WHAT ... WHERE ... WHEN ...

Triumph of Galatea
Raffaello Sanzio
Villa Farnesina, Rome

Polyphemus and Acis
Annibale Carracci
Palazzo Farnese, Rome

WHAT   WHERE   WHEN

These are three question words rumbling around in my head at the moment, the answers to which will have a decisive impact on the final realization of the project Opera Bhutan. You will notice that another challenging question word has been purposefully omitted, at least on this occasion, that of WHY: the answer to ‘why’ deserves its own special blog entry!

WHAT For those of you who still don’t know what the project is about, I am working together with a small group of colleagues on the realization of an 18^th century opera in the Himalayan Royal Kingdom of Bhutan. Opera as we know it has never been seen in Bhutan: it will be an event without precedent. To ease the shock we thought it would be interesting to graft in some Bhutanese traditional music and performance … but then again, that will be a shocker to Handel traditionalists! In reality our treatment of Handel will reflect an approach of historically informed performance practice in the singing and the instrumental ensemble. I can put to good use my experience of having worked with some of the world’s finest Handelian opera and ensemble groups.

Bhutan is a geographically isolated country that possesses a very distinctive social, cultural and spiritual character. Many of us have been attracted by its more noble ideals of gross national happiness and Eastern spiritual values and there is the temptation to think of the country as a kind of Arcadian paradise, something akin to the utopian world described in James Hilton’s 1933 novel, Lost Horizon. In reality, Bhutan is far from being a place where problems of contemporary life do not exist. Global warming for instance has certainly made its presence felt through the melting of the Himalayan glacier systems, which is causing a potentially dangerous situation of high altitude flooded lakes that could well lead to the collapse of the surrounding super-soaked terrain causing unprecedented devastation downstream.

This cataclysmic prospect actually provides a strong analogy with how many Bhutanese must be feeling about the tsunami of technological progress, through television and internet, which is fast changing the axis of social and cultural life: the new generations are embracing values that would seem universes away from those of older generations. Centuries of customs, traditions, mores are facing enormous challenges for survival: progress is evidently inevitable but will Bhutan be able to conserve its unique character while undergoing tumultuous changes?

The small opera Acis and Galatea by G. F. Handel is the chosen piece. It is based on one of the stories from Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Acis and Galatea’s love is wrecked and destroyed by the jealous cyclopean monster, Polyphemus. Galatea’s grief inspires her divine powers to transform the mortal Acis into an ever-flowing stream. A nice story that resonates in many ways with Buddhist values. I have posted two Italian paintings that show the subject enjoyed a certain popularity in the minds of the inspired Humanists a few centuries ago. Raphael’s Triumph of Galatea, showing her apotheosis riding a shell drawn by dolphins; the second painting by Annibale Carracci in the stunning Palazzo Farnese of Rome where a raunchy Polyphemus is in the act of hurling his stone toward the ill-fated Acis, an impetuous reaction to his stumbling on their lovemaking.

WHERE? There are no opera theatres in Bhutan. There are however some stunning locations where traditional Bhutanese ritual dance and music festivals take place, normally in the courtyards of the Dzongs, those monumental architectural wonders set in the Himalayan hills throughout the country. These sites provide a natural setting, both theatrically and acoustically, for the production. My friend, Khenpo Phuntsok Tashi, a very special Buddhist monk and director of the National Museum in Paro, informs me that permission must be requested from the local deity, that spiritual being who resides in the area in question, and who must be appeased with special rituals that will allow an auspicious realization of the project. 
As of February 2013 the site for the production has been proposed to take place at the Royal Textile Academy in Thimphu. The academy's director, Rinzin O. Dorji, has enthusiastically embraced the project and has stated that this major event will help promote the newly constructed academy and establish its function as an event hosting institution.

Royal Textile Academy in Thimphu

WHEN? 12 October 2013. Many factors have to be taken into account: the clemency of the weather for an outdoor performance and the astrological favourableness of a particular date, calculated by expert astrologers have determined the final choice of date, as well as the official governmental approval.