Video of Westminster Opera Theatre's online production of Mozart's
Così Fan Tutte
Spring 2021.
DOWNLOAD a PDF of the program.
PRODUCING MOZART'S COSÌ FAN TUTTE DURING A PANDEMIC
How did Westminster Opera Theatre manage to put this production together - appearing to show unmasked singers performing on the same stage during a pandemic, when the singers could not physically be together?
It involved creativity, patience and the magic of green screen. Musical Director Susan Ashbaker and pianist Seth Trumbore recorded the audio and video of the piano accompaniment track in December. This served as the basis of weeks of very complex and precise rehearsals and coachings.
The singers were video-recorded as they performed in front of the green screen. Each singer had to ACT as if they were playing to another person - when in fact they were in a classroom in the Fine Arts Building with 4 box lights, 2 ring lights, and a video and audio camera, as well as a laptop with a zoom link to be able to communicate with the production team in the next room. After costuming and make-up, the singers were allowed to remove their masks. But once the mask was removed, no one else was allowed in the space. The production team sat distanced and double masked in the next room.
Each singer was recorded in this way -- one singer a night. Rooms were disinfected during the next day and then locked until the next evening.
Recording was followed by followed by three weeks of editing when videos were synched, backgrounds were added and subtitles were embedded and timed just like they are in a live performance.
The result is the video that you are viewing now.