Collaboration is at the heart of every musical endeavor. The University of Louisville took this spirit to new levels with a cross-Atlantic production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro with the Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. Filmmaker Dan Schaefer saw the perfect opportunity to capture this journey, literally, on film. The result is FIGARO! Living in the Moment of a Character, and will premiere on Saturday, February 13 at 7:30pm at Comstock Concert Hall, University of Louisville School of Music.
Michael Ramach, co-director of the opera program at U of L, and Nathan Wilson, a cast member in the prodcution, talked with Daniel Gilliam about the collaboration from beginning to end and the documentary.
http://www.wuol.org/2010/02/12/figaro/
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Article as it appeared in the LEO newspaper!
Saturday, Feb. 13
‘Figaro’
Margaret Comstock Concert Hall
U of L’s Belknap Campus
Free; 7:30 p.m.
In 2007, U of L’s Michael Ramach embarked on an ambitious, cross-continental production of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.” The cast and orchestra included Louisville students as well as members of the Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. Ramach looked to webcams and voice-over Internet protocol to help bridge the gap during rehearsals, and collapsible sets were designed to be more easily whisked through our local UPS hub. Cameras rolled as the two-city opera overcame cultural barriers and a tandem of conductors who didn’t always see eye-to-eye. The result is Dan Shaefer’s “Figaro.” Noting a lack of behind-the-scenes coverage in this performance-focused genre, producer/director Shaefer says he was motivated to show the building of an opera from the ground up. The 1 hour, 50 minute documentary will premiere Saturday at U of L. —J. Christian Walsh
Figaro: Living in the Moment of a Character
It was early in 2007. The idea of going to Kentucky and then Poland to shoot/produce a film about the making of an opera, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, was unexpected and suddenly very exciting. Now almost 3 years later the film has had it's premiere in Louisville Kentucky and has begun it's new path to reaching an audience. I should have been writing a journal at some point. I think I started one on the way and then begun shooting. At that point the idea of writing stuff down went away as I struggled with the camera in a variety of locations(the bus, back stage in the dark, restaurants, and everyplace the singers would be) and went on to document a truly great event! I'll try to add everything I know and encourage the other participants to comment on this journey that crossed two continents and two languages.
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