Behind the scenes ep. 2 with American opera director and stage designer Thaddeus Strassberger

Thaddeus Strassberger talks about what has Wall street taught him about being efficient working with people on stage, shares his opinions about aesthetic aspects of human body, his creative process, sources of inspiration, minimal travel approach, what feeling of home means to him and others.

Playlist:

00:27 – introduction with some facts about Thaddeus Strassberger

02:35 – Pink Martini – Splendor in the grass

06:05 – Thaddeus’s first contact with opera and his fascination about this genre

09:33 – stage aesthetics, influences, the way of composing visual image of the stage

13:04 – G. Verdi – Un ballo in maschera – ouverture (Berliner Philharmoniker, Hebret von Karajan, conductor)

16:42 – the process of preparing and staging the production, time management, importance of mastering the social skills

27:01 – J. S Bach – Goldberg variations, Da Capo Aria, piano – Glenn Gould

29:53 – how to satisfy and what to offer to audience, differences and similarities among creative teams in different countries, challenges related, how to choose the right approach, minimal travel lifestyle, what means “home”, friends, family and relations with colleagues

41:38 – how to bring an honest performance, make performers comfortable expressing on stage, issues related to body, visual body aesthetics

47:00 – P. Glass – The poet acts

50:54 – the synthesis of visual and audio in opera, how to stage musical gestures, experience with P.Glass opera Satyagraha, when your passion is your job.