Listen to: The Land Is Large
Listen to: Kristian's Lament
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Origin of Lillian
When you watch the world premiere of Lillian Alling in October, 2010, you will experience a complete story, told through words, music, drama, and theatre design. You will learn a lot about Lillian, her family, and the people she meets on her epic trek across North America into the wilds of Northwestern B.C. I think you’ll be enthralled with the opera and intrigued by the idea that Lillian’s story may be “true”.
Yes, Lillian Alling is based on an historical figure. There was a woman, claiming to be from Russia, who apparently walked and rode the rails across North American in the 1920s. She was arrested for vagrancy and spent time in Oakalla Prison Farm, near Vancouver. But there are very few known facts about her life, let alone her character. No one knows for certain where she came from, how she arrived in North America, and whether she completed her journey across the Bering Strait to Russia.
Lillian has inspired novelists, playwrights, filmmakers and historians. Australian writer Cassandra Pybus’s The Woman Who Walked To Russia, describes the author’s largely fruitless search for information about Lillian. American novelist Amy Bloom’s Away follows ‘Lillian Leyb’ from the Yiddish Theatre in New York to Seattle and Alaska. The play All the Way to Russia With Love by Susan M. Flemming was performed at the 2002 Ottawa Fringe festival. A Canadian feature film is currently in development.
Susan Smith, a writer who lives in Quesnel, B.C., is writing a “non-fiction history book” about Lillian. She heard the story about two years ago and initially thought it was just another Cariboo tall tale. She did some digging in the library and became deeply fascinated. “Even once I've finished the book, I know I'll always be looking for Lillian,” she says. I feel that many parts of Lillian's story will remain a mystery.”
Librettist John Murrell met Lillian about ten years ago, hidden in a few pages of an anthology called Wild West Women, which he bought at a book store in Banff. Intrigued, he pursued her story and, after much searching, discovered how little there is to find. “So,” says Murrell, “at some point, one has to begin to invent, with compassion and a sense of Lillian's time and place, the parts of the story which do not exist factually, and which will probably never be known to us…. In my libretto, I have conjectured a set of possible answers to all the questions we have about Lillian Alling.”
The mystery surrounding Lillian is what attracted Murrell and composer John Estacio and kept them working on the opera. “What drove her, what pulled and pushed her across an entire continent? Why was she so keen to keep these matters secret? What happened to her, why and where, for the rest of her life?” asks Murrell.
You will have to see the opera to learn the answers that Murrell and Estacio have imagined. Susan Smith will be there. “It will be the first time I ‘allow’ myself to see, read, or view a fictional treatment of Lillian. It will be a real treat for me to be able to relax after my book is finished, and to see how other people who love and admire Lillian have interpreted her story.”
~ Doug Tuck, Director of Marketing & Community Programs
Yes, Lillian Alling is based on an historical figure. There was a woman, claiming to be from Russia, who apparently walked and rode the rails across North American in the 1920s. She was arrested for vagrancy and spent time in Oakalla Prison Farm, near Vancouver. But there are very few known facts about her life, let alone her character. No one knows for certain where she came from, how she arrived in North America, and whether she completed her journey across the Bering Strait to Russia.
Lillian has inspired novelists, playwrights, filmmakers and historians. Australian writer Cassandra Pybus’s The Woman Who Walked To Russia, describes the author’s largely fruitless search for information about Lillian. American novelist Amy Bloom’s Away follows ‘Lillian Leyb’ from the Yiddish Theatre in New York to Seattle and Alaska. The play All the Way to Russia With Love by Susan M. Flemming was performed at the 2002 Ottawa Fringe festival. A Canadian feature film is currently in development.
Susan Smith, a writer who lives in Quesnel, B.C., is writing a “non-fiction history book” about Lillian. She heard the story about two years ago and initially thought it was just another Cariboo tall tale. She did some digging in the library and became deeply fascinated. “Even once I've finished the book, I know I'll always be looking for Lillian,” she says. I feel that many parts of Lillian's story will remain a mystery.”
Librettist John Murrell met Lillian about ten years ago, hidden in a few pages of an anthology called Wild West Women, which he bought at a book store in Banff. Intrigued, he pursued her story and, after much searching, discovered how little there is to find. “So,” says Murrell, “at some point, one has to begin to invent, with compassion and a sense of Lillian's time and place, the parts of the story which do not exist factually, and which will probably never be known to us…. In my libretto, I have conjectured a set of possible answers to all the questions we have about Lillian Alling.”
The mystery surrounding Lillian is what attracted Murrell and composer John Estacio and kept them working on the opera. “What drove her, what pulled and pushed her across an entire continent? Why was she so keen to keep these matters secret? What happened to her, why and where, for the rest of her life?” asks Murrell.
You will have to see the opera to learn the answers that Murrell and Estacio have imagined. Susan Smith will be there. “It will be the first time I ‘allow’ myself to see, read, or view a fictional treatment of Lillian. It will be a real treat for me to be able to relax after my book is finished, and to see how other people who love and admire Lillian have interpreted her story.”
~ Doug Tuck, Director of Marketing & Community Programs
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Words + Music = Great Opera
Behind every great opera lurks a great libretto. Sometimes wonderful music can mask a weak story and weak libretto (script) but, in my opinion, for an opera to achieve greatness and universal, on-going acceptance, the libretto must also be of the first rank. The poet/playwright must not only supply inspiration to the composer but also deliver to the audience a moving and literate script.
For Lillian Alling we have such a libretto – and such a librettist. I am so honoured and thrilled to be working with the esteemed Canadian playwright John Murrell, who has supplied us with a stirring, mysterious, and moving libretto for our world premiere.
John is one of Canada’s most distinguished and most frequently produced playwrights (as well as a highly regarded arts advocate, mentor, and consultant). His plays have been translated into 15 languages and performed in more than 30 countries.
His best-known plays include Memoir, Waiting for the Parade, Democracy, The Faraway Nearby, Farther West, and New World. He is also a successful translator of classic theatre texts, including works by Chekhov, Sophocles, Ibsen, and Racine. He has adapted Homer’s Odyssey for young audiences, written scenarios for new works by Ballet British Columbia and The National Ballet of Canada, and the screenplay for a recent award-winning film, The Secret of the Nutcracker, produced by CBC in collaboration with Alberta Ballet.
But let’s talk about opera! “The two Johns” – Murrell and Estacio – have developed into a wonderful operatic team. Their first opera was the celebrated Filumena (2003) produced first by Calgary Opera then the Banff Centre; it was the centrepiece of The Alberta Scene at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Presented by the Edmonton Opera in November 2005, Filumena was filmed for CBC-TV’s Opening Night series and has twice been nationally telecast. Filumena was followed by Frobisher (2007), also produced by Calgary Opera and The Banff Centre.
I believe that allowing a creative team to develop over the creation of more than work is very important. Think of the great opera-writing teams: Mozart and da Ponte (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte), Verdi and Piave (Rigoletto, Macbeth, La Forza del Destino), Strauss and Hofmannsthal (Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra). They were able to work together over the course of years, learning from one another, bending to accommodate one another’s strengths, developing a cohesiveness that comes only from experience.
The team of John Murrell and John Estacio has done this, thanks to Calgary Opera, The Banff Centre and Vancouver Opera, who have given them the opportunity – the freedom – to explore this art form together. Of course, the ultimate beneficiary of this luxury is the audience. I know when we hear this opera in October we will realize that this is a team that is seasoned and in its prime. Here are two samples of John’s text for Lillian Alling, with accompanying piano/vocals from our most recent workshop.
Lillian strikes out across the country, all alone, searching for the man who went before her. She is awed by the land, its stark beauty, and its promise of freedom:
LILLIAN:
The land is large and smooth and green.
I hear many birds, I hear no war.
Such quiet I have not heard before…
A place of questions, not answers,
Of mistakes they do not call sins.
Here nothing,
Nothing is ending.
Everything,
Everything begins!
The land is large and smooth and green,
A quiet never heard before.
Its windows are open, so is its door…
A place of prairies, not gardens,
Not ghettos and cities, but farms.
Not sadness,
Not shadows, but sunlight.
Everything,
Everything warms!
I walk and the land comes out to meet me.
I rest and the land lies down for a while.
The land stretches out its hand to greet me,
Mile after mile after mile after mile…!
The land is large by day or night.
A music never heard before…
I hear its clear voice
In the telegraph lines:
“You are welcome,” it says,
“Go where you will.
Here everything,
Everything shines!”
Later in Act One, the young farmer Kristian falls quickly and rather hard for Lillian as she passes through looking for her betrothed. He cannot convince her to stay with him awhile, and shares his frustration and loneliness:
KRISTIAN:
I cannot leave my father,
Though I dream of it all the time.
You have traveled.
Please let me ask you:
Does it feel lonely,
Or does it feel free?
Does every new day fill you with strength,
Or does it fill you with fear?
I know everything about North Dakota,
I know everything about here…
The here and the now.
But I would love to learn about what’s out there…
What the future might look like…somehow.
Will you stay and teach me, just a few days?
When I saw you, I could see
That you are traveling
To find a brand-new life.
I cannot believe that is with Jozéf.
I cannot believe it is being his wife!
(He looks at her longingly.)
Lillian Alling...
Lillian Alling...
Lillian Alling...
LILLIAN:
What is your name?
KRISTIAN:
Kristian.
LILLIAN:
Kristian.
I think you can tell from these two brief selections that these are beautiful and descriptive words and music. The opera is filled with such moments – moments brought to us by Canada’s foremost operatic team.
~ James W. Wright, General Director
Credits:
Allison Angelo, soprano
Colin Ainsworth, tenor
Kinza Tyrrell, piano
Recorded January 3, 2010 at the Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto
Used with permission
For Lillian Alling we have such a libretto – and such a librettist. I am so honoured and thrilled to be working with the esteemed Canadian playwright John Murrell, who has supplied us with a stirring, mysterious, and moving libretto for our world premiere.
John is one of Canada’s most distinguished and most frequently produced playwrights (as well as a highly regarded arts advocate, mentor, and consultant). His plays have been translated into 15 languages and performed in more than 30 countries.
His best-known plays include Memoir, Waiting for the Parade, Democracy, The Faraway Nearby, Farther West, and New World. He is also a successful translator of classic theatre texts, including works by Chekhov, Sophocles, Ibsen, and Racine. He has adapted Homer’s Odyssey for young audiences, written scenarios for new works by Ballet British Columbia and The National Ballet of Canada, and the screenplay for a recent award-winning film, The Secret of the Nutcracker, produced by CBC in collaboration with Alberta Ballet.
But let’s talk about opera! “The two Johns” – Murrell and Estacio – have developed into a wonderful operatic team. Their first opera was the celebrated Filumena (2003) produced first by Calgary Opera then the Banff Centre; it was the centrepiece of The Alberta Scene at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Presented by the Edmonton Opera in November 2005, Filumena was filmed for CBC-TV’s Opening Night series and has twice been nationally telecast. Filumena was followed by Frobisher (2007), also produced by Calgary Opera and The Banff Centre.
I believe that allowing a creative team to develop over the creation of more than work is very important. Think of the great opera-writing teams: Mozart and da Ponte (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte), Verdi and Piave (Rigoletto, Macbeth, La Forza del Destino), Strauss and Hofmannsthal (Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra). They were able to work together over the course of years, learning from one another, bending to accommodate one another’s strengths, developing a cohesiveness that comes only from experience.
The team of John Murrell and John Estacio has done this, thanks to Calgary Opera, The Banff Centre and Vancouver Opera, who have given them the opportunity – the freedom – to explore this art form together. Of course, the ultimate beneficiary of this luxury is the audience. I know when we hear this opera in October we will realize that this is a team that is seasoned and in its prime. Here are two samples of John’s text for Lillian Alling, with accompanying piano/vocals from our most recent workshop.
Lillian strikes out across the country, all alone, searching for the man who went before her. She is awed by the land, its stark beauty, and its promise of freedom:
LILLIAN:
The land is large and smooth and green.
I hear many birds, I hear no war.
Such quiet I have not heard before…
A place of questions, not answers,
Of mistakes they do not call sins.
Here nothing,
Nothing is ending.
Everything,
Everything begins!
The land is large and smooth and green,
A quiet never heard before.
Its windows are open, so is its door…
A place of prairies, not gardens,
Not ghettos and cities, but farms.
Not sadness,
Not shadows, but sunlight.
Everything,
Everything warms!
I walk and the land comes out to meet me.
I rest and the land lies down for a while.
The land stretches out its hand to greet me,
Mile after mile after mile after mile…!
The land is large by day or night.
A music never heard before…
I hear its clear voice
In the telegraph lines:
“You are welcome,” it says,
“Go where you will.
Here everything,
Everything shines!”
Later in Act One, the young farmer Kristian falls quickly and rather hard for Lillian as she passes through looking for her betrothed. He cannot convince her to stay with him awhile, and shares his frustration and loneliness:
KRISTIAN:
I cannot leave my father,
Though I dream of it all the time.
You have traveled.
Please let me ask you:
Does it feel lonely,
Or does it feel free?
Does every new day fill you with strength,
Or does it fill you with fear?
I know everything about North Dakota,
I know everything about here…
The here and the now.
But I would love to learn about what’s out there…
What the future might look like…somehow.
Will you stay and teach me, just a few days?
When I saw you, I could see
That you are traveling
To find a brand-new life.
I cannot believe that is with Jozéf.
I cannot believe it is being his wife!
(He looks at her longingly.)
Lillian Alling...
Lillian Alling...
Lillian Alling...
LILLIAN:
What is your name?
KRISTIAN:
Kristian.
LILLIAN:
Kristian.
I think you can tell from these two brief selections that these are beautiful and descriptive words and music. The opera is filled with such moments – moments brought to us by Canada’s foremost operatic team.
~ James W. Wright, General Director
Credits:
Allison Angelo, soprano
Colin Ainsworth, tenor
Kinza Tyrrell, piano
Recorded January 3, 2010 at the Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto
Used with permission
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