In the great Abramovic show, the sopranos are extras

There she is, performance artist Marina Abramovic (Belgrade, 1946). A queen in a king-size bed, her face glowing in the dark like a full moon. The Artist is Present you think, remembering her iconic performance at the MoMA New York. Abramovic looked intently at whoever sat down opposite her in 2010. It was a purifying experience for those who experienced it. But Abramovic’s latest work 7 Deaths of Maria Callas is not a performance with audience participation, this is eclectic music theater with opera ingredients.

In 7 Deaths of Maria Callas Abramovic honors the legendary opera singer Maria Callas (1923-1977), in whom she sees a kind of older soul sister. Same zodiac sign, also raised with a dominant mother, also suffering from love – and even died from it.

The chosen form is simple. Seven times we see and hear the key arias of the great tragic roles in which Callas gloryed. The child courtesan Madama Butterfly, the adult but no less tragic courtesan Violetta (la traviata), the rebellious femme fatale Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, maddened by love, singer Tosca who jumps from Castel Sant’Angelo in heartbreak, Desdemona strangled for adultery and Norma (death in love at the stake).

In the tank is the Ludwig orchestra, which also performs new music by the Serbian composer Marko Nikodijevic between the scenes and in the final scene. Images by music video director Nabil Elderkin, loosely inspired by the operas, are shown on a large screen. Abramovic interprets the death scenes in slow motion and often in extreme close-ups, always assisted by actor Willem Dafoe. In front of the screen, the sopranos, dressed in simple maid dresses, sing the arias as a kind of soundtrack to the videos.

What were your expectations of this ‘experimental opera’?

Sandra Smallenburg: “Abramovic has shown in her earlier work that she knows how to grab an audience with theatrical effects, so I expected a lot from it.”

Mischa Spel: „I was skeptical. What makes opera great? That you get carried away by the music and the plot. Here is a storyline aside, it’s a patchwork of arias. I feared a seven-course menu of whipped cream.”

And? Did it work in this form?

SS: “Can we still call this opera at all?”

MS: “No.”

SS: “It’s more like a medley: the greatest opera hits about how women suffer from love.”

MS: Exactly, it felt more like a kind of music-theatrical ritual, something that wants to make you think – although I don’t know exactly what about it. Between the arias you can hear Abramovic making associative statements about life and love, but I found them rather….”

SS: “Floating?”

MS: Yes, and pretentious. “The flame can warm and burn me. And when it goes out, I’m gone.’”

SS: “I found the use of slow motion in the videos disturbing. That made the already so dramatic images verging on pathetic.”

Also read the review of ‘No Intermission’: Marina Abramovic leads Carré in group meditation

Who is this performance about?

MS: “Officially about Maria Callas, but you only hear her on tape for one minute and you don’t see her anywhere. The arias in which Callas gloryed are sung excellently by seven other singers. Some understated, others really great. I especially found Nina Minasyan as Lucia and Nadezhda Karyazina as Carmen impressive.”

SS: “That is precisely why their role struck me as painfully subservient. They were almost extras in the big Abramovic show. Those seven beautiful singers are there singing to the death, while Abramovic lies inert in bed and your attention is demanded by the video images.”

Who is this performance intended for?

SS: “That’s exactly what kept me busy. As a non-opera connoisseur, I sometimes felt left out. What does Abramovic have to do in the images in that beekeeper’s suit? What is that strangler doing there? If you don’t know the operas, a lot stays at a distance. I especially recognized the symbolism from her previous performances: the snakes, the blood, the nude, the self-mutilation, playing with gender roles.”

MS: “As an opera fan you might understand the American flag in Butterfly’s hand and why Abramovic plunges from a building, but detached from their dramaturgical context, those arias miss a lot of impact. If you look forward to a tragic last breath for hours, it arrives differently than when it is served as a loose handful of nuts. You didn’t get to know those women.”

SS: “Did you like the music?

MS: “Ludwig is a good orchestra. But I don’t really like the style of conductor Yoel Gamzou, who seeks the drama in much slowing down and speeding up. As if excitement works that way.”

SS: „I thought the new music in the final scene worked well. It was very cinematic. When Callas has died in her Paris hotel room, the orchestra plays like a record that gets stuck. Beautiful.”

MS: „I am also left with a question of meaning. What exactly does Abramovic want to communicate? You don’t learn anything about the magic of Callas, nor about the essence of fatal love. She is legendary as a performance artist and here too she is impressive in her golden glitter dress and the shameless nude scenes; we all want to be that vital. But further? And why should those tickets cost 200 euros? Isn’t it also a bit of a commercial star show?”

In what way is this performance the most successful?

SS: “The cutscenes, which simulated inferno-like clouds of smoke and thunderstorms with 3D effects and surround sound, were impressive. The final scene, in which Abramovic plays the death scene of Callas, also worked quite well. While you hear the Parisian traffic passing behind you and on the stage daylight seems to pour in through the curtains, Callas dies in solitude. You could feel her tragedy there.”

MS: “Agreed. And the charisma of actor Willem Dafoe on those video images: wow. To be honest, I also found Abramovic’s appearance a bit pale, sometimes.”

And now the final verdict?

MS: “As a Gesamtkunstwerk, as the sum of its parts, I thought it was mediocre. This production wants to be something very special, but many modern operas already make very clever use of video art. At the same time, you do want to experience this meeting between two divas. And some of the singers I really liked.”

SS: „Abramovic is already larger than life but a show that takes that as its starting point is very…in your face. In the end, the whole thing didn’t move me enough. There is nothing that really sticks. Three balls.”

Also listen to this podcast: How Marina Abramovic Changed Art Forever