November 6, 2008
A homecoming for director of opera ‘Il Mondo della Luna’
The School of Music’s first opera production this year proves that even back in 1777, humans were already thinking about going to the moon. Joseph Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna (The World in the Moon) follows the exploits of young lovers who try to trick a disapproving father into saying yes to their marriages by making him believe he’s on the moon.
And in a way, it’s fitting that this should be the debut show for Noel Koran, a new lecturer in the School of Music and director of the school’s operas, which are done in collaboration with the School of Drama. Koran was born and raised near Edmonds, graduated from the UW and then spent 30 years in remote locations — from New York City to England to Germany.
Not quite the moon, but it might as well have been, given the strikingly different environments from the Northwest. And even when he decided to come back to the states, he landed in Texas. “I thought I was coming home,” Koran said, “but really, Texas isn’t like anyplace else I’ve ever lived.”
Koran was able to truly come home when former UW opera director Claudia Zahn chose to leave after 10 years in the position. And he’s bringing with him an opera that is more familiar in Europe than in this country. Il Mondo della Luna, Koran said, is one of only a few operas written by Haydn. With a libretto by Carlo Goldoni, an important figure in the Italian Commedia Dell’Arte, it is an “opera buffa,” that is, a comic opera.
“It’s a very entertaining opera with an interesting story,” Koran said. “Goldoni is, after all, the Italian Shakespeare. But it’s not one of the top 20 operas that are being done all the time. This is exactly the sort of thing we should be doing in a university environment. And it’s perfect for the students’ vocal abilities at this stage of their development.”
Because Koran is new this fall, the opera also demanded a fast track schedule. Whereas normally it would be cast in the spring, so the students would have the summer to work on the music, auditions in this case didn’t occur until early in fall quarter.
“It’s a lot of music to learn in a short time,” Koran said. “But the students are very talented. They’re really stepping up to the plate,”
Il Mondo della Luna will open Wednesday, Nov. 12, with additional performances on Friday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 16 in Meany Theater.
That’s a theater Koran didn’t get to perform in back in his student days because it hadn’t been built yet. A 1974 graduate of the School of Drama, he says his performance opportunities were minimal, but he did have a role in a small student production of Godspell. And after graduation, he was fortunate enough to be cast in Seattle’s ACT Theatre production of Godspell, which ran for more than 200 performances. Then it was on to the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and from there to New York. Koran found some roles in off Broadway shows, but over time he began paying more and more attention to singing. He had gotten some acting roles because of his singing voice, he explained, and his voice teacher had encouraged him to try opera.
“There was also the factor that in New York, there are young male actors on every single street corner. It’s very difficult,” Koran said. “When you go to audition for a play, you go to these massive cattle calls. You never even get a chance to open your mouth. The casting director will point to a few people and say, ‘You can stay. The rest of you can go.’
“The thing that was attractive to me about opera was that no matter what you did, you had to be able to sing the aria. Either you could sing the aria or you couldn’t. They had to listen to you.”
Koran began getting roles with small opera companies. Then in 1981, when his wife had an opportunity for a job in London, they relocated and he began concentrating exclusively on opera. He was able to work steadily for the three years they were there. In 1984, he moved to Germany and became a member of the performing ensemble of the Stadttheater Pforzheim, singing with the company for five seasons in a wide variety of roles in opera, operetta and musicals.
Germany, he said, is very supportive of opera; the country — which is slightly smaller than Texas — has 54 professional opera houses. He thoroughly enjoyed his time there, but by 1989 his daughter was ready to start school, and he wanted her to get her education in the United States.
“I had to decide at that point whether I wanted to try to restart my singing career in the states or switch to something else.”
He decided to get a graduate degree and move into directing, which is how he found himself in Austin, Texas for seven years, earning a master’s and a doctorate. Since then he’s taught at Ohio State and Northwestern universities.
But Koran is very glad to be coming back to the Northwest. “When I first left Seattle, I knew in my heart that my fame was out there somewhere,” he said. “That lasted for about 15 years. After that, the next 20 years was trying to get back. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve done in my career, but I wanted to come home.”
And he’s also glad to be continuing his academic career. “There’s something that young people bring to an opera that you don’t always find in the professional world and that’s this tremendous vibrancy,” he said. “The level of talent and energy has been wonderful.”
Il Mondo della Luna will be sung in English. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $25 ($15 for students and seniors) and are available at the Arts Ticket Office, 206-543-4880.
