Conductor David Afkham on Daphne in Live performance

Have you ever performed Daphne earlier than?

I’ve performed many Strauss operas however that is my first time conducting Daphne, and that’s a part of what makes this manufacturing so thrilling for me. Strauss’s rating is extraordinary—lush, clear, and emotionally direct—and approaching it for the primary time is actually an inventive present: to find new colours and connections within the orchestration. It’s a piece that calls for each nice delicacy and nice sweep, and discovering that steadiness along with the solid and orchestra shall be absolutely fantastic. I feel the viewers will sense that vitality: the sensation of a bunch of artists encountering a masterpiece and bringing it totally to life.

Strauss paints nature in sound—the rustle of leaves, the shimmer of daylight, the sense of one thing divine simply beneath the floor. The music surrounding Daphne’s transformation is among the most transcendent he ever wrote.

Daphne is probably going unfamiliar to lots of our viewers members. What have they got to stay up for?

Though Daphne is never carried out, audiences have a exceptional expertise to stay up for. At its core, Daphne is considered one of Strauss’s most radiant, lyrical scores—a one-act “bucolic tragedy” that feels each intimate and mythic. Listeners who love Der Rosenkavalier or Ariadne auf Naxos will instantly acknowledge Strauss’s present for writing lengthy, hovering vocal strains and luxurious orchestral colours. However Daphne brings a really totally different emotional palette: it’s extra elemental, extra mystical, extra attuned to nature. Strauss paints nature in sound—the rustle of leaves, the shimmer of daylight, the sense of one thing divine simply beneath the floor. The music surrounding Daphne’s transformation is among the most transcendent he ever wrote. Additionally it’s a fast-moving drama: at about an hour and a half, the opera has an uncommon readability and focus. There aren’t any subplots—only a direct, emotionally charged story of innocence, need, and metamorphosis.

What do you discover most compelling about this piece?

Daphne stands out as a result of it blends the human and the mythological so seamlessly. The opera seems like a meditation on our relationship with the pure world—how we lengthy for it, exploit it, and finally search refuge in it. Strauss captures Daphne’s internal life with unimaginable tenderness; she isn’t a passive mythological determine however a younger lady whose purity and convictions set her aside from the world round her. And the ending—her transformation into the laurel tree—is among the most unforgettable moments within the repertoire. Moderately than depicting tragedy by means of violence or loss, Strauss provides a sort of cosmic transcendence: music that appears to dissolve the boundary between the human voice and the pure world. It’s haunting, elevating, and in contrast to the rest he wrote.

Strauss captures Daphne’s internal life with unimaginable tenderness; she isn’t a passive mythological determine however a younger lady whose purity and convictions set her aside from the world round her.

Picture: Fadi Kheir.

 What are among the challenges this rating presents?

Daphne is a deceptively demanding rating—on the floor it sounds effortlessly lyrical, however attaining that transparency is considered one of its nice challenges. There are a number of challenges that stand out:

1. The steadiness between a big Strauss orchestra and an primarily intimate drama

   Strauss writes with an enormous palette, but the emotional core of Daphne is fragile and inward. The problem is to keep up orchestral richness with out overwhelming the singers, particularly Daphne, whose strains are sometimes ethereal and uncovered. Reaching that steadiness requires fixed sensitivity.

2. Lengthy, steady arcs with only a few pure “breaks”

   The opera strikes virtually with out interruption. For the conductor, this implies fastidiously controlling large-scale pacing: rigidity and launch, breath and stream. It’s an hour and a half of uninterrupted storytelling, and the structure has to really feel inevitable.

3. Excessive calls for on the soprano and tenor

   Daphne’s position is notoriously troublesome—excessive, sustained, and relentlessly lyrical, usually sitting in essentially the most delicate a part of the voice. Leukippos and Apollo require sensible, heroic singing over heavy orchestral writing. Balancing ensemble, giving singers room to bloom, and supporting stamina throughout the night is a serious process.

4. Clear textures that go away no room to cover

   Not like a few of Strauss’s denser scores, Daphne will depend on readability. Woodwind strains should converse, string textures should shimmer, and harmonic shifts should really feel weightless. If something is even barely out of tune or out of steadiness, the spell breaks.

5. The ultimate transformation scene

   This is among the most extraordinary passages Strauss ever wrote—and in addition one of many hardest. It calls for excellent management of orchestral coloration, a way of inevitability within the tempo, and an environment that feels each human and stylish. Creating that sound-world is a problem I really like: every little thing has to align in order that Daphne’s metamorphosis feels transcendent quite than merely fairly.

Though that is your Seattle Opera debut, you have got performed the Seattle Symphony on a number of events. What have you ever appreciated about working with that orchestra up to now?

I’ve all the time cherished working with the Seattle Symphony as a result of they carry a super mixture of technical refinement and creative curiosity. They’re a bunch that listens deeply to at least one one other, which makes it doable to form lengthy musical strains and delicate dynamic gradations. They’re additionally very versatile: they present a exceptional capability to shift model, adapt their sound, and commit totally to the aesthetic world of the music.

And on a extra private stage, I’ve all the time felt a real heat from the gamers. There’s a way of shared goal within the room—a sense that everybody is invested in making the efficiency particular. That sort of ambiance evokes you as a conductor; it allows you to take dangers, discover totally different colours, and produce out the character of the rating in a really collaborative method. So getting into my Seattle Opera debut feels much less like arriving someplace new and extra like reconnecting with an inventive neighborhood I already admire.