SALZBURG, Austria (AP) 鈥� Philippe Sly worked up a sweat to prepare for the daunting title role in 鈥淪aint Fran莽ois d鈥橝ssise,鈥� composer Olivier Messiaen鈥檚 crowning achievement.
Sly moved into the Kapuzinerkloster, a Capuchin monastery about 1,550 feet (470 meters) above sea level, 7 1/2 weeks ahead of the Aug. 4 opening of Romeo Castellucci鈥檚 timed for the 800th anniversary year of .
Sly climbs the steps from the city center or walks up a road several times daily and sleeps without air conditioning in a summer of record European heat waves.
鈥淛ust being here has been extremely important because I鈥檓 going to Lauds every morning,鈥� the 37-year-old Canadian bass-baritone said in a reference to Franciscan morning prayers.
鈥淚鈥檝e taken on all these habits that they have here and now I long for it,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press outside the monastery on the morning after the first performance. “It鈥檚 weird. I鈥檓 excited to come back to the monastery and be present for Vespers or for the Eucharist Mass.鈥�
Messiaen, a prolific 20th century French composer, spent nearly a decade creating his only opera, which premiered in 1983, nine years before his death.
His score for the 6-hour, 20-minute, eight-tableaux opus (including a pair of one-hour intermissions) depicts episodes in St. Francis’ spiritual journey, including his encounter with a leper and his sermon to birds. The score calls for two raised percussion sections on either side of the stage and three ondes Martenots. The electronic instruments figure prominently in the 45-minute 鈥淪ermon to the Birds,鈥� the sixth tableau, reflecting Messiaen’s devotion to his Catholic faith.
Conductor Maxime Pascal leads 120 musicians and a chorus of 90 in six performances through Aug. 23. A second conductor in the pit waves a baton capped by a white light, signaling percussion beats at odds with the other instruments鈥� markings.
鈥淚t鈥檚 2,500 pages of music, sometimes very, very complex,鈥� Pascal said. 鈥淭here is never one transition. It鈥檚 a succession of infinity of moments and so each moment, it can be short or long, but each moment is like a work by itself.鈥�
The staging features a peacock, sheep and baking bread
Castellucci鈥檚 production features a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, a female peacock and seven sheep who romp across the stage near the end as the roof opens at the , a 1,400-seat theater built in the M枚nchsberg rock quarry and famous for its appearance in the film 鈥淭he Sound of Music.鈥�
In the Franciscan tradition of bread for the poor, a pair of MIWE four-level ovens are moved on stage and bake 33 sourdough loaves, their aroma wafting through the audience. Each oven weighs 2,650 pounds (1,200 kilos). The bread is later made available to the backstage crew.
鈥淚n the New Testament, often there鈥檚 quotes of Jesus saying that the kingdom of God is like yeast,鈥� Sly said.
, with Seiji Ozawa conducting. Peter Sellars directed a starring van Dam with Esa-Pekka Salonen leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
鈥淢essiaen had these pictures of colors and dimensions of time and space. Pretty exhilarating,鈥� said Sellars, who first heard the music when Ozawa conducted three tableaux in concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1986.
鈥淢ost opera is about stabbing the girl in the back,” Sellars told the AP. “This is just about what are the revelations in your life, what are the moments when you have another idea of how to live and what it means to be human and what it means to be part of nature.鈥�
Performing the opera for the first time, the Vienna Philharmonic started with five rehearsals back home followed by 12 more in Salzburg. The orchestra is known for Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss, not contemporary compositions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very important for an orchestra today to play also modern music,鈥� said double bassist Michael Bladerer, the Vienna Philharmonic鈥檚 general manager.
Large orchestra and chorus make performances rare
There has been just one major U.S. staged production, . Then-general director Pamela Rosenberg believed the city named after St. Francis should stage the portrayal of him.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the two or three most compelling pieces of the second half of the last century,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or me it was almost distressing 鈥� being dramatic 鈥� that it hadn鈥檛 been shown in the Western hemisphere yet.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 just so unique,鈥� she added of Messiaen. 鈥淚n spite of being part of the spectral music movement, he wasn鈥檛 continuing the footsteps of anyone with his musical language and he really created something that had an enormous artistic impetus in the music world.鈥�
White, now 79, sings the shorter role of Fr猫re Bernard in the new production and was able to pass on his experience to Sly.
鈥淚t was partly technical but it鈥檚 also a mindset,鈥� White said. 鈥淚 basically said that in this life we got to go from one moment to the next and in the acceptance of the moment that we鈥檙e in it actually guides us to the approach of the next moment.鈥�
Soprano Lauranne Oliva (The Angel), tenor Sean Panikkar (The Leper) and baritone Russell Braun (Fr猫re L茅on) are part of a standout cast dominated by Sly鈥檚 quivering, self-mutilating performance as he gets smothered with dirt and blood.
Pascal thinks Messiaen chose St. Francis as a subject because of their mutual interest in birds and faith, then created the opera as a synthesis of his use of orchestral color.
鈥淢essiaen was convinced while composing the work that it would be his last work,” Pascal said. “He thought it was his swan song.鈥�
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