Meriç Artaç addresses feelings of suspicion and fear in her opera Madam Koo

Zojuist verschenen: Een os op het dak: moderne muziek na 1900 in vogelvlucht

Ekaterina Levental as Madam Koo

The Turkish-Dutch composer Meriç Artaç (Istanbul, 1990) often writes music for theatre projects and opera. In 2016 she addressed the topical theme of asylum seekers in Zonderland, now she zooms in on feelings of suspicion and fear in Madam Koo. The production will be premiered on 3 November in CC Amstel by the AKOM Ensemble, with the Uzbek-Dutch mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Levental in the title role.

On Thursday 1 November I will moderate a meet & greet with Artaç and director Ingrid Askvik after the first try-out in CC Amstel. Though extremely busy with rehearsals the composer was kind enough to answer some questions.

In 2016 you and Ingrid Askvik created ‘Zonderland’,  about asylum seekers who are being crushed in bureaucracy. ‘Madam Koo’ deals with suspicion and fear, what is the link?

This lies mostly in certain words that trigger Ingrid and me, making us curious to explore them. In Zonderland the concept of ‘waiting’ was a starting point, in particular the idea of individuals not knowing how long they would find themselves in this waiting position. In Madam Koo the focal word is ‘suspicion’. Feelings of suspicion and fear are very much interrelated.

I created the character of Madam Koo two years ago and when I told Ingrid about it she was at once interested. We started exploring the meaning and implications of the word ‘suspicion’ in our present world. We found it interesting that once you start feeling suspicion it is really difficult to control, and it easily unbalances you, developing more and more into feelings of fear.

We try to show this in the way Koo tries to keep her balance in her home, where she has developed several rituals. From a deep need to stay in control she counts her pearls, her belongings, preciously putting them into place, organizing them meticulously so she can feel safe with them and maintain her inner balance.

House like a see-saw

Madam Koo and her neighbour Mr. Oak live in the same building, but are each others’ opposites. It’s as if they are on a see-saw, therefore we call it a ‘balance house’. Mr. Oak lives underneath Madam Koo, in the basement. He is an inventor and has big dreams. He is building ‘a staircase that goes to a place, a place where there is nobody yet, for a clear horizon’. We don’t know much about his background. He says he witnessed everything, saw ‘all the legs during the war, they were taken one by one’. Perhaps he was a persecuted Jew, perhaps he simply feels guilty for not doing anything. Most important however is that he is motivated to create a better world.

Both characters have their own motivations and are completely different. Mr. Oak is extremely noisy with his inventions and his apartment is an unorganized mess, Madam Koo is very organized. They are trapped in their own world, within their own thoughts, in their apartment which they never leave, it’s their safe zone. Mr. Oak builds up fear over many years: fear of the street, of the unknown. Last time he went out was so many years ago he only has recollections of the war.

Meriç Artaç

There’s also a third character, the child Miku. She is a friend of Mr. Oak and wants to become friends with Madam Koo, too. I call her ‘Big Question Mark’ because she only asks questions, as children will. The way grown-ups see her changes throughout the piece, Miku is their trigger point.

Who wrote the libretto?

I did. Ingrid and I developed the concept together and then I started writing the libretto and developing the other characters. In that sense the piece is really different from Zonderland, for this time there was no input from the performers. I like to write my own texts for my music theatre/opera productions, but I got supervisory support from Ingrid. This helped to create smooth scene connections and a good flow. Flow is very important for the piece. Because I really wanted Ingrid to be involved from the beginning I sent her my drafts every week.

Who is Madam Koo and what is her story?

Madam Koo is a character I drew some years ago. I always first sketch my protagonists and then give them voice with my composition. When I first imagined Madam Koo, she had huge suspicions about her husband, who she feared was cheating on her; it was the only thing she could think of. Then I dug more deeply into her character and tried to find out what caused these feelings. Gradually our direction changed to a rather more general concept of suspicion, and how this influences Madam Koo and others – though not Miku. Madam Koo’s intense relationship with her cat Pitsi could be a sort of subcutaneous jealousy of her husband.

The press text calls your play absurdist and humorous. What can we expect?

In a sense this is not a truly dramatic opera. We wanted to approach it in the style of opera buffa, talking about serious things with humour and lightness. The subject is quite charged, so we use symbolic ways of expressing the terror and fear. Absurdist elements are Madam Koo’s exaggerations and misunderstandings. We place the wide-ranging topic in a small environment, because said feelings start at our own place and spread out into the world.

Basically the character of Miku is the absurd element in the play. Miku’s only interest is to become friends with Koo, who however sees her as a potential terrorist, somebody who might destroy her home. Thus the word ‘perspective’ comes into play: what we interpret as good or bad may differ when viewed from different perspectives.

How have you chosen the instruments and why?

I tend to choose colours for each character and for the overall sound. I also like to create contrast within the composition and its relation to the stage. The flute and bass clarinet represent the contrast between Koo and Mr. Oak. Miku is light and playful, therefore her part is doubled by piccolo and vibraphone. Strings represent the balance house. Each time something happens they create a glissando or some other effect, to reflect what is happening on stage.

Gongs represent time and the seasons. Each time a season changes this is marked by three beats on the gongs. Thus they are really connected to the story and are in dialogue with the play. The ensemble is part of the action, that’s why we placed them in the heart of the stage, like the singers. Mr. Oak has pitched hammers to build his inventions, Miku plays with those hammers and all kinds of toy instruments. The ensemble also sings, reacting to the scenery.

Sometimes they are even conducted by Madam Koo, as the musicians are her belongings she cares so much about!

Madam Koo is a production of Diamantfabriek
1+2+3 November, CC Amstel, Amsterdam 8.30 pm (on 1 November I’ll moderate an after talk with Artaç & Askvik)
9 November, Verkadefabriek, Den Bosch 7 pm
21 December, Toneelschuur, Haarlem 8.30 pm
Tour in 2019

#AkomEnsemble #CCAmstel #Diamantfabriek #EkaterinaLevental #IngridAskvik #MadamKoo #MeriçArtaç

‘Topical themes inevitably seep into my compositions’ – Meriç Artaç artist in residence for two seasons of Dag in de Branding

Meriç Artaç (c) Nine IJff

Born in 1990 in Istanbul, Meriç Artaç rapidly made a name for herself in the Netherlands, after graduating from Rotterdam Conservatoire in 2015. She realized topical operas such as Zonderland, Madam Koo and Vrouwenstemmen, leads her own ensemble AKOM and teaches at Amsterdam Conservatory. For the coming two seasons she will be artist in residence of Festival Dag in de Branding.

At the tender age of 5 you entered Istanbul Conservatoire to study the piano. How was this possible?

I was indeed the youngest student to be accepted to the piano class. This was on a suggestion from my teacher at kindergarten, who was a musician herself. I had trouble reading and writing and she noticed I had a really good ear for music, so she advised my parents to send me to a music school.

This was a very fortunate advice. Music has been in my life for as long as I can remember. My father is a movie/theatre director, my mother is a script/theatre writer, so I was immersed in the arts from day one. However, I only studied at the conservatoire on a part time basis. During the day I went to primary school, and later the Lycée Saint-Michel, in the evenings I would go to the conservatory.

At 18 you obtained a degree from the conservatory alongside a French baccalauréat from the Lycée Saint-Michel. So how come you ended up in Rotterdam, not in France?

To be honest, I also applied for conservatories in France. I was accepted there, too, but the moment I entered Codarts in Rotterdam it was love at first sight. I found the Netherlands in general really free and sensed straightaway I would be able to develop my talents as an artist here. In Istanbul the teaching method was completely different, quite disciplined and very conservative. – Debussy was considered the most contemporary composer.

At Codarts I felt that everything was open. I had to take responsibility for my own choices, whereas in Istanbul everything had been planned and formed for me. In Rotterdam I found a space in which I could shape my own study and my own future. I chose Peter-Jan Wagemans to be my teacher, for I wanted to refine my music/theatre language. Peter-Jan really helped me understand what I was passionate about. He also made me aware of how to connect my own background with what I was looking to achieve within my style.

You often describe your compositions as ‘musical representations of characters and stories’. How are we to understand this?

From a very young age I was interested in stories of people and humans in general. I consider myself an observer, and like to exaggerate things that are overlooked but strike me as worthwhile. I always draw my characters before I start composing. They are inspired by people I see in the street, personalities I admire, details that make someone special… Mostly I focus on one specific aspect of a character, a dominant mood which I then represent in my composition.

I am interested in situations or persons that are overlooked in everyday life. Thus, in Madam Koo, the whole play is set inside Madam Koo and her neighbour Mr. Oak’s house. We see her habits and obsessions, such as counting her pearls, organizing her house and all those small details that make Madam KOO who she is. Or take my opera Kayra, in which we see Kayra and her mother. Kayra is standing next to her mother, dying in the bathtub. This is not a big story line but a highly personal and intimate moment, and therefore all the more poignant to me.

You often address topical themes like discrimination, refugees, suspicion and fear in unfree societies. Do you see it as your task to relate to problematic themes in society?

 No, I don’t see that as my task. I am a very expressive person, which inevitably seeps into my compositions. I am inspired by life in general, so my characters and my music relate to what’s going on around me. Those subjects are so dominant in my life, people talk about them, I see and read about them on television, the internet, the newspapers etcetera. I react to these themes immediately, so naturally they become the subject of my operas.

You lead the AKOM Ensemble. In how far does it differ from other ensembles?  

AKOM Ensemble was formed by Jan Kuhr who was my classmate during our studies, I took over the artistic direction in 2015. We thought there was a lack of ensembles willing to play work by young composers, especially in Rotterdam. So, basically we formed it for our own interest. AKOM bridges the gap between graduating/graduated students and well-known professionals. The musicians are immensely dedicated and the ensemble gradually became more successful. Over the years we have become a strong team, with a passion to work together.

On 12 October AKOM will perform ‘Rudan’s Coffee Break’, that was premiered earlier this year in the Pera Museum, Istanbul. What can we expect?

Rudan’s Coffee Break was commissioned by the Pera Museum for their Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection Exhibition Coffee Break. I was inspired by the ritual of coffee making. – Though not by just anyone, but by a man whose mind is highly chaotic and disturbed. Rudan is a business man who has been working hard all his life, running away from his personal dilemmas. He is a workaholic. The moment he stops and decides to make himself a coffee, all these suppressed thoughts and emotions spring up. We are stuck in his head while he’s making his coffee, the music whirls around him like a huge cloud of emotions.

The piece was premiered in May, but in The Hague I will present a re-arrangement/rework. Rudan’s Coffee Break was originally set for a trio of strings and electronics, the new version is for flute, clarinet,piano, violin, cello and electronics. Rudan is a character who is still alive and who is spending time at his place, but a couple of months have passed, also in his universe. I want to investigate the feeling of time passing and how this affects and transforms Rudan. 

You are artist in residence with Dag in de Branding for two years. What are your plans and how do you relate to the festival?

I have already programmed the upcoming 4 editions, we are still looking into the festival of 2020/21. Programming music for a whole day festival has helped me to understand how to create a bigger picture. It’s been interesting to think how to reach the audience and consider how I could connect different themes with my own pieces.

In each edition I will work on an aspect I want to develop further, such as light, space, scenery, and costume. I will be working with different coaches and artists to learn from each other and develop my pieces. For the December edition I have scheduled another run of Madam Koo.

For the March issue I’m working on a composition about multiple disorder, presenting my 3-headed figure Zizos. This character is sarcastic and self-destructive, and I want to investigate its inner psychological talks. I’m thinking of combining three singers with wind ensemble and surround electronics, but the work is still in progress.

Over the coming two years I want to sharpen my language in operatic installation, focusing on mentally disturbed characters. However, the mental disorder is not a concern in itself, but merely functions to explain the dominant mood of the character in hand. I am grateful for getting the chance to dig further into my own concerns. I hope to write seven new, short pieces. The last one will be premiered in the 8th edition.

For my final edition of Dag in de Branding I will create a big music & theatre installation. This will bring all the characters together in what I call the “character house”. I really look forward to presenting the outcome of my learning process in 2021!

#AkomEnsemble #DagInDeBranding #MadamKoo #MeriçArtaç #Zonderland