Calgary hosts Canadian premiere of Grammy-winning opera about Steve Jobs
The iPhone changed the world, but does that make a story that explores the life of Steve Jobs an opera?
It did for Mason Bates, the composer behind The [R]evolution of Steve Jobs, which has its Canadian premiere at the Jubilee Auditorium Saturday night.
"Oh man, his life was the stuff of opera. We don't necessarily think of that – Steve Jobs singing? But he had obsession, betrayal, passion, ultimately death. He died perhaps because he tried to control his own cancer with carrot diets," he says.
"Steve Jobs is absolutely an operatic figure," he says. "And the way his wife grounded him is a story that works so well onstage."
Part of what makes Jobs a good subject to explore through opera is that there was a constant tension between his tech roots and his obsession with design.
"What's interesting about Steve Jobs is he's a mogul, a tech visionary who kind of presents as an artist," Bates says. "He's the guy that when he got his first prototype of the iPhone, it had scratches on it and he said, 'I want it in glass and I want it in six weeks' because they were launching it.
"That's not a move that a normal tech mogul would pull. They're very careful people."
Whereas artists, Bates says, are volatile, unpredictable and prone to unleashing drama.
"Artists can be demanding, they can be terrible managers of people," he says. "They can throw tantrums in the way that a rock and roll artist might and so that's the essential thing that's so interesting about him."
And while dramatic storytelling tends to feature a hero and an anti-hero in conflict, Bates says in The [R]evolution of Steve Jobs, they're the same person.
"He's both protagonist and antagonist. He convinces everyone in the opening product launch scene that they're witnessing the birth of a new civilization and yet you can watch him basically disown his daughter because he just didn't want to deal with her.
"Those are very contradictory impulses."
To create a contemporary, English-language opera about Silicon Valley, Bates was forced to expand the boundaries of what we have come to think of as operatic sound – even though in other parts, he delivers the story in quite traditional tones.
"On the surface of this opera we have a lot of new elements," he says. "We have techno beats. We have sound design, where you hear actual samples of Macintosh computers from a long time ago.
"We have a non-linear narrative that looks at different elements of his life, juxtaposes them – but if you look under the hood, this has a lot of elements that are really resonating with opera history.
"We have really lyrical arias. We have real characters, who you really care about – so it's this mix of new and old that I think has allowed this piece to be embraced by a lot of audiences around the U.S. I'm so thankful for Calgary."
Bates is mindful that he created the opera on a MacBook Pro, and communicated with librettist Mark Campbell via iPhone, two of Jobs' greatest achievements.
"You basically can't escape Jobs' influence," he says.
"You can't avoid him and we all carry a piece of him in our pocket and some of the issues in Steve Job's life, like how to control a messy life – he always wanted everything to be sleek and easy to deal with – well you can't fire people with one button. People don't have (just) one button.
"Now we deal with that," he says. "How many conversations have you had mediated by an Apple device where you just thought, I wish we were in the same room?"
One thing that wasn't very complicated, in the creation of the Canadian premiere of a contemporary opera about a very complex man, was the wardrobe.
"There's a turtleneck and some jeans," Bates says. "You don't need 50 costume changes."
With files from Ian White
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Police arrest 3 Indian nationals in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Human remains found in rural Sask. possibly a decade old, RCMP say
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.