{"id":97148,"date":"2019-09-03T10:19:38","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T08:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/?p=97148"},"modified":"2019-10-17T11:47:39","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T09:47:39","slug":"cold-mountain-intervista-alla-compositrice-jennifer-higdon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/cold-mountain-intervista-alla-compositrice-jennifer-higdon\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Cold Mountain&#8221;: Intervista alla compositrice Jennifer Higdon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Italian &amp; English version<\/span><br \/>\nJennifer Higdon, nata a Brooklyn, NY, nel 1962<\/strong>, ha imparato da autodidatta a suonare il flauto all&#8217;et\u00e0 di 15 anni e ha cominciato a studiare musica a 18 e a comporre musica anche pi\u00f9 tardi, ovvero a 21. Nonostante questo percorso tortuoso, la Higdon \u00e8 diventata una figura di spicco della musica classica contemporanea ed \u00e8 una compositrice americana i cui lavori sono fra i pi\u00f9 eseguiti. Abbiamo avuto l&#8217;onore e il privilegio di parlare con lei <strong>della sua pi\u00f9 recente composizione<\/strong><\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">, <em>Cold Mountain<\/em>.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><i>Cold Mountain<\/i>, messa in scena per la prima volta al Santa Fe Opera l&#8217;1 Agosto del 2015,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00e8 <\/span>ispirata ad un famoso romanzo storico di Charles Frazier, pubblicato nel 1997, e da un film del \u00a02003: potrebbe raccontarci come ha avuto origine quest&#8217;opera?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Dopo aver scelto Gene Scheer come librettista,\u00a0 abbiamo iniziato a cercare il soggetto giusto da mettere in musica. Abbiamo preso in considerazione centinaia di libri e di storie.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-97151\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-512x342.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-512x342.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-290x193.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-10x7.jpg 10w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-432x288.jpg 432w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-396x264.jpg 396w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-1120x747.jpg 1120w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-660x440.jpg 660w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-OK-Mozart.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a> Un giorno, Gene sugger\u00ec <em>Cold Mountain<\/em> che, guarda caso, avevo nella mia libreria. Dopo aver letto appena le prime pagine, ho capito che quella era la storia che cercavo.<br \/>\n<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Come ha capito che questo era il soggetto giusto?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Sono cresciuta nel Sud degli Stati Uniti e in questa storia vi ho riconosciuto le persone, il suono delle loro voci e il loro ritmo vitale e cos\u00ec ho capito che quella era la storia giusta per la mia prima opera.\u00a0 <\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Dal punto di vista del linguaggio musicale, \u00e8 possibile notare, all&#8217;ascolto, una forma di tonalit\u00e0 allargata? Pensa che questo sia l&#8217;unico linguaggio oggi utilizzabile per un lavoro di teatro musicale? Pu\u00f2 riassumere le caratteristiche musicali dell&#8217;opera, soffermandosi anche sulle scelte riguardanti l&#8217;orchestrazione?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Per questo lavoro in particolare, posso dire di aver scritto in maniera lineare, dall&#8217;inizio alla fine. Non \u00e8 il mio solito modo di procedere poich\u00e9 spesso scrivo prima l&#8217;ultimo movimento, poi il secondo movimento, ecc. Ho studiato attentamente ogni personaggio e ho provato a dare a ciascuno di essi il proprio &#8220;suono&#8221;. Per esempio, Ruby \u00e8 sempre l\u00ec che compila liste ed \u00e8 sempre impegnata a sopravvivere. Perci\u00f2, la sua musica \u00e8 quasi sempre veloce, basata sullo <em>staccato<\/em> e con un ritmo chiaro. Ho usato moltissimo le trombe e la batteria nella musica di Inman perch\u00e9 lui era in guerra. Ho usato strumenti a percussione che producono suoni simili al sibilo dei serpenti per Teague poich\u00e9 lui \u00e8 malvagio. Volevo che il pubblico riconoscesse ogni personaggio attraverso i suoni.<br \/>\n<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">A livello professionale \u00e8 difficile oggi per una donna imporsi in un mondo ancora fondamentalmente dominato dagli uomini?v<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Si, lo \u00e8, ma non ho permesso che ci\u00f2 mi scoraggiasse.<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">English version<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Jennifer Higdon<\/strong>, born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1962, taught herself to play flute at the age of 15 and began formal musical studies at 18, with an even later start in composition at the age of 21.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-97153\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-256x384.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-256x384.jpg 256w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-133x200.jpg 133w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-7x10.jpg 7w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-432x648.jpg 432w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-396x594.jpg 396w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-1120x1680.jpg 1120w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-660x990.jpg 660w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate-147x220.jpg 147w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-Gate.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><\/a> Despite this challenge, Higdon has become a major figure in contemporary classical music and\u00a0is one of America\u2019s most frequently performed composers. We have had the honor and the privilege of talking to her about her newest work, <em>Cold Mountain<\/em>.<br \/>\n<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><i>Cold Mountain<\/i>, first staged at Santa Fe Opera on August 1st 2015,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>is inspired by a 1997 famous historical novel by Charles Frazier and by a 2003 film:\u00a0could you tell us how this opera originated?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">After selecting Gene Scheer as my librettist, we began the process of finding the right story. We considered hundreds of books and stories. One day, Gene suggested Cold Mountain which I happened to have on my bookshelf. After reading the first few pages, I knew this was the story.<br \/>\n<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Why did you choose this subject?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">I grew up in the South and I recognized the people, the sounds of their voices, and their pace of life and I knew this was the right story for my first opera.<br \/>\n<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Musical language &#8211; wise, when listening, it is possible to notice a form of extended key: do you think this is the only language that can be used for musical theatre? Could you sum up the musical features of your opera, focusing also on the orchestration choices you have made?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">I can say that, with this particular work, I wrote from beginning to end. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-97150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop-512x342.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop-512x342.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop-290x193.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop-10x7.jpg 10w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop-432x288.jpg 432w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop-396x264.jpg 396w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop-660x440.jpg 660w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Higdon-at-CM-Workshop.jpg 691w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a>This is not typical for me because I often write the last movement first, then the second movement, etc. I studied each character carefully and tried to give each one his\/her particular \u201csound\u201d. For example, Ruby is always making lists and is always busy trying to stay alive. Therefore, her music is almost always fast, staccato, and with a clear beat. I use trumpets and drums in a lot of Inman\u2019s music because he was in the war. I use percussion instruments that make snake-like sounds for Teague because he is evil. I wanted the audience to aurally recognize each character.<br \/>\n<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Career &#8211; wise, is it difficult for a woman today to succeed in a world fundamentally still dominated by men?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Yes, it is, but I haven\u2019t let that deter me.<br \/>\n<\/span><em><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">photo credit: Henry Fair, Andrew Bogard<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Versione italiana a cura di Paolo Tancredi<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Italian &amp; English version Jennifer Higdon, nata a Brooklyn, NY, nel 1962, ha imparato da autodidatta a suonare [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":97149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[23296,9354,23564,14667,17557,145],"class_list":["post-97148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria","category-interviste","tag-cold-mountain","tag-foreign-readers","tag-gene-scheer","tag-interviste","tag-jennifer-higdon","tag-opera-lirica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}