Beverley Brommert
London-based South African composer Conrad Asman is currently commuting between various professional commitments in the UK and a major undertaking in Cape Town, where he is immersed in pre-production of Trial by Media for Cape Town Opera.
Asman composed the score for this short, intense work presented by CTO next month; it is one of three works in the company’s trilogy project, titled Shorts – A Festival of Pocket Operas, to be staged in the compact Artscape Arena from 11 to 21 April, 2024.
Asman is understandably indispensable in navigating uncharted waters with the cast, since the bijou opera is to have its world première in mid-April. In this regard, he wryly remarks that “until the first rehearsal, even I had not heard the piece in performance! Now, 10 days or so into rehearsal, it’s been a great discovery for me as well as the cast.”
He adds that preparing operas by the likes of Mozart or Poulenc (the other two composers of works in the upcoming trilogy) is one thing – interpreting familiar material – but dealing with the organic evolution of Trial by Media from scratch is quite another. “Like the audience, we ourselves are hearing this seminal performance for the first time…”
Professor Hendrik Hofmeyr
The gifted young composer is clearly unfazed by the novelty of this challenge, which he finds more exciting than daunting. Trial by Media was initially conceived by its librettist, the late Schalk Schoombie, as a musical based on the drama of Oscar Pistorius and his murdered fiancée Riva Steenkamp more than a decade ago, in which media frenzy played a significant role during the ensuing trial.
The SACM’s Professor Hendrik Hofmeyr, who mentored Asman as a stellar student of composition, was instrumental in bringing his protégé on board for the execution of this project. “Due to other commitments and studies in London, where I was working when Covid broke out, it took three years to compose the music for Schalk’s libretto, which we agreed was better suited to operatic as opposed to musical performance, and we both worked on reducing the original material in order for its essence to be properly captured,” Asman recalls.
“Everything came together serendipitously when Cape Town Opera’s Artistic Director Magdalene Minnaar suggested the inclusion of this work in the trio of ‘pocket operas’ for the company’s autumn production just as I’d finished the score, and Oscar Pretorius was released on parole!”
Marrying score to libretto in the case of Trial by Media has resulted in a work of multiple moods, perspectives and facets.
Heart and mind
As such, it appeals to both heart and mind, moving the former and stimulating the latter. There is the unexpected serenity of Reeva’s “Follow me on Instagram” aria when her apparition (live or dead?) sings of her 200 posts on Instagram – contrasting powerfully with Oscar’s impassioned entreaties to the judge at the end of his trial, with the recurrent “Oh, my Lady”. Emotive language balances the dry legalese of courtroom speech, and ultimately the audience has to decide whether or not compassion trumps punishment, as well as the degree of culpability.
Unseen but influential are themes of violence and an overheated media in this tale of latter-day star-crossed lovers, both obsessed with their self-image, besotted with the limelight, and executing the painful arabesques of a dance gone horribly wrong.
Soprano Brittany Smith
Trial by Media stars Cape Town Opera House soloist soprano Brittany Smith, fresh from her acclaimed role as Maria in The Sound of Music for which she won a Fleur du Cap theatre Award for the role. She is joined by Conroy Scott, playing the Defence and Van Wyk Venter, a member of the CTO Judith Neilson Young Artist program, who portrays Oscar Pistorius, with Tylor Lamani as the Prosecutor and Lusibalwethu Sesanti as the Judge.
It will be directed by Fred Abrahamse and Marcel Meyer (Meyer also oversees costume design). This visceral opera explores the profound effects of media coverage on public perception- the way people judge and assume according to what is posted on social media, particularly when events involve high profile individuals with very public personas both in real life and online. José Dias is the musical director.
Shorts – A Festival of Pocket Operas is at the Artscape Arena from 11 to 21 April 2024. Trial by Media is on 11 and 18 April at 6pm; the double bill – La voix humaine and The Impresario – is on 12 and 19 April at 18h00 and 19h30 respectively, and the triple bill featuring all three operas- Trial By Media, La Voix Humaine and The Impresario – takes place on 13,13,20,21 April at 15h00, 16h30 and 18h00 respectively.
Tickets cost from R150 to R280 pp. For performance details and to book, visit Webtickets.
Parental guidance: Note that for La voix humaine parent guidance is advised, while no under 10s are allowed into Trial By Media.
What: Conrad Asman interview
Where: Artscape Arena Cape Town
WS
