Ainadamar, by composer Osvaldo Golijov and librettist David Henry Hwang, is unusual among operas for its inclusion of non-operatic voices. Flamenco singer Alfredo Tejada takes a key role as Ruiz Alonso, but the Ensemble – present and active throughout the entire opera – comprises fourteen singers from a mix of operatic and musical theatre backgrounds. Their individual voices are blended but not uniform, distinguishing Ainadamar’s sound world. Ahead of this week’s staged UK premiere, we caught up with some of the Ensemble to find out about their process.
‘This show is so interesting because it brings together so many different forms of art – flamenco, contemporary dance, musical theatre, and opera singers who are at the top of their games,’ says Corinne Cowling, a singer who started as a ballet dancer and now works between opera and musical theatre. ‘There are not many shows in this form, and it’s everything I trained in.’
Riva Grant completed a Masters degree in musical theatre and remembers the audition wanted ‘singers with significant dance experience.’ She finds the process ‘artistically rewarding’ and ‘an intellectual study’, saying ‘it’s been fascinating to hear everyone’s different stories. We have so many interesting conversations about technique.’
Corinne has some previous Spanish dance experience from her training, but working with director Deborah Colker and flamenco choreographer Antonio Najarro is a new level of intensity. ‘I always wanted to delve into the feeling of the Spanish dance – the fire in the culture. The energy isn’t really something I’ve experienced in other forms of dance, so this is good for me to go outside of my comfort zone and explore another side of myself.’
This ties into Lorca’s own feelings on cante jondo (Andalusian ‘deep song’ in the flamenco repertoire), but Corinne sees Ainadamar as a story of female empowerment. ‘I think the whole opera is about the strength of women. Lorca supported female equity and women’s rights. I think you can feel that strength of women in the dance – the flamenco dancers are so powerful.’
Rosie Weston, who also completed a musical theatre Masters, explains the rhythmic challenges of working cross-genre. ‘The Orchestra and Stuart [Stratford, conductor of Ainadamar] count in four beats in a bar. The dancers and Deborah count in eight, and then the flamenco dancers count in six, so there are moments when we’re talking in completely different languages – both actual languages and rhythmic languages! It’s chaos but amazing chaos. We’ve found a way to navigate and talk on the same page.’ She has loved learning about the intricacies of flamenco: ‘on a page, the palmas clapping looks like clapping in rhythm, but there are so many different ways to put your hands together.’
Annie Reilly has performed with Scottish Opera extensively and welcomes the multidisciplinary work in Ainadamar. ‘There are different styles of working and warming up,’ she says. ‘Opera singers tend to do a lot of their prep before rehearsals begin, while there’s a bigger emphasis on development in the room for dance and musical theatre, so it's been a rewarding challenge to have more improvisation and collaboration within the room.’ With a musical theatre background, she recognizes the puzzle of combining all voices into a coherent whole: ‘it’s challenging to figure out how to blend our opera and musical theatre voices to get the sound Golijov is looking for, but it’s such a powerful and unique sound when it all comes together.’
Elena Garrido Madrona also hails from an opera background and feels similarly. ‘The ensemble doesn’t have a very operatic sound, so that is a challenge because we’re not used to making that kind of sound,’ she says. She finds the opera special due to her Spanish heritage. ‘I’m from Málaga, very close to where Lorca used to live. Everything feels very real. The whole production is special to me.’
Beth Mabin, who primarily works in musical theatre, enjoys the fact that voices been amplified with minimal foldback to preserve a natural sound (amplification is necessary in Ainadamar because Golijov mixes electronic and pre-recorded music into his orchestral score). Beth found out about Ainadamar through a casting call on the theatre jobs hub Spotlight. Unlike many musical theatre auditions, she had to prepare a classical aria in a foreign language. ‘My mum was an opera singer and I sung classically growing up, so it’s been nice to sing such complex music. In musical theatre you wouldn’t get these lovely, clashing harmonies,’ Beth says. ‘It has been really useful to refresh those skills – I’ll treasure that.’
Everyone has their own favourite part of Ainadamar. Corinne’s is the opening: ‘there is so much energy grounded in emotion.’
‘My favourite part has been working with the flamenco artists, and being in a rehearsal room that I’ve never been in before and I’ll probably never be in again,’ Beth says. ‘There is a different creative energy. I was not expecting to be such a large part of it, which has been the best thing.’
‘I really like “Mariana, your eyes”’, says Rosie, ‘where we sing in this choral block. Stuart has done some amazing things with the musicality of it and making this feline, sensual sound that you wouldn’t see on the page.’
It has been a journey for everyone, but the mood is high. ‘Now that we’re in the theatre and we know we have this, we have fresh energy!’ Beth says.
‘It’s been a privilege to explore the story of this piece,’ Riva says. ‘Scottish Opera is such an amazing company and it’s been so nice to work with them. It’s a hard thing to do with so many disciplines coming together, and everyone’s thrown themselves in.’
Corinne speaks passionately about the piece –the choreography and movement cementing the music, Golijov’s trailblazing score that welcome cross-artistic collaboration and performance, and pushing opera to incorporate more artistic forms and backgrounds into its practice. ‘There’s a lot of percussion and audio effects, so it will be a feast for your ears and senses. Visually, aurally, it’s like nothing like I’ve ever experienced.’ She will take this drive forward to her next projects: ‘I am capable of all the physical strength and powerful intensity, and I’ll take that into my future work rather than being polite! I’ll just go for it.’
‘Everyone in the ensemble is aware that they bring something different to the table,’ Rosie says, ‘and it’s been really nice to hear how they got into musical theatre or opera.’ Ainadamar has shown that lines between genres – opera, film, musical theatre, dance – are blurring and it is an exciting opportunity for companies and performers. ‘I hope Scottish Opera do more unique things like this that bring people like us in,’ Rosie adds. ‘This has been the most amazing first experience and I don’t want it to be my last.’