Seminar 'Performance Practices in Perspective: Operetta in Ancient, Old and Current Approaches'
organised by Stijn Saveniers
The seminar seeks to gather different approaches to the performance of operetta, notably the performance of the musical aspect of the genre and its relation to the comical narrative.
Being able to perform comedy, let alone musical comedy, is still often regarded as a matter of sheer talent; you either have it, or you don’t. That maxim is interesting, since so many educational methods are in place to develop (other) intrinsic qualities, especially in the artistic field, where creativity and craft are the driving forces of an artistic formation. It would be strange, therefore, that the performance of comical or humorous works would solely rely on creativity, and that no craft would be involved. If, however, some form of comical craftsmanship would be acknowledged, this would imply the existence of a comical technique, or at least of technical elements that could be part of a formation method.
In order to shed light on the existence and transmission of a comical performance tradition in the realm of operetta, conductor, singer, and director experts join in a round table conversation, where they will discuss the remnants of an oral tradition as well as contemporary views on operetta performance. This round table will be preceded by a lecture by Adam Benzwi, conductor a.o. at the Komische Oper Berlin, on historical approaches as well as his experiences in Berlin.
After lunch, Stijn Saveniers will present part of his research findings, before diving into the performance of an Eva Dell’Aqua operetta, Une Ruse de Pierrette.
Jan Dewilde will contribute to contextualising the Belgian operetta tradition within the wider operetta field.
All this will be interspersed by some musical amuse-oreilles, as well as coffee and lunch breaks.
image (c) Björn Comhaire