{"id":56812,"date":"2018-11-08T07:45:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T12:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=56812"},"modified":"2018-11-08T07:50:14","modified_gmt":"2018-11-08T12:50:14","slug":"interview-nico-muhly-operas-renaissance-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/11\/08\/interview-nico-muhly-operas-renaissance-man\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW |\u00a0Nico Muhly: Opera\u2019s Renaissance Man"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nico Muhly chats about the Metropolitan Opera production of Marnie<\/em>, which will be broadcast to cities across Canada on November 10. Cinema-goers in all 10 provinces will be able to see Muhly’s psycho-thriller live at their local Cineplex theatre \u2014 in high-definition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>he beauty of Nico Muhly\u2019s job is that he can work from anywhere, as long as it\u2019s a hive of activity.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the appeal of New York City, the 37-year-old composer reveals during our interview. Speaking from his home base in Chinatown, he\u2019s surrounded by manuscript paper covering his cozy studio, and he has poured sparkling water for himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something so satisfying about living somewhere where everyone\u2019s doing what they\u2019re meant to be doing,\u201d Muhly relishes in the efficiency, the bustle and touch of chaos within it all.\u00a0 \u201cOne of the things I find so moving about Chinatown is the pace at which basic commerce happens \u2014 if I get off the train on my way home, I can buy seventeen different kinds of vegetables and then be home, having spent five dollars and it took, you know, 35 seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n

His operas are in demand on all continents, but Muhly is particularly excited of the broadcast partnership of his latest opera, Marnie<\/em>, that will bring the Metropolitan Opera production to cities across Canada on November 10. Cinema-goers in all 10 provinces will be able to see the performance live at their local Cineplex theatre \u2014 in high-definition, no less.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have such a huge organization putting their weight behind a piece of contemporary work by a living composer is incredibly moving,\u201d Muhly is hopeful that this will recruit more listeners into the contemporary opera ecosystem.<\/p>\n

For a production like Marnie<\/em>, legacy production roles are still central \u2014 the production brings together premier musicians, technicians and designers. \u201cThe live culmination in two hours is miraculous,\u201d Muhly says.<\/p>\n

Born to artistic parents \u2014 a visual artist mother and a filmmaker dad \u2014 music came easily to Muhly. \u201cAt a certain point, if you do [art] enough you naturally realize you\u2019re good at certain elements of it. And that was the case for me \u2014 I sort of latched onto it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of it is based on my own obsessions \u2014 chords that I like and things that make me happy,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt\u2019s always quite personal, even when it\u2019s completely abstract music, which is to say, without singers or a text dominating it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nico Muhly’s opera, Marnie, will be broadcast across Canada on Cineplex HD screens. (Photo: Ken Howard)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a more outspoken world, Muhly sees how opera can carry messages of social change, but he is happy to infuse his own personality into the art first and foremost, especially through the power of words.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job as a composer is to try to use the libretto as a jumping-off point for a huge amount of musical expression,\u201d he says. \u201cIt feels as if the libretto is a groundwork for a lot of experimentation; a lot of getting it wrong before you get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if he is more accustomed to writing music with text, he does not mean for it to dictate an agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not interested in saying, \u2018I want you the audience to feel this specific way,\u2019\u201d he clarifies. \u201cThat to me is kind of a romantic notion of music transporting you on a journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if the music carries no lyrics, \u201cif you establish a coherent musical structure, I\u2019ve found the audiences are willing to go with you no matter how twisty or turn-ey the music is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning to the master composers, Muhly says their influence is unavoidable for any classical musician today. \u201cIt\u2019s like family \u2014 no matter how distant, you can\u2019t not acknowledge the influence of your relatives\u2026it\u2019s a known structure, like knowing what houses of a specific era looked like: you walk in and you know this is here and that is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Muhly, music is particularly meaningful when it has a prescribed role, which is what draws him to religious music. \u201cWhat\u2019s so moving about choral music and church music is that it\u2019s context-specific \u2014 there are pieces you only hear one time per year,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not about virtuosity; it\u2019s not about the composer as artist or hero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muhly acknowledges that his career has been relatively snag-free. \u201cI\u2019ve never perceived myself as running up against limitations, and this comes from the fact that, in terms of my own subject position, I am a middle-class white male.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is sympathetic to colleagues who have encountered resistance from society. \u201cThe underrepresentation of women composers and composers of colour is crazy \u2014 it\u2019s just a question of presenting organizations who \u2014 I don\u2019t want to think of as gatekeepers, but as people who have the opportunity to help and equalize things in a better way, should be doing that. And I like to think that\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the United States moves into the second half of a divisive presidency, Muhly chimes in. \u201cIf you were a composer of colour, I wouldn\u2019t say it would feel unsafe, but I would argue that there would be massive discomfort in underrepresentation and in tokenism, and in all of the issues that affect communities of colour, about which I can\u2019t possibly know anything.\u201d He encourages those interested to speak directly with other composers \u2014 \u201cAll I can do is listen about that and help in whatever way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n