Five Questions
Inked opera diva: Jean Stilwell brings fearless folk, sultriness & traveltattoos to Da Camera
The folk song is to art music what the grape is to wine, the nuclei that developed into an exquisite (and sometimes complicated) art form.
Da Camera's season finale concert (8 p.m. Saturday night at Wortham Theater Center) pays homage to the folk song, highlighting how composers have been influenced by the songs of their respective cultures, incorporating them into their works, sometimes quite literally, sometimes in an abstract fashion.
When some organizations attempt to assemble a themed program, it is often in the name of marketing, failing to genuinely make the association. But Sarah Rothenberg, Da Camera's artistic director, has both the academic background and artistic brilliance to always connect the dots genuinely and satisfyingly.
She proves a point and she does it convincingly.
And to do so for this concert, Rothenberg enlists the help of strong-willed Canadian mezzo-soprano Jean Stilwell, who will be featured in Luciano Berio's Folk Songs. Written in 1964 for Cathy Berberian — Berberian was married to Berio, divorced in 1964, but their musical friendship continued — the work is a collection of 11 songs from various countries.
Folks Songs is a tour de force with shifting languages and affect. CultureMap caught up with the 55-year-old Stilwell before a rehearsal and explored her history with the piece.
CultureMap: You have been widely recognized for your sultry interpretation of Carmen. You even transformed the aria into a cabaret piece adding a flamenco dancer as part of the interaction. But stylistically, Berio and Bizet are miles away from each other, though the content has many similarities.
In an era where most artists specialize, how do you go from Berio to Carmen?
Jean Stilwell: The piece is very early Berio, so it's definitely more tonal that the Sequenza. To portray something as honestly as you can, you have to take yourself into the work. You have get the bullshit out of the way so you can be as honest as you can in your performance. I bring up the spirit of Carmen often and that's because of my strong memories with the role.
Many of the Berio folk songs are strong and flirtatious. Some examine the qualities of an ideal woman and dowries. That's outdated.
Here is the thing about Carmen. If we look at the source of the story, the Prosper Mérimée novel, she was married and was part of a group of gypsies. They behave like a pack and her husband was the alpha dog. She listened to him. I built my story and character from the source. Every story has a backstory.
I am usually hired for a reason. People know how I work. I bring my story into Carmen as we have something in common and that is freedom. I divorced 10 years ago for very specific reasons. I wasn't living my truth. I relate to the character so well.
As Don José tries to posses Carmen, she find Escomillo (the toreador) just in time. She knows José is going to kill her and she prefers death than being contained. She lives her truth. I relate to that.
CM: Your recording of the Berio Folk Songs was released back in 1994. Since you recorded the piece nearly 20 years ago, how are you approaching the piece differently today?
JS: The Berio was the first recording I ever did and yes, I am reliving my love for it. It's been years since I have performed it. I did it in every permutation available. I did with full orchestra, choreographed with the National Ballet of Canada and in the chamber setting.
I researched the heck out of it. Today, muscle memory brings me right back. Approaching the work many years later, I am taking more risks. I know what I have as a singer is unique, and in this performance, I honor the piece by being myself.
CM: Your repertoire encompasses a huge gamut. I always see artists interested in contemporary music also wanting to explore early music. But you have also a lot of performance experience with Gilbert and Sullivan. Where does this interest stem from? Cabaret?
JS: The Gilbert and Sullivan work is separate from the cabaret work I do. Cabaret is a much more intimate environment. You speak with the audience. It's a personal medium though its still a stage piece. I recently performed Pirates of Penzance and was asked by the director to keep the fourth wall up — not to speak to the audience or look into their eyes.
I am not afraid to connect or to look right into someone's eyes, but the director wanted something different. He wanted to keep the story on stage and the audience live vicariously through the characters. But still, I sung with the color of my voice. It's who I am. I can't and won't change that.
I am generally attached to pieces that have strong content. It's the gypsy spirit in me. I seek to unleash honesty, the very kernel of who I am.
CM: You hail from Toronto, which is also my hometown. You have been to Houston before and performed all over the U.S. Do you see a difference in programming and artistic approach between the U.S. and Canada?
JS: I was here four years ago and performed Messiah with the Houston Symphony. I think how organizations program is contingent upon the economy and where the funding is coming from. That dictates some decisions.
In Toronto, we have the Art of Time Ensemble ran by Andrew Burashko, a pianist who is doing similar work to Sarah Rothenberg's approach at Da Camera. It's a small ensemble. He uses some of the same musicians but changes the configuration to bring his ideas to life. It's clever, creative and both organizations get support because the ideas are brilliant.
CM: I have to ask. The image of the stereotypical opera diva is one donning a big gown, a scarf, a water bottle and sporting a perfect French manicure. You have spiky hair and tattoos.
It sort of goes with the image of Carmen: A bad ass, a rule breaker and bohemian. Did you ever worry that would hurt your career?
JS: No. I am me. I got my first tattoo when I was 42 in Louisville, Kentucky. It was a day off from rehearsal and was asked what I wanted to do. I said, "I guess I could go get a tattoo." So we went to a tattoo parlor, had my first Krispy Kreme doughnut and met this guy — he wore a black Harley-Davidson T-shirt, he had a big belly, red hair and a red beard.
His name was Jughead. I think of myself as a piece of luggage. Whenever I spend more than a month somewhere, I get a tattoo.
The first one I got didn't have significant meaning. The others are more symbolic. In my right forearm, I have a Picasso sketch of The Dove of Peace. I chose it because it sat well in my forearm and the broken flowers reminded me of the broken spirit of human beings. No one is perfect. Everyone has demons they have to deal with. This reminds me of that.
To accept that in people is to accept the conditions we live in so we can achieve love, calm and gentility.
The left side is a Gaia, goddess of the earth. It's symbolic of compassion for the environment, compassion for human beings and other creatures.
In a salon, Jean Stilwell portrays a sexy, naughty and strong Carmen in "Habanera," with a touch of humor and plenty of herself in the character:
Cathy Berberian signing Luciano Berio's Folksongs, recorded in Italy in 1976:
