Image via Vimeo
Leoš Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen got a crafty little update thanks to some brilliant collaborators who have worked with such artists as Modest Mouse.
Kevin Holmes, writing for Vice's The Creators Project, reports on a fascinating use of animation that gave opera lovers visiting earlier this year another way to appreciate the art form.
Holmes writes, "It was performed earlier this year by conductor Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra, and directed by artistic director Yuval Sharon, who introduced a digital twist into the set and character design courtesy of Walter Robot studios-a.k.a., Bill Barminski and Christopher Louie."
Thankfully we get a glimpse of the stunning backdrop via this Vimeo video that illustrates the work of Walter Robot, whom have worked with artists like Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Gnarls Barkley and in May helped breath digital life into the Cleveland Orchestra:
As The New York Times' Zachary Woolfe states in his review, there have been other orchestras to take liberties with the work:
"This is hardly the first time that this work, a reflection on nature and mortality featuring both human and animal characters, has been the vehicle for a major orchestra's operatic ambitions. For its "Vixen" three years ago, the New York Philharmonic transformed Avery Fisher Hall into a forest glen, complete with two-story sunflowers and singers prowling about in realistic animal costumes."
Although, as Woolfe states, the Cleveland rendition, "takes a distinctly different approach."
Holmes reports "three 30' x 16' white screens" were used to project images produced by the dynamic duo of Barminski and Louie, allowing for the audience to put a face with the voice at certain key points in the work.
Popping their heads out of portholes, the likes of Martina Janková and Alan Held would make their presence known outside their booming vocals.
So far there is no mention at the orchestra's website as to whether there will be a revival of the work anytime soon. But you can find out more about this opera as well as take a look at a packed calendar at the official website.
Its Christmas Concert, for example, will delight audiences from Dec. 12-21.
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