The Israeli Opera
2015
Madam Butterfly
An opera held at the Yarkon park, in front of 30,000 viewers.
11 square LED screens creating a composition along the 18 meters stage.
Much like Madame Butterfly's world, torn between Japanese tradition and American modernity, the video artwork finds itself pulled alternately between these two poles as well.
I collaborated with the calligraphy artist Kazuo Ishii who created moving painted writings for me. We enhanced and adapted the calligraphy in postproduction, dismantled and rebuilt them on the LED screens.
A 2.5 hours long opera must be created in a very rich content language. Therefore, while remaining punctilious, we used various styles: from fire and dance rituals to classic animation and simulations of 3D fabrics.
MOOD BOARD
Affiliates:
Libretto: Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
Set and costume designer: Niv Manor
Sound designer: Yuval Silberstein
Light designer: Uri Morag
Movement designer: Yoram Carmi
Video designer: Yoav Cohen
Cio Cio San: Ira Bartman
B. F. Pinkerton: Davida Giusti
Sharpless: Vladimir Braun
Suzuki: Naama Goldman
Kate Pinkerton: Anat Cherni
Goro: Yossef Aridan
Bonze: Noah Briger (backstage singing)
Itzik Gabay (dancer)
Dolore: Itamar Menashe
Dancers: Mor Bar Zachai, Shirley Barby, Kim Gordon
The choir of the Israeli Opera
Conductor: Ethan Schmeiser
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