Gianni Speaky: Hannah Kumari & Vahan Salorian
For the second of our Gianni Speaky series, we spoke to Hannah Kumari (Writer) and Vahan Salorian (Composer) on all things Gianni Schicchi (or Where There’s A Will) and their perspective on the need for interpretations and how it benefits the overall perception of opera for audiences that have incredible TV and cinema at their fingertips and expect a higher calibre of storytelling.
You can watch the full interview on YouTube (below) or scroll down for a good read.
What is your role in the production of Gianni Schicchi (or Where There’s A Will)?
VAHAN: Basically, take Puccini's music and re-orchestrate it for a much smaller ensemble. So, we've gone from symphony orchestra down to just four instrumentalists.
HANNAH: My job was to take the original story, text, and to reinterpret that and write the new English version. Sticking closely to a lot of the ideas in the original story but giving it a modern twist.
What makes this production different to a traditional opera?
VAHAN: Musically, I think what will set us apart from a traditional production of this opera is that we have such an ensemble cast and the instrumentalists are part of that ensemble, and playing characters within the story as well. So, it's a proper group effort. There's no separation between the instrumentalists and the singers.
HANNAH: From a text, libretto point of view the way I've written it is very contemporary and very modern compared to other translations that I've read. I do speak a bit of Italian, they're obviously translating the words quite literally. We have changed the story slightly as well to give it a bit of a twist, so overall it feels very modern and very ‘of now’. We've brought in a couple of different themes.
VAHAN: Fresh
How do interpretations like this benefit the overall perception of opera?
VAHAN: I think audiences nowadays are used to such a high calibre of storytelling. We have incredible TV and incredible cinema at our beck and call and opera nowadays needs to compete with that level of dramaturgy. Audiences are a lot more discerning about really good storytelling, which is why I think this opera is so great because it has really, really good followable plots with twists and turns that the audience can follow. But it's still surprising, I think, yeah, audiences expect a higher standard of storytelling now than maybe a lot of the current opera actually delivers. I think the music is gorgeous but the plot is kind of a secondary thing to to the experience of the sound and I don't think that's the kind of stuff that I want to make. I want to tell a story well.
HANNAH: I completely agree with everything Vahan said. The music is just so amazing in so many operas but, as someone who is new to opera, sometimes I'm just astounded by the holes in the stories to be honest with you. The way women are portrayed and the plots, it's no wonder that a modern audience just doesn't resonate with that or doesn't want to see it. So, they're missing out on experiencing this amazing music, which doing what OperaUpClose have done, giving the story a bit of a twist, a bit of a refresh and just making it more accessible for people. I think that is really important, because the music is amazing.
What can audiences new to opera expect?
HANNAH: I am quite new to opera myself, my background is more in theatre, writing plays. What I would say is that the music is just genuinely so amazing. It's really accessible. I was surprised by how I could feel the references of this to modern music. So, I think if you're new to opera this would actually be a great show to watch. It's a great entry point for people. I've really enjoyed working on it and I love the music.
VAHAN: Expect it to be it's very pacy, it's very snappy. This production is actually genuinely very funny. It's very easy to follow, a great plot, the actual bones of the piece. It's just very, very good storytelling anyway. The original and then we just, kind of added our own spin over the top of that.
Gianni Schicchi (or Where There's A Will) premieres this week at our home venue, Mayflower Studios in Southampton before we continue across the UK for dates in Chichester, Cambridge, Blackpool, London and Plymouth. Some venues are almost at capacity, book your tickets while you still can here.