The recording of composer Paola Prestini's new opera "The Old Man and the Sea" is out today on VIA Records.
It's the first approved operatic adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novel of the same name.
Prestini and librettist Royce Vavrek combined elements of Hemingway’s biography with the original novel. The lead baritone sings the roles of both Santiago (the title character) and of Ernest Hemingway himself.
"The Old Man and the Sea" opera was directed and co-created by Karmina Šilec. Musicians on the recording include cellist Jeffrey Zeigler and percussionist Ji Hye Jung, conductor Mila Henry and baritone Armando Contreras in the double role of Hemingway and Santiago.
Interlochen Public Radio spoke with composer Paola Prestini, who is also an alumna of Interlochen Arts Academy, about how she and her collaborators brought Hemingway's novel to life as an opera.
Listen to the entire conversation, including excerpts of the opera itself, on demand in this post, or read an edited transcript of the interview below.
On why she chose this novel to adapt into an opera
I have been obsessed with "The Old Man and the Sea" for 30 years. It was also my father's favorite story - he's an amateur fisherman. I always knew that one day I wanted to bring it to opera. It's a passion project, for sure.
On becoming the first approved operatic adaptation of the novel
It took me almost seven years to get the rights. It took a lot of persistence - a lot of writing and a lot of convincing - to convince them that this was going to be something worth Hemingway's legacy.
On combining Hemingway's biography with the novel's story
I was very interested in Hemingway's psyche - where was he at this point in his life when he was writing this novel?
It turns out that he had had a ten-year block. He was very sick, and this novel kind of set him free in a way because it was an extraordinary success. It was one of the most profound pieces of his legacy.
On the opera's instrumentation (cello, percussion solo voices and choir)
I always wanted to write a piece where my husband, the cellist Jeffrey Ziegler, figured heavily. He's really this extraordinary new music cellist who can also do the most virtuosic kind of classical things. This piece really requires both extended techniques and adept playing for these virtuosic passages.
For the percussion, I wanted the large palette of marimba and drum set and all the different colors that a percussionist can play.
I'm obsessed with choir, and the Phoenix Chorale came on board, which I adore.
At the end of the day, it's a story of two people out at sea. So I wanted to keep the intimacy but also be able to portray these inner lives in a really expansive way with this whole palette.
Her advice to current Interlochen Arts Academy students
Absolutely immerse yourself in all of the phenomenal kinds of social capital that exist at Interlochen, which is really the people - it's your colleagues, it's your teachers. It's this idea of being taken seriously at this point in your life, at this formative moment.
More than college, more than anything, Interlochen transformed my life. I found myself there.
