Victorian Opera turns Rossini's William Tell into a dystopian drama
Pop culture has forever fused Rossini’s William Tell overture with images of men on horseback, pistols in hand, galloping into battle. It's all thanks to the 1950s TV Western The Lone Ranger, which used the familiar music in its title sequence and solidified the trope for decades to come. Hi ho Silver, away!
Of course, there’s absolutely nothing going on on stage during the famous refrain when the opera is staged. It’s an overture – a musical introduction played before the curtain rises.
“The music is so fantastic, what we do is we just leave the curtain down and play the overture,” says Victorian Opera's artistic director Richard Mills.
“Rodula [Gaitanou] is a rarity in modern opera: a director who absolutely respects the music,” he says of international opera director who together with the state company is tackling Rossini’s epic William Tell this weekend. It's rarely staged in Australia - partly because if its length, partly because of the skill required of the cast.
“It needs virtuoso singers, absolutely,” says Mills. “I mean, the singing – it’s not for babies.”
Local tenor Carlos Barcenas will perform “one of the most challenging roles in the tenor repertoire” as Arnold, Mills explains. “There are multiple high Cs – not just one, about 10 in a row, and he nails them all."
Rossini's original 1829 version included ballet as well as opera sequences, at a length of five hours. Mercifully, this version is only three.
“When you take the essence of piece and get rid of all the divertissement and the ballets, it’s a fantastic opera,” says Mills.
Based on a Swiss legend and set in the Alps, William Tell is a valiant tale of resistance against Austrian occupation. It famously contains a scene in which Tell is forced to shoot an apple off his son’s head with a bow and arrow.
This interpretation, however, takes place in a dystopian future in which a rural community is dominated by technological power. The set design still evokes verdant mountains but is more modern, abstract and versatile.
“Our motto, if you like, is to reimagine the potential of opera for everybody,” says Mills.
“There’s a lot of Baroque aesthetic in Rossini and in Bel Canto but if you do these pieces in a highly stylised it’s hard to get a modern audience involved with them.
“We want new people to enjoy the opera and for it to speak to them.”
Mills gives special mention to Orchestra Victoria principal cellist Melissa Chominsky, with the instrument featuring heavily in Rossini’s score.
“The cello is kind of the soul of William Tell,” says Mills.
Victorian Opera performs William Tell at the Palais Theatre, St Kilda, July 14, 17 and 19. victorianopera.com.au