The love triangle between composers Clara Schumann, her husband Robert and Johannes Brahms is one of classical music’s more, well, operatic episodes.
But the story music buffs learned in school through program books or in countless film adaptations is one mostly told in silhouette. The details get particularly shady when it comes to Clara — a projector screen for endless speculation, especially in her relationship with the younger Brahms — and Robert’s mental illness, nearly as misunderstood now as it was when he was sent to a Bonn sanitarium in 1854.
“Ghost Variations,” a chamber opera streaming in three pay-what-you-can screenings June 4 through 6 under the auspices of Thompson Street Opera, resists more than 150 years of tropes. Here, Robert Schumann’s struggle with mental illness isn’t shunted out of sight or caricatured into something malevolent; his hallucinations are sometimes frightening, sometimes darkly humorous, but always humanizing. Nor is this a Brahms-saviorism story: After Robert is institutionalized, Clara makes it clear to the younger man that, as a virtuoso pianist and the Schumann family’s main breadwinner, she’s going to steer her own future with a determined if shaky grip. (In fact, you might find yourself more than a little miffed at the flirtatious Johannes during “Ghost Variations.”)
“Clara is the hero of the story in every way. But when it comes to the things we’re usually told about Clara, we look at her in relation to all the men in her life,” said “Ghost Variations” librettist Aiden Feltkamp. “She holds everything together, and she also provided emotional support to Brahms and their friends all the time. We wondered, who’s supporting her?”
While “Ghost Variations” is an opera about classical composers, don’t expect a pastiche-style musical treatment by composer Tony Manfredonia — save for a brief quotation from its namesake solo piano work, the last Robert Schumann wrote before his death in 1856. The Michigan-based composer writes the score with a dark-hued, neo-Romantic sensibility all his own, and years of personal investment in the subject matter.
“I’ve had a lot of experience with mental illness firsthand and from a third-party perspective. I did a bit of musical research into the composers’ stylistic qualities — into Clara’s art songs and Brahms’ octaves — but most of my preparation for writing this was, ‘How was I feeling during that time? How was my loved one feeling?'” Manfredonia recalled.
Manfredonia and Feltkamp submitted “Ghost Variations” to Thompson Street back in fall 2019, during the storefront company’s annual call for scores. Thompson Street’s board selected a handful of finalists, then asked audiences to vote on the contenders for the 2020-21 season. “Ghost Variations” rose to the top for its irresistible story, but it also resonated in the profoundly cisgender, binary world of opera: The New York–based Feltkamp, who is trans and nonbinary, has spearheaded several collaborative projects with other transgender musicians, and Thompson Street is Chicago’s only trans-led opera company.
Only the first act of “Ghost Variations” has ever been performed live, during a 2018 workshop in New York City with piano accompaniment. (The full score calls for string quartet and piano.) That made it prime repertoire for Thompson Street, which specializes in small-scale contemporary operas rarely heard after their premieres.
“When I’m considering putting up a work, I always ask myself, ‘What will we specifically add to the performance history of this piece?'” said Claire DiVizio, Thompson Street’s executive and artistic director. “I, personally, am not interested in programming works that have been done a lot already — other companies could do those shows at a much higher production value. We’d rather give a piece by younger, lesser-known, or early-career composers the best performance it’s had.”
In order to comply with then-safety protocols, the ambitious video production process required cast members to record their singing in one session, then lip-sync and act in another. As logistically taxing as the process was, DiVizio and stage director Derek Van Barham found themselves pleasantly surprised by the dramatic possibilities it created. For example, singers could fix their gazes anywhere on set, rather than squarely on the conductor, or experiment with more expressive faces and gestures.
“It was great to compartmentalize and focus on specific aspects of the production, which live performance doesn’t necessarily allow,” Van Barham said.
Nor did the production create a sunk cost for the already small-budget Thompson Street — thanks to a space donation from the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette, where “Ghost Variations” was filmed and where DiVizio sings as a section leader in the choir.
“Because we used the money we’d normally spend on venues on a videographer, this show actually didn’t end up costing any more than a traditional production.” DiVizio says.
While it has its lighter moments, “Ghost Variations” isn’t an easy watch: Robert’s lonely death in a sanitarium, his own wife barred from visiting him, hits differently after a year defined by forced isolation and its attendant mental health hurdles. That reality isn’t lost on its young cast. For most vocalists, “Ghost Variations” marked their first time singing in the same space with other performers since lockdown.
The emotional wallop of that milestone hit mezzo-soprano Naomi Brigell, portraying Clara, during the first day of filming alongside baritone Ben Ross.
“In the emotional climax of the opera, Clara goes to visit Robert (at the sanitarium), and he doesn’t recognize her,” Brigell said. “I walked in and saw the look on Ben’s face, and I almost cried at that moment. I haven’t had that energy with another person in so long.”
“That makes it feel as real as it’s ever going to feel.”
Tickets for “Ghost Variations” can be purchased for a donation at Eventbrite.com.
Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer.
The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism helps fund our classical music coverage. The Chicago Tribune maintains complete editorial control over assignments and content.
