Culture Vulture

Parzival is a musical that was written especially for this German-Vietnamese co-production. The opera, Through the Valley, was written by conductor Pierre Oser, stage directed by Austrian-American Beverly Blankenship with libretto provided by internationally renowned German playwright Tankred Dorst.

Conductor Pierre Oser and director Beverley Blankenship began working with Vietnamese artists last November. They sat down with a correspondent from Culture Vulture to talk about the latest production.

Could you talk about the music in Parzival?

Oser: First, there was a concept to make a piece with opera, dancing and acting. Tankred Dorst and Ursula Ehler developed the libretto for this concept, then I started to work on the composition.

We started working with this opera l¸t November, while different groups of dancers, singers and actors worked separately, and recently we started rehearsing together on the same stage.

The story is universal and timeless and in my opinion can be understood by people from all over the world. It is a great pleasure to write music for such a strong and beautiful story, for the characters and the situations they find themselves in.

The production will involve singing, dancing and acting. Is it hard work for you as a conductor?

Oser: Yes, it's difficult and unusual for all of us. The orchestra is too big for the pit and we have had to place the musicians (and the conductor) at the back of the stage. That means that we have to work on stage with video monitoring. It's not easy for all of us. But the musicians, singers, dancers and actors are flexible and open and I appreciate their attitude.

I've done some big productions in Europe, and there are always problems and unexpected situations. That is part of the work, you have to be able to handle what happens.

There are about 100 people joining the opera. It is quite hard work, hard to organise. In a football match, we have 22 people but on the stage we have nearly 100 people working together.

Normally, people use one kind of art to tell a story. It was quite unusual when we mixed three different arts together like this, opera, dance and acting. So, we have to work with lots of actors, singers and dancers together. Moreover, we are using two languages, German and Vietnamese.

A big problem is that actors and musicians have to do their work and also follow others' work. Sometimes, when the actor is crying or acting on the stage, the music and mood has to work with it.

This is the first time Vietnamese artists have blended these different kinds of art together. Will they be successful?

Oser: We all give our best, we work hard and have concentrated together for more than two months and have learned a lot from each other. We hope that are hard work shows, which will let the audience in on part of the experience.

This is a great chance for us and also for the Vietnamese. We had lots of work with actors, but when the actors work with the orchestra, a step by step process seems to work better and better.

Dancing is one way of telling a story. When the audience see the moves on the stage and hear the singing, they will be able to experience the character's feelings.

Director Beverley Blankenship, how was your experience with working with Vietnamese artists for the first time?

Blankenship: Opera is very complex. It's hard work. This is not the first time I've done a project that involved acting, singing and dancing. I've worked for 30 years. I think Vietnamese actors are very good and so are the singers and dancers.

We have a lot of fun working with them. I enjoy working together. Music has the power to help people understand a story, and sometimes it's hard to convey that with acting alone. Three different arts in one opera; it's a normal form, but its complicated to pull off. Moreover, it's expensive to get the proper lighting and sound system.

The project started in November. I love Vietnamese acting, dancing and music. In the beginning, it's difficult to work together, but now things are getting better and better. — VNS