Moritz Eggert, Mafalda de Lemos, Michael Scheidl and Heinz Friedl during the rehearsals in Munich | Photo: Verena Hütter
In Munich, on the last weekend in February, rehearsals for Part One of the opera Amazonas took place in the rehearsal rooms of the Munich Biennale with singers Mafalda de Lemos and Moritz Eggert, director Michael Scheidl, conductor Heinz Friedl and composer Klaus Schedl.
Schedl mixes tones, Friedl gives the cues, Scheidl sits hunched over his laptop, following the score. Mafalda de Lemos and Moritz Eggert translate the complicated notation into song – sometimes in sprechgesang, sometimes in densely interwoven melodies, in noise tones, in rhythmic repetitions of a word.
They are rehearsing the section of Roland Quitt’s libretto about a departure that will inevitably bring destruction. “El Dorado”, Guiana, has been located, the coordinates plotted exactly. It is certain that the explorers will take possession of this “large, rich and beautiful”, this paradisiacal and fertile land. They still lack a few arguments to justify morally the appropriation, but this does not cloud the mood of optimism.
Mouth Noises – Moritz Eggert
Moritz Eggert is one of three singers who will together perform the report of the Amazon explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. Eggert talks about the challenge of his vocal role, about the quantities of text he had to memorize, and gives us a small sample.
(01:23 minutes, in German)
Extra-curricular Singing – Mafalda de Lemos
The singer Mafalda de Lemos describes the vocal demands made by Klaus Schedl’s composition. These lie less in the notes than in the techniques of performance required. They can hardly be managed using what he learned in voice training.
(00:48 minutes, in German)
Mafalda de Lemos and Moritz Eggert in February 2010 during the rehearsals in Munich | Photo: Verena Hütter
