INTERVIEW: Sherlock Holmes comes to the stage in new opera mash-up
The story of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson has seen many incarnations over the years. From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories to movie versions to TV adaptations, the detective and doctor have enraptured audiences for more than a century.
The characters’ latest project is Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant, a new opera mash-up that combines a detective story with fairy-tale elements. The show, with music by Evan Meier and libretto by E.M. Lewis, will be presented in concert form as part of American Lyric Theater’s InsightALT series. The event takes place Sunday, March 26 at 3 p.m. at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center in Midtown Manhattan.
The concert will feature Daniel T. Curran as the title character, plus Sharleen Joynt, Jennifer Black, Blythe Gaissert, Steven Eddy, David Kravitz and Jorgeandrés Camargo.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Meier about his music for the show. Meier is an accomplished composer whose work has been featured by the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, the Great Noise Ensemble, the Capital City Symphony and the Nimbus Ensemble, among others. He joined ART’s Composer Librettist Development Program as a resident artist in 2013.
Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How long have you been working on the music for Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant?
We first started studying family-friendly operas in the fall of 2014. We started writing the outline and libretto in 2015. I began writing the music in June 2016. Since then, I’ve spent an average of 20-30 hours per week composing. I work best in long sessions where I can get in a rhythm of writing.
What was your working relationship like with librettist E.M. Lewis?
Ellen and I worked together in coming up with the concept of the opera and crafting the basic outline of the structure. For instance, where there would be arias, duets and ensembles, and how those would function musically and dramatically, and then she went off and wrote a draft of the libretto. And she would get feedback from me and CLDP mentors (Mark Campbell, Cori Ellison, Lawrence Edelson). Once I started working on the music, I would sometimes run into a line of text or stage direction that I didn’t feel was working for me. We would then have a back-and-forth collaboration. I might make a suggestion, or she would change a line. After any scene was finished, I would check in with Ellen so she could hear what I had written.
What do you hope to get out of the InsightALT show? Do you anticipate making changes after seeing how the audience reacts?
The purpose of the workshop and the public reading is for us to get a decent understanding of how the opera functions both musically and dramatically, and how an audience reacts. During the workshop, we’ve been making changes based on how we’re hearing it in real life for the first time with professional singers. I think hearing it with an audience is invaluable because we need to see what their impressions are, whether they understand the story or whether they laugh at the jokes.
We will also have a public feedback session at the end of the performance. This session gives us input from audience members who are seeing the piece with fresh eyes. They might catch things or have ideas that wouldn’t have occurred to us since we’ve been writing the piece for so long.
Engaging in a workshop before a full production allows us to solve certain problems both in the music and story before I invest time in orchestrating the music, before a company builds sets or designs costumes. By removing the pressure of a staged production, we are free to make revisions and develop the strongest possible version of our opera.
What do you find inspiring, from a music perspective, about the Sherlock Holmes character and stories?
As a composer, this Sherlock Holmes/fairy tale mash-up presented rich musical and dramatic possibilities. The musical world of Victorian-era Baker Street, the setting of the iconic characters of Holmes and Watson, borrows from late-19th century musical genres to evoke a sense of mystery and adventure. Additionally, the story features Holmes’ noted musical expertise and abilities. Certain ‘musical clues,’ borrowed from well-known operatic examples, will allow the audience to participate in the solution of the mystery.
Did the genre mash-up allow you more freedom or less with the music?
In creating a genre mash-up that is family friendly, the music has to closely underscore the dramatic situation. I couldn’t go into it with any stylistic or compositional dogmas. In other words, I was writing music for a specific purpose, rather just writing music for music’s sake.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
InsightALT: Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant will be presented Sunday, March 26 at 3 p.m. at the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
