lady m
Heartbeat Opera’s
LADY M, an online fantasia of Verdi’s MACBETH
presented in 32 sold-out Virtual Soirées on Zoom, reaching 740 households, more than 1000 individuals, across 5 continents
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi, Original Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, with additions by Andrea Maffei, based on William Shakespeare’s play
Ethan Heard (Director and Adaptor), Jacob Ashworth (Music Director and Co-Translator), Daniel Schlosberg (New Arrangements), Emma Jaster (Movement Director), Senem Pirler (Sound Designer & Electronics), Peregrine Teng Heard (Dramaturg and Co-Translator), Gleb Kanasevich (Sound Engineer), Kathy Wittman (Filmmaker)
CAST: Felicia Moore (Lady M), Quentin Oliver Lee (Macbeth), Tyler Putnam (Banco), Sishel Claverie, Taylor-Alexis Dupont, and Jamilyn Manning-White (Weird Sisters)
BAND: Jacob Ashworth (Violin & Conductor), Daniel Schlosberg (Piano), Gleb Kanasevich (Clarinet), Neil Beckmann (Guitar), Felix Del Tredici (Trombone) Caitlin Cawley (Percussion)
This work was co-presented by The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Press
New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix, May 2020
“Hacking the corporate contours of Zoom into a postmodern proscenium... Movement director Emma Jaster has the singers taking full advantage of their tiny frames, with choreography that plays with the walls of the grid and the depth of their rooms. Lithe leadership and arrangements by music director Jacob Ashworth and arranger Daniel Schlosberg never overcrowd the tight acoustic confines of Zoom. And each of the performances — from soprano Felicia Moore, who powerfully realizes her Lady M from her own childhood bedroom, to baritone Quentin Oliver Lee, whose Macbeth brings sound and fury — manage to reach through the screen.”
“A groundbreaking and interactive feast! From both an artistic and promotional standpoint, the small company’s experiment is a big success as it places itself at the vanguard of new, virtual opera experiences, forging a path for other companies, big and small. Iterations of virtual performances will multiply, undoubtedly; but, for those who make fledgling attempts such as HERE’s “All Decisions,” and Heartbeat’s “Lady M” Virtual Soirées, will be remembered as groundbreaking.”
“Soprano Felicia Moore’s reading of Lady Macbeth’s “Vieni, t’affretta” was riveting. When she launched into the aria itself, her forceful attack registered as a call to action. Moore’s soprano exhibited both scale and focus; in its lower reaches, it suggested the dark forces propelling Verdi’s antiheroine. The trills fell exactly into place; the articulation of the polacca rhythms was both accurate and tremendously exciting. Moore was performing in her childhood bedroom at her family’s house in New Jersey, but she managed to turn her mundane surroundings into a place of high drama. Her singing of the Sleepwalking Scene in the subsequent music video confirmed the good impression she made in “Vieni, t’affretta,” and Daniel Schlosberg’s crazy-quilt chamber orchestration buttressed the eerie effect.”
“The two prerecorded videos were gripping, especially Ms. Moore’s sleepwalking scene, which found high drama in her vibrant soprano, Daniel Schlosberg’s creepily brilliant musical arrangement, and the video component that she filmed herself. Heartbeat plans to perform the whole opera live next spring. If that’s impossible, they will move it online, which could be sensational.”
“New and fresh. Excellent singers. Infectious energy and excitement."
“Not everybody can be expected to be as clever as Heartbeat Opera. A chamber reduction of the original three witches orchestration skillfully went to the musical heart of the scene."
PROCESS
We conceived Lady M as a 90-minute fantasia on Verdi’s Macbeth, from the perspective of Lady M. Last fall, we began our adaptation process, cutting and reordering the score. In February, we gathered for a 5-day workshop in NYC, exploring character, choreography, and the relationship of music and electronics. In March, we were collaborating with designers and preparing for rehearsals at EMPAC before performing at Irondale in Brooklyn. When COVID-19 disrupted our plans, we decided to take our collaboration – and the Lady M fantasia – online.
From April 20 to May 1, the Lady M company participated in a 10-day Remote Residency. Gathering for two hours every day on Zoom, we warmed up together, rehearsed music, and experimented with text and movement. Each day, singers were assigned “homework” – independent, creative projects including video compositions, audio recordings, and writing exercises. Singers submitted and shared their work the next morning at rehearsal. Meanwhile, band members rehearsed together on Zoom and then recorded their tracks individually. Our intrepid sound engineer and video editor painstakingly put tracks and footage together into two short films.
Our exploration from this residency will nourish a full production of Lady M in the near future…