Thursday, July 08, 1999
'Screw' turns on horrors of the mind
BY JANELLE GELFAND
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The curtain will rise on Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw, the composer's most gripping and compact work for the stage, for the first time at Cincinnati Opera today.
The libretto, by Myfanwy Piper, is based on the novel of the same name by Henry James. The story revolves around a conflict between a governess and a pair of evil “ghosts” — Peter Quint and Miss Jessel — who have an unnatural influence over the Governess' charges, young Miles and Flora.
But, say program notes from the 1954 recording conducted by Britten, “Miles and Flora are not as innocent as they often sound; their personalities have been subtly corrupted by Quint and Miss Jessel while the latter were alive.”
Cincinnati Opera's artistic director Nicholas Muni speaks about what opera goers can expect in the new production of The Turn of the Screw.
QUESTION: Without giving everything away, what do you think will surprise people, or enthrall them?
ANSWER: What's come together well is a sense of real suspense. It is a psychological thriller, and you don't quite know if the ghosts are real, or if it's in your imagination.
I think the audience will come away with the sense of moment-to-moment suspense.
Q: Will a chamber opera work in Music Hall, a 3,400-seat space?
A: Its basic message is a struggle between good and evil. On that level, it's fundamental, and that's why I think it can project in a large space.
I wouldn't have thought of it until about three years ago, when I saw two productions, both in large houses, in Seattle and (New York) City Opera, which projected well. It's operatic in scale; it's simple, very direct, and the layers underneath are very subtle.
Q: What is your biggest challenge in directing The Turn of the Screw?
A: To allow each of the potential interpretations to be equally strong or equally potent, so you don't load the dice in any one direction.
It's this combination of the fundamental struggle and this very delicate balance between allowing each possible interpretation to exist.
Q: How do you portray the ghosts?
A: The set (by Peter Werner) is a very large circular room, and the walls are covered in red India silk fabric, a moire. The ghosts are dressed in that exact fabric, with the idea that they're trapped in the room. We didn't want to go into a Halloween direction with the ghosts.
Q: How do you handle Peter Quint's relationship with Miles?
A: Our basic approach has been that the true antagonist is the Guardian, the uncle. All the people involved are victims of this man's system that he set up, which is completely self-centered. He has all the money in the world, and he basically buys people's allegiance.
In our version, the Guardian appears during the prologue in a short pantomime with the Governess, to just get a feeling what his character is like. So the ghosts (Peter Quint and Miss Jessel) are eventual victims of this man and are trapped in the room together.
The ghosts are predatory; they are trying to possess the souls of the children so that they can escape this room, this purgatory that they're in.
Q: How do you feel about the character of the Governess?
A: I think she's essentially good, but she makes some mistakes. She latches onto an interpretation of what's happening, to the exclusion of other signs around her.
It's like Otello, who fixates on the handkerchief of his wife, to the exclusion of other hints and information. The Governess fixates on an interpretation that she is convinced is the truth, and goes for it with such intensity. She may have been right — or she may not have been right.
Q: How would you describe the music?
A: In the lectures I've done this spring, people have been surprised at the beauty. In the introduction to Act I, Scene IV, when (the Governess) sees Quint in the tower, there's sunshine and the music is beautiful. There are a lot of moments of beauty, but it will be challenging to the members of our audience who are most tuned in to Puccini and Verdi.
Q: What will people walk away with?
A: I hope that they walk away wondering what really went on. In terms of the big questions — i.e. were the ghosts bad, were the children bad, did the governess, in her neurosis, create this tragedy? — those to me are the three central questions that you have to balance.
It's a true tragedy, so that it will have its force. It's a true tragedy in the classical sense, that a character, through a flaw of his or her own, brings about their own destruction. The Governess does not die, but there are other ways of being destroyed.
IF YOU GO
• What: Cincinnati Opera's The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten (company premiere), Nicholas Muni, director; Christian Arming, conductor; Susan Chilcott (The Governess); Scott Piper (Peter Quint); Susan Parry (Miss Jessel); Pauline Tinsley (Mrs. Grose); Michael Denos (Miles); Robin Blitch Wiper (Flora); Jeffrey Treganza (The Guardian).
• When: 8 p.m. today and Saturday.
• Where: Music Hall.
• Tickets: $12-$80; (obstructed view seats $12-$38 are sold at a discount) 721-8222.
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