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Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 1 of 18
Opera and Technology:Yesterday and (maybe) Tomorrow
(v.7 2014-02-04)
Nicola [email protected]
Conservatorio di Musica “C.Pollini” – Padova
Extended Opera Symposium – University College of Opera andRoyal Institute of Technology Stockholm
Copyright c© 2013 Nicola Bernardini <[email protected]>This work comes under the terms of theCreative Commons c© BY-SA 2.5 license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/)
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 2 of 18
Yesterday. . . (1)
A list of “sort–of–opera” works I have contributed to
Some qualify technically as “operas”, some do not
All these works have some dramaturgy aspect
All are extended through digital technology
I have very rarely worked alone: most (if not all) thesepremieres have been accomplished in collaboration withAlvise Vidolin and many other people
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 3 of 18
Yesterday. . . (2)
Claudio Ambrosini
Il Giudizio Universale (1996, XXIX Festivaldelle Nazioni, Citta di Castello)
Giorgio Battistelli
The Cenci (1997, Almeida Opera, London)
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 4 of 18
Yesterday. . . (3)
Luciano Berio
Ofanım (1988, Museo di ArteContemporanea, Prato)
Zaıde (Mozart–Berio, 1995, Maggio MusicaleFiorentino, Teatro della Pergola, Firenze)
Outis (1996, Teatro alla Scala, Milano)
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 5 of 18
Yesterday. . . (4)
Adriano Guarnieri
Orfeo cantando. . . tolse (1994, XIX CantiereInternazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano, Montepulciano)Quare Tristis (1995, 46. Festival internazionale di MusicaContemporanea, La Biennale di Venezia, Chiesa diS.Stefano, Venezia)Pensieri Canuti (1999, Salzburger Festspiele, Mozarteum,Salzburg)Passione secondo Matteo (2000, Commission of theTeatro alla Scala, Basilica di San Marco, Milano))Medea (2002, Commission of the Teatro La Fenice,Palafenice, Venezia)La Terra del Tramonto (2004, RAI NuovaMusica,Auditorium “G.Agnelli” Lingotto, Torino)Pietra di Diaspro (2005, RavennaFestival–Teatrodell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Nazionale, Roma)
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 6 of 18
Yesterday. . . (5)
Salvatore Sciarrino
Noms des Airs (1994, XIX CantiereInternazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano,Montepulciano)
Marco Stroppa
. . . 1995. . . 2995. . . 3695. . . (1995, 46.Festival internazionale di MusicaContemporanea, La Biennale di Venezia)
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 7 of 18
Yesterday. . . (6)
1988 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
BerioOfanim
GuarnieriOrfeo
SciarrinoNoms des Airs
Stroppa...1995...2995...3695...
GuarnieriQuare Tristis
Mozart-BerioZaide
BerioOutis
BattistelliThe Cenci
GuarnieriPensieri Canuti
GuarnieriPassione
AmbrosiniGiudizio
GuarnieriMedea
GuarnieriTerra del Tramonto
GuarnieriPietra di Diaspro
2008 2013
......
1988 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
BerioOfanim
GuarnieriOrfeo
SciarrinoNoms des Airs
Stroppa...1995...2995...3695...
GuarnieriQuare Tristis
Mozart-BerioZaide
BerioOutis
BattistelliThe Cenci
GuarnieriPensieri Canuti
GuarnieriPassione
AmbrosiniGiudizio
GuarnieriMedea
GuarnieriTerra del Tramonto
GuarnieriPietra di Diaspro
2008 2013
......
End of the two-blocks world
9/11
crisis of world economy
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 8 of 18
Other (related) achievements
DAFx (Digital Audio Effects) Action (COST G6)(1998–2002)
ConGAS (Gesture Controlled Audio Systems) Action(COST 287) (2003–2007)
The S2S2 (Sound to Sense, Sense To Sound)Roadmap (EC coordination action, with partnersCSC Padova, DIST Genova, ENS Paris, IPEMGhent, KTH Stockholm, LEAD Lyon, MIU-FTFirenze, ŒFAI Wien, TKK Helsinki, UPF-MTGBarcelona, VIPS Verona) (2003–2007)
SID (Sonic Interaction Design) Action (COSTIC0601) (2007–2011)
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 9 of 18
This was the past
Society was driven by the two–blocks syndrome
We were all urged to excellence
Industrial recits were all still in force (progress, technology,freedom, democracy, peace, etc.)
Art was encouraged to be functional to these recits
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 10 of 18
Today is different
The cold war has been replaced by hot terrorism
the industrial society has been replaced by the informationsociety
energy has lost its supremacy: noise is now the mainsource of pollution
people do not move much faster, but they can virtually beall over the world at once
time is ever more fragmented
the requirement of excellence in art is becoming less andless stringent
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 11 of 18
Lessons learned (1)
most obvious:
brand new prototyping state–of–the–art “lab” research canhardly be used in large opera works ⇒ not robust enough
less obvious:
extremely simple technology can be outrageously effectivein music (and more so in opera)
HOWEVER:
it must have some characteristics ⇒ has to be strong,reliable, performed
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 12 of 18
Lessons learned (2)
a crucial point: technology is not a problem any longer
the real problem with opera is logistics
opera houses are made for melodrama and grand opera
melodrama and grand opera require an enormous amountof technology (and logistics), but that is not currenttechnology
we can have all the music labs we care to have, but ifopera houses are unable to be music labs themselves,creating extended operas will always be a problem
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 13 of 18
Examples in other domains: entertainment
when confronted with the idea of creating amusementparks
Walt Disney invested in creating WED – later known asDisney Imagineering
Disney Imagineering is substantially a research labcatering the needs of entertainment in a specific field:cartoons and amusement parks
also George Lucas created Lucasfilm (and laterLucasArts), research labs for film making and consolegames – though later and less successful than Disney
Disney’s success was born out of cartoons! All of this wasdone in less than a century!
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 14 of 18
Opera Labs
“entertainment” is not the sole function of opera
a (very) important function is aesthetic and intellectualspeculation
“opera labs” cannot follow the Disney example
they must be
a hub for many fieldsranging from science to humanitiese.g. from non–linear narrative techniques to affectivecomputing (and back)research and production (and teaching) must co–existunder the same roof . . .. . . and this is a very hard task to accomplish
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 15 of 18
Why this should happen
Opera is perhaps the most complete multi–media andcross–modal performance art
It has existed for centuries, and
it has changed with the changes of society (which itcontributed to change)
it was able (in the past) to address all social classes atdifferent levels
why should we give it up?
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 16 of 18
An example
The SDCS (SaMPL for spreading Scientific Culture)project
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 17 of 18
What would it take to make this step?
Opera houses should create their internal research labs. . .
. . . possibly in collaboration with academic institutions
These labs should not be “usual” research labs but ratherthink–tanks of creative people
they should promote new repertoire works
they should document it in the first place
Yesterday
Lessons learned
Other Domains
Tomorrow
Maybe
Opera and Technology Stockholm, 31/05/2013 18 of 18
THANK YOU.
