Operas we haven't seen

PATRONS OF Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance and Music may be surprised, though perhaps not unhappy, to learn that International Cultural Promotions is not presenting such old faithfuls as “Madama Butterfly” and “Tosca” this year. Instead, the Helikon-Opera from Moscow will make their Southeast Asia debut with Offenbach’s “Les contes d’Hoffmann” and Rossini’s “Il barbiere di Siviglia”.
Dmitry Bertman, a People’s Artist of Russia who founded the company in 1990 and still serves as the artistic director, notes that these two are “very different”. The former, he says is “the romantic story of a poet” while the latter “the most famous opera buffa in the past 400 years”,
Bertman’s productions have been described as “exciting” and “giving spectators a charge of energy”.
“One of the crucial questions of contemporary art is to show or not to show onstage everyday life as it is. I believe, if you simply transfer everyday life onstage, you ruin the emotional impact of theatrical art. A spectator should experience striking and beautiful emotions, see the things he longs for, and feel the lively energy of artists,” he says.
According to its website, Helikon-Opera “always tries to depart from ‘convenient’, outworn scenic embodiments, and to surprise the audience not only with novelty and impudence, but also with bright vocal and drama performance, at the same time carefully treating a composer’s idea.”
So what’s unconventional about the two operas chosen for Bangkok?
“What does it mean today to be ‘unconventional’?” Bertman replies. So-called ‘conceptual’ productions have been prevalent in Europe for several decades. The action of a certain classical opera may take place, for example, in a submarine or on Mars. So the audience has to solve a riddle: why did the stage director choose such a locale? Today it is unconventional to adhere to traditions, but the traditions are the most precious achievements of mankind.
“Our production of ‘Il barbiere di Siviglia’ is almost traditional; however, it is very peculiar. The point is that ‘Il barbiere’ is to some extent a ‘Russian’ opera. Rossini was acquainted with some Russian aristocrats who lived in Rome. So there are two Russian melodies in ‘Il barbiere’ – Berta’s aria and the finale, but nobody notices them for a long time. In our production, one of the heroines is Russian. And the other one plays the tuba-like brass instrument named the ‘helicon’ – in honour of Helikon-Opera, of course.”
For Bangkok audiences who may not yet be so acquainted with these two operas as others presented at the festival, Bertman has this to say: “Everybody who knows by heart the full name of Bangkok city will grasp the synopses of both operas with great ease. In any case, they will listen to the charming music by Rossini and Offenbach, enjoy sets and costumes by Igor Nezhny and Tatiana Tulubieva, and admire the cast. ‘Les contes d’Hoffmann’ offers the best opportunity to take a closer look at Tatiana’s creations because the opera features four of Hoffmann’s lovers as well as his muse.”
Although the current home stage of Helikon-Opera seats only 250 people, Bertman doesn’t see a technical problem transferring the two operas
 to our grand stage in Bangkok.
“We usually perform in larger venues, and we foresee this possibility while making sets. The real problem appears with the operas like ‘Norma’ or ‘Nabucco’, which were produced abroad. We look forward to performing them in Moscow, when our home theatre becomes much more ample after the reconstruction.”

Bangkok's 15th International Festival of Dance and Music is supported by Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Hospital, B Grimm, Dusit Thani Bangkok, Indorama Venture, The Nation Group, Beiersdorf, SCG, Singha, Thai Airways International, Tourism Authority of Thailand and Toyota Motor Thailand.
 NIGHTS AT
THE OPERA
 - “Les contes d’Hoffmann” will be performed on September 17 and “Il barbiere di Siviglia” on September 19 at the Thailand Cultural Centre. Show times are at 7.30pm.
-Tickets are Bt 1,000 to Bt4,500.
- For details, visit www.ThaiTicketMajor.com, www.BangkokFestivals.com and www.Helikon.ru.