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
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Ontario man frustrated after $3,500 paving job leaves driveway in shambles
An Ontario man considering having his driveway paved received a quote from a company for $7,000, but then, another paver in the neighbourhood knocked on his door and offered half that rate.
Defence attacks Stormy Daniels' credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump's hush money trial
Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial as the defence tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor's salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid to keep quiet.
With contactless screening tech, this Toronto startup hopes to catch breast cancer early — and save lives
Amid evidence of rising breast cancer rates among young women in Canada, one Toronto startup is offering a contactless and radiation-free device that can help doctors identify suspicious changes in breast tissue. The company, Linda Lifetech, says this can lead to earlier detection of breast cancer.
Tornadoes tear through southeastern U.S. as storms leave 3 dead
Forecasters warned a wave of dangerous storms in the U.S. could wash over parts of the South early Thursday, a day after severe weather with damaging tornadoes and large hail killed at least three people in the region.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.