PERSEPHONE ZOOMED opera with

Cristiano Melli (concept/composition, keys),
Christina Schönbach (soprano),
Peter van Bergen (contrabass clarinet)

at "LOOS CHANNEL live streaming" from Studio LOOS #7

Composer and pianist Cristiano Melli is an artist cherished by LOOS since 2019.

For the web-opera PERSEPHONE (in 10 episodes), I decided to gather the material from which I’ll compose the music by recording a series of guided improvisations with the musicians who portrait the characters of Persephone (soprano - Christina Schoenbach) and Hades (contrabass clarinet - Peter van Bergen). Furthermore, during the concept phase of the project, the idea came to perform the result of this guided improvisations in the LOOS CHANNEL Live Stream series. This became PERSEPHONE ZOOMED 1.

The rehearsals initially used the online meeting software Zoom (hence the name, also nodding to the extensive use of the software during the Covid-19 quarantine period).

After an initial set of rehearsals, I decided to step in playing a sort of “basso continuo” on acoustic and electronic piano. By the end of the rehearsals phase, a graphic score was produced. It is important to also remark that the dramatic arc for the characters changed drastically due to the interaction of the musicians in the rehearsals, becoming deeper and more layered. It is also important to mention how the technological challenges of having 3 performers simultaneously in different houses added to create a sound atmosphere where
glitches would become part of the improvisation itself, and became an interesting artistic question.

In accordance with the LOOS CHANNEL Live Stream series format, the performance comprised two sets with an interview session in between them. Therefore, the 10 sections of the guiding score (mirroring the 10 episodes of the web-opera) were performed first backwards (from 10 to 01) and then in the “written” version - in a way, representing Persephone’s seasonal journey to Hades and back to Earth. The result, with a strong artistic quality, led to the upcoming PERSEPHONE ZOOMED 2, as a way to refine it even more, as well as adding the character of Demeter (Elisabeth Lusche on trumpet) and with the participation of Frank Scheffer as Visual director.

In addition to the artists involved in the production, I would also like to thank the help of Hidde Kramer as sound engineer and responsible for the live streaming technical features (with the software Source Elements).

Cristiano Melli
The Hague 2020.10.19