A local resident is using opera as a vessel to transplant long-forgotten, lesser-known works into today’s world. Her hope? That she can preserve these works and juxtapose them against modern times.
This weekend, the Numi Opera will bring its inaugural production of Alexander Von Zemlinsky’s “Der Zwerg” to the Ace Hotel on June 2. The rarely-performed opera is a loose autobiography of Von Zemlinsky and based on Oscar Wilde’s, “Birthday of the Infanta”.
Longtime Santa Monican Gail Gordon is the founder of Numi Opera, an opera whose mission is to perform and bring modern relevance to operas such as “Der Zwerg.” The opera itself has been rarely performed and rarely seen, having been suppressed and banned by the Nazi regime due to the composer’s Jewish heritage.
Gordon saw “Der Zwerg” at the LA Opera a decade ago, one of the few times the opera had been performed since its debut in 1922.
The opera stayed with her throughout the years, the theme of suppression haunting her.
“The composer was a Jewish composer who lived in Vienna on the onset of the Third Reich,” the former SMC music director said. “He dealt with extreme depression due to the society and culture around him. For many minorities, there's still so much suppression occurring that it resonates with what's happening politically today.”
Gordon personally related to Von Zemlinsky’s plight as her family also suffered from the Nazi regime, her great-grandfather and aunt being killed by them.
While some of her family on her mother’s side were able to escape the regime from Poland and get to America, she says much of her family was underground for five years, living beneath barn floors and in caves to survive.
Gordon’s mother was a direct line to that side of the family and history, even Gordon’s love of music-- her grandfather was a cantor and her mother sang on Yiddish radio.
“Through my family, it almost feels like I was guided to do this,” Gordon says of her mission with Numi Opera. “For me, it feels like my ancestors are like, ‘Okay, honey, this is where you need to go next.’”
The opera itself will be “complex and the most magnificent,” being performed in German as Von Zemlinsky intended.
“It’s the finest music I've ever had the honor of producing and I’ve been producing for twenty years,” Gordon said. “This is a step up. I usually do Mozart or Puccini. This particular opera is so strong in musical format that it creates sounds and chordal structures and interactions that's riveting, very 20th-century.”
Gordon hopes introducing this opera to a new generation will have people of all ages rolling up their sleeves and digging for old music and researching history. Additionally, she hopes the opera can serve as a mirror to modern times.
“I hope audiences walk away feeling connected to life and staying aware their world,” Gordon said. “Don’t be a passive entity in your community. Being accountable will be proactive and it’s so important. We can’t be too careful in this day and age. We have to pay attention to what’s going on around us. And on the flip side, I hope they love the music. Even if it’s on a visceral level, if they walk away saying they love it and research the composer... it’s like putting a dot in someone' sentityand hoping it grows.”
angel@smdp.com
