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Student Feature: Conducting Stravinsky
This November 19 through 22, the School of Music’s University Opera Theatre will celebrate Igor Stravinsky by presenting three of his operas created during his time in the city of lights: Le Renard, a burlesque, in English; Mavra, a satirical folk tale, in Russian; and Le Rossignol, a fantasy piece, in French in a program titled “Stravinsky in Paris.”
Foster Beyers, Christina Chen-Beyers, and Jeffrey Specht, School of Music D.M.A. conducting students, are preparing to take on the artistic challenge of conducting an opera by the Russian composer.
The ever-enthusiastic artistic director of orchestral studies Mark Russell Smith couldn’t be more encouraging about handing the conductor’s baton over to his students and says, “The unique thing about learning to be a conductor is that there is no substitute for hands-on learning. Unlike others who can practice alone, we learn in front of others and make our mistakes in public. You have to be thick-skinned and have chutzpah to get into the art of conducting. You cannot learn this craft without the opportunity to conduct.”
Smith says, “In old Europe, training to become a conductor involved apprenticing with an opera company. My first job was ‘opera assistant’ with the Opera Company of Philadelphia. This experience was important because a large part of being a conductor is opera conducting. It’s a completely different knowledge pool that requires you to work with not only the orchestra but also singers and directors. It’s great that David Walsh, University Opera Theatre director, offered the students this opportunity.”
As a professional conductor who is currently active in the music world, Smith stands by his words and offers his students the opportunity to take on professional challenges. Even as the conducting students prepare for Stravinsky run this fall, Smith continues to seek out ways for School of Music students to gain experience.
Christina Chen-Beyers
“Le Renard is a story that can be related to all ages. The drama and theatre is also incorporated into the music. According to Stravinsky, the orchestra will actually be on stage surrounding the singers, while four dancers representing animals dance around the musicians. It will be a very dramatic entity.”
Foster Beyers
“Le Rossignol is unique in Stravinsky’s output. He began the work before writing his famous ballets for the Ballet Russes then set it aside only to complete it after all of his masterpieces. As a result, there’s variety of styles. The first act sounds like the music of Stravinsky’s teacher, Korsakov, but the others are vintage Stravinsky. The orchestration is rich and colorful and evokes an exotic oriental atmosphere. The vocal writing is virtuosic and thrilling.”
Jeffrey Specht
“Mavra is a funny story and I think everyone can enjoy a funny story. This opera was considered by Stravinsky himself to be one of the greatest things that he had written, a position that he had defended throughout his life. I am excited by the fact that I am fortunate enough to be able to make music with some fantastic musicians for people who love music. I will strive to create a performance that Stravinsky would approve.”
Photos by Kelly MacWilliams
Last modified on July 2, 2007