Going over to the dark side with Der Vampyr
A rarely-performed vampire opera will be staged at the Everyman by the same team that brought the award-winning production of Pagliacci to the venue in 2012.
Der Vampyr by Heinrich Marschner was first performed in Leipzig in 1828. Now, former artistic director of the Everyman, Michael Barker-Caven, is co-directing the opera with John O’Brien of the Cork Operatic Society. Barker-Caven says the last significant production in Ireland of Der Vampyr was at the Wexford Opera Festival in 1992.
“It’s rarely done outside Germany,” says Barker-Caven. “But it’s an extraordinary piece. It is one of the gems of the opera world that has been largely lost and forgotten. Whenever it’s pulled out, people wonder why it’s not done more often. We wanted a story that would really thrill audiences and vampires are thrilling.”
The opera is based on one of the early modern vampire stories written by John Polidori who was Lord Byron’s doctor.
“Polidori actually based the vampire figure on Lord Byron who had a terrible reputation for feeding off women, just like a vampire. He had a very dark soul. Heinrich Marschner took the story and turned it into this opera.
“It has all the attributes of a vampire story. Essentially, it is the story of a vampire, Lord Ruthven, played by Icelandic baritone, Hrólfur Scemundsson. The vampire master, a satanic figure, wants to bring him back to the underworld but he begs to be given more life on earth. The vampire master says he can live again on condition that he must kill three virgin brides within 24 hours. The brides must allow the vampire to seduce them.” They are sung by Emma Nash, Kim Sheehan and Máire Flavin.
Like Pagliacci, many of the actors are also musicians. The piece has been re-orchestrated for a smaller orchestra that plays live on the stage. “It means the music becomes an integral part of the drama. This gives opera an excitement level. Everyone who came to see Pagliacci (and Orpheus last year) was hugely thrilled by the style of performance. It’s not opera as people think it is. It’s opera in a very new and fresh way. There is more than one way to do opera.”
Barker-Caven says opera should never be staid and dull. “Opera always had mass appeal. But as time went on, it became more and more elitist and understandably, people today think that opera is for other people. But most people who have that opinion would admit they’ve never been to the opera. When they come and see a piece like Der Vampyr, they’ll be amazed at how exciting and beautiful it is.”
Barker-Caven is keen to attract a non-opera going audience as well as long-time fans of opera. Der Vampyr is designed by Lisa Zagone who worked on Pagliacci and Orpheus. “Lisa has a passion for the subject and is an extraordinary designer. This territory is made for her. We have deliberately decided not to set Der Vampyr in any distinctive period. It’s set in the now in a ‘vampire chic’ that everyone will recognise. There will be all sorts of Gothic clothing, both high vamp and high camp. There’ll be Victorian style mixed with modern pieces.”
As with Pagliacci, Barker-Caven, O’Brien and choreographer, Philip Connaughton, are trying to make Der Vampyr as full an auditorium experience as possible. “We’re asking the audience to enter the building from the river side of the theatre. There’s a secret entrance there into the Everyman. It’s a bit like going down into the dungeon. It will be atmospheric. The chorus and singers will come out into the auditorium.”
The bloodlust of the vampire is an enduring theme throughout all cultures, says Barker-Caven. The success of the Twilight series of novels and films, Hammer Horror and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are just three examples of the vampire phenomenon.
“Jungian psychology tells us that we should recognise that the things coming up from our unconscious have more truth to them than meets the eye. I always think that we laugh at these things at our peril.”
The Everyman and Cork Operatic Society received €200,000 from the Arts Council to produce Der Vampyr. The Arts Council will be giving the team another grant to produce Faust, with dates yet to be confirmed.
“It’s a sign the Arts Council strongly supports us as we continue to develop an operatic base in Cork,” says Barker-Caven. “The grant of €200,000 may sound like a lot of money. But opera is expensive. We’re talking about 50 people on stage plus another 20 or 30 supporting the production. We want to produce a huge memorable opera.”
Barker-Caven reluctantly resigned from the Everyman recently, having spent two and a half years at the helm of the venue — a position now occupied by Julie Kelleher. With his family based in England, he found the commuting difficult.
Now working as a freelance director, he says he was thrilled to be asked back to the Everyman. Looking back on his time at Cork’s premier theatre, he says he achieved his goal of nurturing new writing.
“We brought through the work of playwrights such as Carmel Winters, Ailís Ní Riain and Peter Gowen. New writing is the lifeblood of a successful theatre.
“Repeating great plays is one thing but it’s the now and the future that matter.”
The seeds to direct Der Vampyr were sown by Barker–Caven’s father who is 92. “He’s been an opera fanatic all his life. He bought old recordings of the opera when I was a child. He told me I should put on Der Vampyr and that was one of the things that led me to think about it,” says Barker-Caven.
* Der Vampyr runs at the Everyman from June 21-27 with the opening night performance starting at 10pm
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