Act naturally

As Irina Brook’s new production of Il matrimonio segreto opens at La Scala, with sets and costumes by Patrick Kinmonth, the director reveals her secret for getting young singers to act convincingly – Netflix

Working with young people who are days out of school is such a pleasure for me. You can move forward without any difficulties or conflict to make a story together. They are ready to jump into everything with pleasure and excitement, which makes the process such fun. The whole experience of working on Il matrimonio segreto has been extraordinary. It happened at the same time as losing my father, but the timing has been heaven sent – being with them in a sweaty studio in the heat of Milan felt like being in a warm bath.

‘I can’t bear a single phrase to not mean something and I can get a bit maniacal about that’

As a director, I’m super-faithful to the original. I’m overly respectful of opera, to the point that I’m envious of directors that do outrageous things. I respect the libretto, the music, the silences. I don’t change anything, but I do search and come from a different side. I think of the situation and suddenly I see Netflix. If you follow the libretto of Il matrimonio segreto, you realise that Giovanni Bertati is actually a genius. It’s just a matter of seeing the movie in our heads and then it all falls into place, making absolute logical sense. That is my absolute obsession – I can’t bear a single phrase to not mean something and I can get a bit maniacal about that.

Once you delve a little deeper and decide to approach everything with modern psychology, a piece that at first sight seems fairly trite, old-fashioned and hard to relate to becomes like a film. The young singers are open and excited to be part of the process of telling a story they connect with, and delighted that they don’t have to play stereotypes. Rehearsing in their jeans and trainers, they could be on a beach with their friends – it’s just that they happen to have amazing voices. That’s the thrill of opera to me – to make it as real and contemporary as possible.

‘Often when they come straight out of their training, they act in clichés, waving their arms around like they’re counts and countesses’

The battle is that the singers should act normally and as themselves. For some of them it’s easy, but often when they come straight out of their training, they act in clichés, waving their arms around like they’re counts and countesses. In their minds they’re prancing around in puffy pants waving their wrists around, but would you stand in front of your father doing that?

The word Netflix has come up a lot in rehearsals and I don’t see that as a pejorative description. Netflix acting is some of the finest acting of our time. I’m always amazed at the quality, especially of the young actors, from tragic parts to screwball comedy – at its best it’s genius. I tell young singers, ‘Just think of How I Met Your Mother’ or ‘Imagine Breaking Bad’ and their brains suddenly transform. I don’t see these as low-brow references – they’re meaningful for the minds of today. In another other century I might have said, ‘Think of a Watteau painting.’

‘He is the King of Beauty and I know that everything he does will be in impeccable taste’

Working with Patrick Kinmonth has been the best encounter ever. We’re absolute fans of each other. He is the King of Beauty and I know that everything he does will be in impeccable taste. We also share a wicked sense of humour, which has made the process great fun. As well as being a wonderful designer, he also has the priceless ability to change his mind. If I say something doesn’t work, instead of clinging on, he understands exactly why and offers another idea. He’s very intuitive and modest in that way – he doesn’t hang on to his ideas. We’re on the same wavelength and can bounce off each other so well that in two seconds a solution appears. That’s a true collaboration: when you’re on a telepathic bounce system back and forth and you don’t know who had the idea – it just works.