Fame and Fortune
Hugh Collins Rice (Composer)
Ann Allen (Concept, Research and Staging)
Gideon Smilansky (Film Director)
A one hour opera for 2 soloists, chorus, 2 actors, medieval ensemble with film.
Synopsis
This short opera takes as its inspiration the medieval story - the 'Roman de Fauvel' (see below for more details). First circulated in the highly sophisticated world of 14th century Paris it was a cutting edge work featuring the newest avant-garde compositions of Philip de Vitry and with its multi-faceted presentation - a mix of poetry, music and cartoon like http://www.mediva.co.uk/images it was a forerunner of today's multi-media craze.
'Fame and Fortune' draws on this many layered approach combining new music written by Hugh Collins Rice with musical extracts from the original, mixing singing with a spoken narrative and all acted in front of a wide screen film backdrop with the action moving between the projected world and the real world.
Transported to the modern day, the original's virulent attack on French politics has been turned into a wry comment on today's obsession with celebrity culture. The opera is set on the eve of the next general election when live news coverage brought to us by a young news reporter and cameraman announces the surprise victory of a new contender. This stranger is a homeless tramp who has been plucked from obscurity by Lady Fortune (a strong figure in the medieval concept of how the universe functioned - and for this opera still at work today!) to become one of the most powerful people in the world. People fawn around him although he has no policies, ideas or clue about world politics; he is the prime minister, famous and powerful and that is all that interests them. He decides he wants to marry Lady Fortune as she is a fickle creature who can take away as easily as she gives and he needs to secure his new position. However she is too wise for such tricks and presents him with Vain Glory (a beautiful but stupid recent Big Brother finalist) and the opera ends with a grand marriage (which could rival Posh and Becks!). As a postscript Lady Fortune forecasts that such empty success and false fame will bring about its own downfall eventually.
Inspiration
The 'Roman de Fauvel' was first published in Paris in 1314, in a climate of political instability. The text is attributed to Gervais du Bus, a member of the royal administration and was meant as a harsh criticism on the state of French politics. It was highly successful and was being copied well into the 15th century. It told the story of a donkey who was turned into the king by Lady Fortune and how popes, emperors, kings and clergy flocked to bow down before an animal in the hope to achieve power... not seeing him for what he truly was - a donkey.
The name of the donkey, FAUVEL, is an allegory of all the vices in the world:
F - Flaterie (flattery)
A - Avarice (avarice)
U - Vilanie (villainy)
V - Variété (fickleness)
E - Envie (jealousy)
L - Lacheté (laziness)
Performance
The opera has been commissioned by the young medieval ensemble 'Mediva' under the direction of Ann Allen.
This project draws on talent from throughout Europe and includes singers and musicians from England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Israel and Poland.
Characters
Fauvel: Christian Sturm (Germany)
Leading operatic tenor, currently performing at the Koblenz and Munich opera houses
Fortune: Els Jansenns (Belgium/France)
Medieval specialist of high renown performing with leading ensembles in France, Germany and Switzerland
Chorus:
Kate Hawnt (England)
Yvonne Eddy (England)
Agnieszka Budzinska (Poland/Switzerland)
Gawain Glenton (England)
Burkhard Wehner (Germany)
tbc
Newsreporter: tbc
Cameraman: Gideon Smilansky
Musicians:
Liz Rumsey (Australia/Switzerland)
Uri Smilansky (Israel/England)
Marc Lewon (Germany)
Kirsty Whatley (England)
Benjamin Brodbeck (Switzerland/Portugal)
Crew:
Music/Stage Director: Ann Allen (England)
Film Director: Gideon Smilansky (Israel)
Lighting : Thomas Meier (Switzerland)
Costume: Jo Milne (England)
Biographies
Mediva
Since its debut concert in 1998 this innovative medieval ensemble has been winning over audiences
throughout the UK with its unique brand of music making and presentation. Mediva has performed in
many of the major festivals in the UK including the BREMF, Brighton Festival and the Spitalfields
Festival. It was finalist in the EMN Young Artists Competition at the York Early Music Festival
and was recently invited to take part in the EMN Showcase in Brighton. Over the years the group
has diversified so now as well as presenting concerts, it presents semi-staged events with actors
and dancers, collaborates with poets and video makers and works with funk and world musicians for
exciting fusion events.
Ann Allen
Ann Allen studied music in Manchester, London and Switzerland completing a Diploma in Medieval
Studies at the Schola Cantorum Basileinsis in 2006. Her interest in theatre has led her into stage
directing specialising in opera and innovatively staged concerts. She has worked extensively on
projects in Switzerland and England, including directing Purcell`s Dido and Aeneas and Lampe's
Dragon of Wantley for the Ross Live Festival, UK. She has taught shawm and medieval ensemble
class at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and plays in various medieval ensembles in Europe as
well as for projects in Theater Basel.
Hugh Collins Rice
Hugh Collins Rice was born in Oxford in 1962. After receiving a first class degree in music at Oxford,
including composition studies with Robert Saxton, he went on to complete post graduate composition
studies with Jonathan Harvey at the University of Sussex and an Oxford M.Litt. research thesis on
Schoenberg. He is now college lecturer in music at Hertford College, Oxford.
He has won a number of composition prizes and his work has been featured in major festivals and leading venues throughout the UK.
His music combines a lyrical melancholy with a robust technique much influenced by medieval and Renaissance procedures. He enjoys writing for mixed programmes and involving abstract references to other music.