Volume 24 Issue 6 - March 2019

´
Kopernikus, Banff Centre for the Arts, 2017
external conflict and this, perhaps, adds to the confusion. However,
Agni, the central figure in Kopernikus undergoes a series of initiations
that ultimately lead her to reach her final and purest spirit state,
her dematerialization. The story is inherent in the series of scenes,
in her ritualistic journey, where she encounters historical and mythical
beings (her mother, Lewis Carroll, Mozart, the Queen of the Night,
Tristan, Isolde and Copernicus) who accompany her from one world
to the next.
Admittedly, the bare staging that typically accompanies Kopernikus
can also be taken as a lack of narrative direction. It is, however, very
much in line with Agni’s journey towards the purest of spiritual
forms. Vivier explicitly left behind paragraphs of texts explaining each
scene of the opera so that creative staging decisions could be left to the
directors. Perhaps an unusual choice, but an explanation can be found
in Vivier’s own words, again quoted from Gilmore’s book, when he
states that he loves many operas of the standard repertory but “I rarely
go see them because I usually don’t like the staging.”
Although Vivier kept out of staging decisions, he very much injected
traces of himself throughout the staging of Kopernikus: the opera
is scored for seven singers and seven instrumentalists (the number
seven makes several appearances in other works and Vivier’s birthday
is April 14); and in iconography Agni, the Hindu God of fire, is represented
by a ram (Vivier’s astrological sign is Aries, a fire sign).
Fascinated with languages (he could speak at least five fluently),
Vivier is perhaps the only composer to use an invented language
throughout his entire compositional career, beginning with his first
vocal work, Ojikawa (1968), and ending with his last, Glaubst du
an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (1983). In Kopernikus, as in all of
his previous works, his invented language is not a series of aleatoric
nonsensical syllables, but rather a combination of automatic writing
and the use of grammelot (coined by Commedia dell’arte players,
grammelot refers to sounds, such as onomatopoeias, used to convey
the sense of speech). Vivier’s invented language also seems to function
as a code for Agni who most often speaks in the invented language
to other characters but speaks French when expressing her inner
thoughts.
Kopernikus also shows early indications of spectralism, a musical
practice where compositional decisions are often based on visual
representations (spectrograms) of mathematical analysis of harmonic
series. Vivier’s spectralism of the late 1970s is an exploration of
sounds as living objects and what he calls colours in both the sounds
and textures he creates. Vivier’s linguistic skills, combined with his
strong predilection for vocal writing and his early foray into spectralism,
elevate the opera to a stunning work of art where simple lines
of music are turned into extraordinary meaningful moments that
surpass any semantic value.
Looking ahead
In one of his last letters, Vivier wrote to Montreal conductor
Philippe Dourguin and laid out his outline for a second opera. His
“opéra fleuve” on the explorer Marco Polo was to consist of seven
parts and use previously composed materials. Conductor Reinbert
de Leeuw (Asko/Schoenberg Ensemble) and director Pierre Audi
(Nederlandse Opera) reconstituted Vivier’s opera in the 1990s.
Because their version was different than what Vivier originally lays
out in his letter, the opera was renamed Opéra-fleuve en deux parties,
with Kopernikus as part one and Rêves d’un Marco Polo as part
two. Part two ends with Vivier’s final composition, the very much
discussed Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (Do you believe
in the soul’s immortality). In 2000, as part of the Holland Festival,
Vivier’s Opéra-fleuve en deux parties received eight performances
in Amsterdam, marking the world premiere of Rêves d’un Marco
Polo. The production was subsequently revived, also in Amsterdam,
in 2004, recorded by the Asko/Schoenberg Ensemble and released on
DVD in 2006. Perhaps, we too, can soon have a premiere of Vivier’s
Opéra-fleuve en deux parties and discover Rêves d’un Marco Polo.
MOZART
IDOMENEO
with MEASHA
BRUEGGERGOSMAN
APRIL 4–13
Ed Mirvish Theatre
TICKETS FROM $39!
OPERAATELIER.COM
Season Presenting Sponsor
Season Underwriter
Season Supported by
“a thrilling cast
of Canada’s
finest singers”
—OPERA CANADA
Photo by
BRUCE ZINGER
thewholenote.com March 2019 | 19