Critic’s Notebook: The Giels of Capitol City prepare for Mozart’s ‘Abduction’

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? Mozart fans are in luck. Not only is the Atlanta Opera preparing for a major production of the popular warhorse The Marriage of Figaro at the Cobb Energy Centre, April 4-12, but across town, the much smaller Capitol City Opera is preparing its own production of the lesser-known Mozart gem The Abduction from the Seraglio, March 27-29, at the Conant Performing Arts Center. We caught up with Catherine and Michael Giel, the company’s music director, and conductor respectively, who along with Artistic Director Michael Nutter, are at the helm of Capitol City, to find out more about the show.?

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? I read somewhere that this is the first Atlanta production of this work in 35 years. Why do you think it’s been so long?
? Catherine Giel: There are probably a few reasons for that. It’s not one of the better-known Mozart pieces, and other companies in town tend towards the bigger, better-known pieces that will sell more tickets. Our company likes to do those lesser-performed works. We think it’s more interesting and gives our audience more diversity. And this is a great piece. It just doesn’t get done very often.?

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? I was also interested to read that supposedly the piece is about Mozart’s wife. It must be strange to approach this piece as a married couple and in general: to work so intensely together.
? CG: Yeah, there’s a rumor that the main character Constanza is based on Mozart’s wife in real life. People ask us that all the time, what it’s like to work in a such an intense, high-stress situation and then to have to come home and leave all that at work. We’ve gotten better at it. I think this is our fourth year doing opera together. We don’t always agree. We’ve gotten better at communicating and compromising, as is necessary in every marriage.?

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? Is that how you met, through music, working on an opera together?
? CG: We kind of did, not through working on an opera, but we were introduced by a mutual friend who was a chorus director. He thought we would get along well, so he introduced us.?

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? What was the path that led you both to Capitol City?
? CG: For me it was a happy accident ... I started out as just the accompanist and eventually grew into being the music director. I brought Michael on because we needed a conductor. The conductor was Russell Young from Kennesaw State who sadly passed away from cancer. We found ourselves three weeks out from opening and we had no conductor. I pled with Michael to please rescue us. He did such a great job at the last minute, I said, “You can’t ever leave now.”?

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? Michael Giel: I didn’t have a background doing opera actually. Mine was mostly string/orchestral conducting. When they needed someone, I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t have the experience. I didn’t really know how to talk with the singers or communicate with them. The first show we ever did was the hardest. It was quite terrifying. Now it’s just kind of second nature. The more you do it, the more you learn. My scores are absolutely destroyed, I write so many notes in them. I can never really reuse them. If we ever did this show again, I’d probably have to start from scratch again with a new score. I’m a note-taker.
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? Since even opera fans might be unfamiliar with the piece, do you each have a favorite moment from the show, something for audience members to look out for as particularly great?
? MG: I like the moment near the end where Pedrillo has this little romanza he does. He ‘s playing the lute: the singer simulates playing the lute, and the strings do it pizzacato. It’s magical. I’m a conductor, but I’m also a string player. I’m a little bit jealous because I wish I could play it along with them. It’s one of those reasons we play strings. I just like the throwback element of it. I like it when composers can restate or go back and reference another period like that. You can close your eyes and feel like you’re not listening to Mozart, but to something older, something a few hundred years before Mozart. It’s just awesome.?

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? CG: For me the Act II finale is my favorite moment. It’s the first time that all four of the principal characters are singing together. They’re making their plans to escape, to do the actual abduction. Anyone who’s familiar with Mozart operas will recognize some themes in there. He tends to borrow from his own works. You’ll hear motifs that will be reminiscent of other operas, or rather he borrowed from this opera because Abduction is one of his earliest operas. Even to someone who’s not familiar with this music, it will sound familiar: it’s so typically Mozart. The Act II finale with all four singers is just an awesome moment.
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? When people go to shows at the Conant Center, they typically bring food and wine to have before or after the performance on the picnic tables outside the theater. Do you have suggestions for wine or dinner ideas that pair particularly well with Abduction?
? CG: Well, Turkish delight ... But any food goes with Mozart really. Mozart will never give you indigestion.?

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