An image may come to mind when someone says “opera composer,” but chances are that image has nothing to do with Kevin Puts.
“Suddenly, the opportunity to write an opera was dropped on me, and I had to think about whether or not I could do it,” says Puts from his home in Yonkers, NY. “It was not a small project. They wanted it to be a huge opera with a big chorus and three languages with a big orchestra. It was daunting, but exciting at the same time.”
Puts, who seems more like the goofy, friendly, tennis-playing young dad from up the street than the bearded genius one might imagine, is the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer behind the Atlanta Opera’s upcoming production, “Silent Night,” based on a true story about an impromptu Christmas Eve truce between French, British and German soldiers during World War I.
The disconnect doesn’t just come from the fact that Puts doesn’t really match one’s expectations. In some ways, it’s simply surprising to be speaking with an opera composer at all.
The presence of a living opera composer is exceedingly rare. As with many regional companies, almost all of the works the Atlanta Opera produces are the tried-and-true classics of the distant past. That slowly has begun to change under the guidance of Atlanta Opera Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun , who, since taking the helm in 2013, has affirmed his commitment to producing more contemporary works alongside the beloved warhorses by Verdi, Mozart and Puccini.
“Silent Night” will be the first of many operas by living composers that Zvulun plans to bring to the mainstage at the Cobb Energy Centre.
“For grand opera, big themes are still really important,” says Puts of “Silent Night.” The work, which premiered in 2011 as a commission by the Minnesota Opera, is based on the 2005 film “Joyeux Noël.”
“The central theme of the opera is that once you know your enemy, once you have any kind of intimacy with them, they’re no longer your enemy. A lot of the problems we have in the world today are because no one has any contact with each other. There’s this distance. There’s no understanding of the other side.”
Puts, who had previously written only symphonic and chamber works, collaborated with librettist Mark Campbell on “Silent Night.” Though Puts says the task of writing his first opera was initially daunting, the music ended up coming relatively easily.
“My music over the years had gotten more narrative,” he says. “The first day I found myself incredibly excited by the experience of telling a story that was an actual story. It was easy in a certain sense. It felt like what I was always meant to do. I’m a huge fan of film so I bring that kind of a cinematic sensibility to my opera-writing because that’s what I know best.”
Of course, the world has changed quite a bit since the heyday of composers like Verdi, Wagner and Puccini, and Puts says opera composition itself has changed, too.
“For one thing, people’s attention spans have changed,” he says. “The idea of writing a four- or five-hour opera is no longer a viable option.”
The performances will be led by renowned San Francisco-based conductor Nicole Paiement, the first woman to conduct an Atlanta Opera production.
“Silent Night” is set on the all-male battlefront of World War I — there are only two female characters — so it’s a particularly resonant opera for a female conductor, who often finds herself alone on the field of battle, facing a world of men. The opera world has lagged behind even the symphonic world in terms of the number of female conductors, which remains pretty paltry in both realms.
“When you arrive on the podium for the first time, people aren’t used to seeing a woman up there. I still feel that when I stand on that podium. But I don’t think about that, I just think about the music,” says Paiement. “When I went into conducting, I didn’t think ‘Oh, I’m going to be a woman conductor.’ I thought, ‘I’m going to be a conductor.’ Whoever’s capable should be on that podium. It has to be about your capacity, not about your gender.”
In many ways, Paiement and Puts represent opera’s future, and they take the responsibility of expanded the canon of repertoire very seriously.
“In the 22nd century there’s going to be a need for people to perform the music of the 21st century,” says Paiement. “We need to identify those great works. We’re trying to identify those masterpieces, and I think ‘Silent Night’ is one.”
EVENT PREVIEW
"Silent Night." Presented by the Atlanta Opera. Nov. 5-13. $35-131. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Pkwy, Atlanta. 404-881-8885. http://www.atlantaopera.org
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