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Written by Dan England
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Friday, 02 November 2007 |
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 Peter Kiesewalter now has a career playing opera. But he still doesn’t like it much.
That’s a big reason why, if you don’t like it either, you might enjoy Sunday’s show at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins. You’ll hear it interpreted by a fan of Led Zeppelin, Boston, The Who and prog rock like early Genesis.
Rock ’n’ roll and opera usually don’t mix, but Kiesewalter found a way.
He was working as a house composer at ABC in 2001 when he was asked to create contemporary versions of traditional arias for “Kiss of Debt,” a film starring Tyley Ross as an aspiring opera singer being controlled by a crime boss.
The request was unusual, but he was up for it, even if, despite his background studying classical music and playing clarinet, he wasn’t a fan of opera. He had arranged Handel’s “Messiah” to contemporary music in the past. So he did it and had such a good time, he recorded 15 songs with Ross and others, including guitarist Vernon Reid of Living Colour.
“That demystified it a little bit,” Kiesewalter said in a phone interview. “Opera, in its day, that was the pop music. Those composers were trying to write hits, and that’s the way we treat it. There’s no doubt in my mind today they would be using drums and guitar.”
Kiesewalter felt strong enough about the songs to release a few thousand copies of the East Village Opera House in 2003 featuring classic opera set to disco, bossa nova and stadium-strength rock. In March 2004, the company gathered for what he figured would be its only live show, at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan. The show attracted only 80, but many were record label executives, and word spread so fast that within a year, the band signed with Universal Classics. Now Ross tours with Keisewalter and the company to both rock houses and opera houses.
“The goal wasn’t to get a major record deal,” he said. “It was just
to do this and then go back to my career as a film composer, but I quickly figured out that I had to do this full time or not at all.”
Conventional wisdom, at least to Kiesewalter, told him the mix wouldn’t go over well, but the response from audiences continues to be overwhelming. He attributes that to playing opera classics with respect and reverence.
“Everyone knows the music, even if they’ve heard it through commercials or Bugs Bunny cartoons,” he said. “The key is we take great care of the integrity of the piece. We’re not making fun of it. In fact, it takes a lot of courage for the singer to deliver it with such passion with what we’re doing in the background.”
Hard-core opera fans seem to appreciate it as well, he said. Opera itself needs a shot in the arm, with productions that barely cover the cost of tickets and a dying audience, but he believes his music gives it that energy.
“I thought the die-hard fans would be the most offended,” he said, “and I’m sure they’re out there, but a large core really get a kick out of this. It’s just music done a different way.”
Kiesewalter has an appreciation for the music now. Just don’t expect him to love it.
“Knowing what these singers do, it’s pretty incredible,” he said. “But it’s still not my favorite kind of singing.”
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TO GO
The East Village Opera Company
• 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4
• Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia,
Fort Collins
• Tickets are $30 center and $28 in the sides and are available through the Lincoln Center Box Office or by calling 221.6730. You can also go to www.fcgov.com/lctix | Only registered users can write comments.
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