Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love…

—Carol Ann Duffy, “Valentine”
published in A Red Rose or a Satin Heart: An Anthology of Scottish Love Poems, @canongatebooks 2010
💝

#Scottish #literature #ValentinesDay #poem #poetry #womenwriters #lovepoem #CarolAnnDuffy

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift…

—Carol Ann Duffy, “Prayer”
from MEAN TIME (Picador, 2017; Anvil, 1993)

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/carol-ann-duffy/mean-time/9781509852949

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #CarolAnnDuffy #womenwriters #prayer

Lucia Lucas gives her voice to forgotten women

In the opera The World’s Wife, British poet Carol Ann Duffy retells ancient stories from a female perspective; her compatriot Tom Green wrote the music. Dutch Jorinde Keesmaat signed on to direct and the Ragazze Quartet managed to snare American baritone Lucia Lucas for the lead role. She came out as trans in 2013. The show is performed at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ on 11 January 2024.

The World’s Wife began as a song cycle for string quartet and soprano and had its world premiere in Wales in 2017. The ever-adventurous Ragazze Quartet suggested turning it into an opera and both Duffy and Green responded positively; director Jorinde Keesmaat approached Lucas. The American baritone also opted in at once: ‘I had seen an archival video of the production, and thought the singer was wonderful as well as the quartet, I was intrigued by the piece.’

The collaboration went smoothly, says Lucas: ‘Jorinde organised a couple of workshops with the Ragazze Quartet to read through the piece, and in the process I also got to know Tom Green.’ Only minor alterations were needed to adapt the soprano part to her voice type: ‘These mainly concerned making the cycle suitable for a fully staged performance. In a concert version we can look at each other and breathe together, but in a scenic setting we don’t see each other all the time. Therefore, some aural check marks had to be built in, to create a better flow and keep the show brisk throughout the evening.’

Contemporary feminism

Duffy’s cycle appeals to Lucas, though she does have some critique: ‘The World’s Wife was created in 1999 and the original poetry feels very much part of the 1990s feminism. Yes, historiography has excluded women’s voices, or later erased them even if they were initially included in written history. But I would love to see Duffy write another volume, with different women, written from today’s feminist perspective. For instance, some passages criticise women, which I feel is less acceptable nowadays. Nevertheless, I think Duffy does a great job of giving voice to women of today who share experiences with the women in this poetry.’

Her own views on gender issues have not changed since she came out as trans: ‘I have always felt connected to women and taken effort and space to see and hear about their experiences, even before coming out. I knew at about 5 years old that I was a girl. I know some people who are trans who did not relate or see themselves as women until coming out, but I have always been aware of my femininity.’

The baritone impersonates a variety of women, including Mrs Icarus, Salome and Little Red Riding Hood, who demand the right to speak in their own voices. Lucas feels the strongest affinity with Queen Herod: ‘I want to protect women and will use everything in my power to do so. For instance, I will always intervene if a woman is intimidated, especially by men who want to show their power. I also identify heavily with Demeter, who has to give up her daughter six months a year to Hades, the king of the underworld. With her, I feel the eternal loss and joy when I or my wife leave for work and return home.’

Emotionally exhausting

In terms of interpretation, she gets a lot of leeway from Tom Green: ‘He encouraged me to play with the sweetness in my upper range and occasionally get rough in the low register, for instance when I represent the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. Much of the material already existed, but I like being able to explore different vocal techniques.’

Keesmaat poses the intriguing question: when a woman sings, does the audience hear her or does the man speak through her? This question seems extra relevant since Lucas has a baritone voice and previously presented masculine. ‘I don’t think my voice has anything to do with it,’ Lucas stresses, ‘for me it’s all about the women’s point of view. The man may be the catalyst of her reactions, but they are purely hers. There is a man in almost every poem, but only in a few instances does he get off unscathed, as in Anne Hathaway’s verses.’

Lucas often sings very masculine leading roles, for example Don Giovanni. Which is more emotionally demanding: interpreting the ‘rebellious’ women in The World’s Wife, or the typical macho roles of the standard opera repertoire? ‘Singing women’s roles is emotionally exhausting in almost any context. When playing men on stage there is usually less introspection, and the characters also have more power. The emotional walls the characters put up make them less complicated to rehearse and perform. The women characters I portray require very much of my soul and I am happy to lend them my voice.’

Powerful women

In his score, Green incorporated references to long-neglected female composers, from Francesca Caccini to Elisabeth Lutyens. It could be argued that they are once again overlooked, or even exploited, since Green is credited as composer. Lucas objects: ‘Tom has done his work with love. He has been very careful in honouring and naming the composers whose music he has incorporated. Incidentally, these rarely involve direct quotations.  However, some references are very clear, as in Queen Herod’s lullaby, which is related to Barbara Strozzi’s Che si può fare. To note, there are way more women’s voices involved in this opera than men. Tom’s voice is not the strongest in the room.’

Asked what she likes most about the production of The World’s Wife, Lucas replies firmly: ‘I love the power that Jorinde has infused in all the women. She has both understood the music well and managed to retain the eloquence of the original poetry.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSKn8uNWuPw&ab_channel=RagazzeQuartet

#CarolAnnDuffy #JorindeKeesmaat #LuciaLucas #RagazzeQuartet #TheWorldSWife #TomGreen

Carol Ann Duffy at Newcastle Fringe

‘Earth Prayers’
"Full marks... for reminding us of the ongoing climate crisis and the power of the arts, and particularly poetry, to explore the relationship between the anthropogenic and the natural world"

https://northeastbylines.co.uk/culture/performance/carol-ann-duffy-at-the-old-coal-yard-earth-prayers/

#CarolAnnDuffy #NewcastleFringe #poetry #EarthPrayers
#JulieWard #NorthEastBylines

Today's poem:

Medusa
- by Carol Ann Duffy

https://www.tumblr.com/ukdamo/788847147230658560/medusa?source=share

#CarolAnnDuffy #poetry #medusa #love #betryal #jealousy #gorgon

Today's poem:

Medusa
- by Carol Ann Duffy

https://www.tumblr.com/ukdamo/778977213873815552/medusa?source=share

#CarolAnnDuffy #poetry #medusa #love #gorgon #didyma #possession #venom #detestation