Fresco Opera Creates an Innovative “Aria Hunt” to Keep Audiences Safe and Engaged
Large public gatherings have been banned in Wisconsin for months, making it nearly impossible to enjoy concerts, plays and music events in person. And in another blow to the performing arts, many health experts have concluded that being in a room where people are singing can dramatically increase the spread of the COVID-19 virus. What is an opera company to do, if sopranos can’t serenade, choirs can’t croon, and audiences can’t applaud in the same concert hall?
For Fresco Opera the answer was to turn traditional opera performance on its ear. The local group has already gained a reputation for unorthodox, reimagined versions of operas, performing in non-traditional spaces, and removing some of the stuffiness of the hallowed art form, making the medium more accessible.
In that vein, Fresco Opera will present “Aria Hunt,” at various sites from Aug. 28 to Sept. 27. Part treasure hunt, part site-specific installation, part opera’s greatest hits at a safe distance, the company has selected seven secret locations in the Madison area, where recorded arias can be enjoyed. By following recorded clues, audience members can listen to original narration created just for the environment and enjoy performances through Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
Artistic director/co-founder Melanie Cain chose the arias and recruited local singers to record their performances remotely. The program includes pieces from Handel, Purcell, Massenet, Mozart, Dvorak, Verdi and Delibes.
To string these diverse pieces together, executive director/co-founder Frank Cain turned to frequent collaborator Andrew Ravenscroft to craft a story that incorporated unique features of the Madison landscape with vignettes that pair with the music.
“When Frank called me up to talk it over, they were thinking of it as a set of short introductory narratives for each of the arias,” says Ravenscroft. “The concept was to pull together an audience experience that didn't involve getting people into a performance space. We kicked around a few ideas, and it struck me right away that we could frame it as a psychogeographic piece.”
For those unfamiliar with “psychogeography,” it is a concept developed by French philosopher Guy Debord that uses a playful approach in exploring urban spaces, looking for hidden connections, and allowing visual and emotional experiences to take audiences on a journey. “I loved the idea of using the concept to tie together this piece of work,” Ravenscroft says.
The result is a series of narrations inspired by the locations in this “round robin” performance. “Everyone who undertakes the Aria Hunt will have a different impression based on their own connections to the place, and their reactions to visual cues, music, smells and sounds,” says Ravenscroft. “Fresco is a group of wonderful opera singers, and my goal was to cue up their performances with a complementary set of impressions that would ready the listener for the experience.”
Tickets for Aria Hunt are $8 per person, and are available at Fresco Opera’s website.