Dracula the Opera
So over on Twitter some of us are busy creating the fantasy version of an operatic version of Dracula.
Thus far we seem to have settled on Thomas Ades as the preferred composer and there is general agreement on the major male roles and ideal casting:
The Count (baritone): Tom Hampson or Erwin Schrott (depends how sexy one thinks he needs to be)(1)
Van Helsing: (high baritone): Placido Domingo
Jonathan Harker (tenor): Joseph Calleja
Quincy Morris (baritone): Nathan Gunn
Arthur Holmwood: ??
John Seward: ??
Renfield: Character baritone or counter tenor
The females are more problematic even though there are only two. It's rather a matter of interpretation. If one sees Mina Harker as the romantic heroine then she is the soprano and Lucy Westenra is the mezzo. If Lucy is the tragic heroine then that gets reversed.
So version 1.
Mina Harker (sop): Anna Netrebko
Lucy Westenra (mezzo): Elina Garanca
Version 2 one could just reverse the singers but there's also the possibility of using, say, Miah Persson and Kate Lindsey. There's a temptation to write a "mad scene" or something similar for Lucy in which case Netrebko would be better. There's also a certain attraction to casting Gheorghiu as Lucy. One imagines not a few opera house GMs would appreciate a scene where she gets her head sawn off.
(1) A baritone Dracula works best for a version leaning to the Hammer Horror aesthetic. A counter-tenor might be preferred for a Murnau/Herzog look and feel. Also, if the latter, then Birtwistle is a serious contender as composer.
ETA: My initial scenario treatment of this suggests it would be hard to work in Renfield although maybe he could be an off stage voice (sprechstimme?)
Also and cool of cools here:
Retweet from Erwin Schrott of original tweet by Joseph Calleja: "Jajaja!!. RT @manx_maid: Dracula the Opera fantasy casting. CD - @thomas_hampson/@erwin_schrott, VHelsing - PDomingo, Harker - "
Thus far we seem to have settled on Thomas Ades as the preferred composer and there is general agreement on the major male roles and ideal casting:
The Count (baritone): Tom Hampson or Erwin Schrott (depends how sexy one thinks he needs to be)(1)
Van Helsing: (high baritone): Placido Domingo
Jonathan Harker (tenor): Joseph Calleja
Quincy Morris (baritone): Nathan Gunn
Arthur Holmwood: ??
John Seward: ??
Renfield: Character baritone or counter tenor
The females are more problematic even though there are only two. It's rather a matter of interpretation. If one sees Mina Harker as the romantic heroine then she is the soprano and Lucy Westenra is the mezzo. If Lucy is the tragic heroine then that gets reversed.
So version 1.
Mina Harker (sop): Anna Netrebko
Lucy Westenra (mezzo): Elina Garanca
Version 2 one could just reverse the singers but there's also the possibility of using, say, Miah Persson and Kate Lindsey. There's a temptation to write a "mad scene" or something similar for Lucy in which case Netrebko would be better. There's also a certain attraction to casting Gheorghiu as Lucy. One imagines not a few opera house GMs would appreciate a scene where she gets her head sawn off.
(1) A baritone Dracula works best for a version leaning to the Hammer Horror aesthetic. A counter-tenor might be preferred for a Murnau/Herzog look and feel. Also, if the latter, then Birtwistle is a serious contender as composer.
ETA: My initial scenario treatment of this suggests it would be hard to work in Renfield although maybe he could be an off stage voice (sprechstimme?)
Also and cool of cools here:
Retweet from Erwin Schrott of original tweet by Joseph Calleja: "Jajaja!!. RT @manx_maid: Dracula the Opera fantasy casting. CD - @thomas_hampson/@erwin_schrott, VHelsing - PDomingo, Harker - "