Silvia Santinelli, Ashley Galvani Bell, and Maestro Pedro Halffter
We struggled to find a word to describe Klara, the compelling performance piece we attended last night at National Sawdust, presented by Opera Hispanica. There was very little operatic about it and very little Hispanic. The music and words were those of Pedro Halffter, renowned Spanish composer/conductor. The lead character was portrayed by soprano Ashley Bell, well known to us from her productions at DIVAria Productions, which also collaborated with Opera Hispanica on this work.
As regular readers are aware, we choose not to prepare for attending a performance, preferring to allow the work to speak for itself. We would say that Klara spoke for itself loudly and (sometimes) clearly. Why it was called "an Opera in four Haikus" we know not. The four haikus on the program struck us as obscure and unrelated to the work we saw.
Some digging around the internet post-performance led us to a prize-winning novel by Kazuo Ishiguro entitled Klara and the Sun; it tells the story of an android purchased by a family as a companion to their daughter, exploring the relationship between the android, the daughter, her mother, and the daughter's male friend. Although we have not read the novel, as we understand it, themes of love and consciousness are explored in a way that is touching and meaningful. We could easily see it as an animated film from Gibli Studios.
Clearly Halffter was inspired by this theme although no attempt was made to follow the story in any literal sense. There was a scene in which Ms. Bell became self-aware and began to mirror the gestures of the three dancers (Laura Henning, Amanda Lamotte, and Jordana Rosenberg) that provided a framework for the story of awakening consciousness. We did indeed feel touched.
We enjoyed Halffter's music which produced some surprising associations. The opening bars brought to mind the opening bars of Wagner's Das Rheingold for reasons we cannot explain. Perhaps a musicologist could. As the music grew in texture and complexity, we were reminded of the repetitiveness and key changes of Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Not that the work was derivative in any way; it struck us as original. Duo pianos were played by Silvia Santinelli and Maestro Halffter himself.
The choreography and direction were by Richard Stafford and, although modern dance is not our first terpsichorean choice, it suited the work well. Eric Lamp's costumes were similarly a propos, with white pants suits yielding, by means of stepwise undressing, to metalicized body suits of different colors.
John Farrell's set design was similarly effective with nothing onstage but an elevated square platform encased in sheer white panels. Ms. Bell only emerged from under a pile of white fabric after the three dancers danced round about the platform. Presumably she represented artificial intelligence and the story Mr. Stafford told was of her awakening to a form of consciousness by imitation. There was another touching scene in which one of the dancers fell and Ms. Bell expressed compassion and physical caring. Ms. Bell has quite the gift for conveying emotion through facial expression and body movement. There were also video projections for which Mr. Farrell is credited but we found them nothing more than a distraction.
We have heard Ms. Bell sing on a number of prior occasions and have had only good things to say about her voice. Last night did nothing to change our positive opinion although this work did not give her much to sing. The tessitura was sufficiently high that we had difficulty making out much beyond "I wish".
Following the performance a panel discussion, organized by Ms. Bell, was held. We had the opportunity to hear some opinions about artificial intelligence shared by the most engaging Mo. Halffter, a thoughtful Hindu monk, and two NYU professors. We have our own opinions which we will not share here so it was stimulating to hear what some experts had to say. In sum, the evening offered both artistic and intellectual value.
© meche kroop
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