his life as he sees fit. Berta is her master’s favourite servant, who suddenly finds herself in disgrace. So I am telling the audience a story about their lives which is also close to them. Therefore you have to have the element of a miracle – because today, especially, we need hopes and dreams. I want to tell an unusual story so that I can talk about everyday things. And so I select elements from all ages and times that can help me tell this story.
– You have already worked with our company and you know many of the performers and what they are capable of. Who supervised the casting of the singers for this production – you or the Mariinsky Theatre?
Larisa Gergieva and I both worked on the casting. And I particularly asked her for the role of Rosina and the Count to be performed by young singers. So both the Count and Rosina will be very young, and Bartolo will be much older in order that the characters seem real as well as comical. I recommended Edem Umerov for the role of Bartolo. I absolutely adore working with Mariinsky Opera soloists because together we can do everything. They can get deep under the skins of their characters. And if they perform with real inspiration the story will take on new life... They are true artistes.
Speaking with Nadezhda Koulygina
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