Wikipedia

Peter Sellars

This article is about the American director. For the British actor, seePeter Sellers.For the British-American astronaut, seePiers Sellers.

Peter Sellars(born September 27, 1957) is an Americantheatre director,noted for his unique stagings of classical and contemporaryoperasand plays. Sellars is a professor at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles(UCLA), where he teachesArt as Social ActionandArt as Moral Action.He has been described as a key figure of theatre and opera for the last 50 years.[1]

Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars at the 2011Ojai Music FestivalinOjai, California
Born(1957-09-27)September 27, 1957(age 67)
Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania,United States
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Theatre director,professor

Biography

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Early life

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Sellars was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania,and attendedPhillips AcademyinAndover, Massachusetts.He attendedHarvard University.

Sellars's additional productions included Shakespeare'sAntony and Cleopatrain the swimming pool of Harvard'sAdams Houseand a subsequent techno-industrial production ofKing Lear,which included aLincoln Continentalon stage with music byRobert Rutman'sU.S.Steel Cello Ensemble.In his senior year, Sellars staged a production ofNikolai Gogol'sThe Inspector-Generalat theAmerican Repertory TheatreinCambridge.He graduated from Harvard in 1980.[2]

Career

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In the summer of 1980, Sellars staged a production in New Hampshire ofDon Giovanni,with the cast, costumed and presented to resemble ablaxploitationfilm as part of the Monadnock Music Festival inManchester, New Hampshire.Opera Newsdescribed it as "an act of artistic vandalism". In the winter of 1980, Sellars's production ofGeorge Frideric Handel'sOrlando,again at the American Repertory Theatre, was set in outer space. Later, Sellars studied theatre and related arts in Japan, China, and India.[3]

In 1981, Sellars worked on a project withAndy WarholandLewis Allenthat would create a traveling stage show with a life-sized animatronic robot in the exact image of Warhol.[4]TheAndy Warhol Robotwould then be able to read Warhol's diaries as a theatrical production.[5]Warhol was quoted as saying, "I’d like to be a machine, wouldn’t you?"[6]Sellars planned to show the Andy Warhol Robot at theKennedy CenterandAmerican National Theater and Academy.[7]

Sellars served as director of the Boston Shakespeare Company for the 1983–1984 season. His productions includedPericles, Prince of Tyreand a staging ofThe Lighthouse,with music by British composerPeter Maxwell Davies.In 1983 he received aMacArthur Fellowship.[8]

Sellars was the original director of the 1983BroadwaymusicalMy One and Only,a revival of theGeorge&Ira GershwinshowFunny Face.However, Sellars and librettist Timothy Mayer clashed with the star,Tommy Tune,who eventually took over as the director. As Sellars toldThe New York Times,it was a struggle "between the forces ofBrechtand the forces ofThe Pajama Game."[9]

Peter Sellars in the mid-1980s

In 1984, Sellars was named director and manager of the American National Theater at theKennedy Centerin Washington, D.C. at the age of 26; he held this post until 1986. During his time in Washington, Sellars staged a production ofThe Count of Monte Cristo,in a version byJames O'Neill,featuringRichard Thomas,Patti LuPone,andZakes Mokae.The production had a set design byGeorge Tsypin,with costumes by Dunya Ramicova, and lighting byJames F. Ingalls.He also directed productions ofIdiot's DelightbyRobert Sherwood,andSophocles'sAjax,as adapted by Robert Auletta.[10][11]

Sellars was Artistic Director of the 1990 and 1993 Los Angeles Festivals.[12][13]Sellars produced the three operas byMozartwith libretti byda Ponte,Così fan tutte(set in a diner onCape Cod),[14]The Marriage of Figaro(set in a luxury apartment in New York City'sTrump Tower),[15]andDon Giovanni(set in New York City'sSpanish Harlem,cast and costumed as ablaxploitationmovie), in collaboration withEmmanuel Musicand its Artistic Director,Craig Smith.The productions were recorded in Austria byORFin 1989, subsequently televised byPBS,and later revived at the MC93 Bobigny in Paris and theGran Teatre del LiceuinBarcelona.[16][17]

Sellars directed one feature film,The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez,a silent color film starringJoan Cusack,Peter Gallagher,Ron Vawter,andMikhail Baryshnikov.He co-wrote and was featured inJean-Luc Godard's film of the Shakespeare playKing Lear.

TheSalzburgandGlyndebourne Festivalsinvited Sellars to produce operas, includingOlivier Messiaen'sSaint François d'Assise,Paul Hindemith'sMathis der Maler,György Ligeti'sLe Grand Macabre,John Adams's andAlice Goodman'sNixon in ChinaandThe Death of Klinghoffer,andKaija Saariaho'sL'amour de loin.[18]

Sellars also staged Handel's operaGiulio Cesareand oratorioTheodora,andStravinsky'sA Soldier's Tale,with theLos Angeles Philharmonicconducted byEsa-Pekka Salonen,in addition toI Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the SkyandThe Peony Pavilion.[19]He directed a production ofThe Persiansat theEdinburgh Festivalin 1993, which presented the play as a response to theGulf Warof 1990–91.[20]

Later career

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Sellars was the librettist for the operaDoctor Atomiccomposed byJohn Adams.[21]

In August 2006, he directed a staged performance ofMozart's unfinished operaZaideas part of the Mostly Mozart Festival atLincoln Centerin New York. In late 2006, Sellars organized the New Crowned Hope Festival inVienna,Austria as Artistic Director (the festival was part of ViennaMozartYear 2006). He directed the premieres ofSaariaho's oratorioLa Passion de Simoneand Adams's operaA Flowering Tree,also inVienna.[22][23]

In 2007, Sellars delivered the "State of Cinema" address at the 50thSan Francisco International Film Festivalon April 29. He introduced the screenings ofMahamat Saleh Haroun'sDarattand Garin Nugroho'sOpera Jawa,two of the New Crowned Hope films. The festival also screenedJon Else's documentary,Wonders Are Many,which features an account of Adams's and Sellars's creation of the first San Francisco production ofDoctor Atomic.An extensive commentary by Sellars is included in the 2007 DVD ofGrigori Kozintsev'sKing Learby Facets Video.[citation needed]

In early 2009, Sellars co-curated acontemporary artexhibition of work byEthiopianartist Elias Simé at theSanta Monica Museum of Art,akunsthalleinSanta Monica, California.HisOthello,starringPhilip Seymour HoffmanasIago,was produced in the Fall 2009 season at New York City's Public Theater.[24]

In 2011, Sellars directed a production of John Adams's operaNixon in Chinafor New York's Metropolitan Opera. In summer 2011 he directed the operaGriseldaat theSanta Fe OperainSanta Fe, New Mexico.[citation needed]Sellars wrote the libretto forJohn Adams'soperaGirls of the Golden West.[25]

In the early 2010s, Sellars directed the staging of theBachSt. Matthew PassionandSt. John Passionwith theBerlin PhilharmonicandRundfunkchor,in collaboration withSir Simon RattleandSimon Halsey.[26][27]

In 2019, Sellars gave the keynote address at theSalzburg Festival.[28]It coincided with his staging ofIdomeneobyWolfgang Amadeus Mozart,conducted byTeodor Currentzis.[29]Sellars is a professor at the University of California Los Angeles.[30]In 2021, Sellars donated his archive to theGetty Research Institute.[31]

Reception

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Sellars was criticized for straying too far from composers' intentions in 1997 byGyörgy Ligeti.[32]

In 1998, Sellars was awarded theErasmus Prizefor "combining in his original creations the European and American cultural traditions".[33]In 2001, he was awarded theHarvard Arts Medal.[34]In 2005, Sellars was awardedThe Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize,given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life."[35]In 2014, alongsideChuck Berry,Sellars was awarded thePolar Music Prize.[36]

The German sopranoElisabeth Schwarzkopfsaid of Sellars, "I have seen what he has done, and it is criminal. Asmy husbandused to say, so far no one has dared go into the Louvre Museum to spray graffiti on the Mona Lisa, but some opera directors are spraying graffiti over masterpieces. "[37]

Sellars's long-time collaboratorJohn Adamshas called him an "intensely serious and sophisticated artist with the moral zeal of an abolitionist."[38]

ThePalestinian-Americanacademic, literary critic and political activistEdward Saiddescribed Sellars as an "extraordinarily gifted man". In a 1989 review of Sellars's productions ofDon Giovanni,Così fan tutteandThe Marriage of Figaro,Said wrote that the "turns that Sellars rings on Mozart's courtly operas make you wonder why wooden delicacy and affectations of authenticity have satisfied us for so long. We learn through Sellars that they never did satisfy us, not just because their silly conventions leave Mozart untouched but also because they protect the laziness and incompetence of most opera companies." In 1996, Said characterized Sellars'sCovent Gardenstaging ofHindemith'sMathis der Maleras "compelling and brilliant in conception" and "deliberately uncompromising in its appeal to a late-twentieth-century audience".[39]

References

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Notes

  1. ^Battle, Laura (November 7, 2014)."Peter Sellars talks about his spiritual side".www.ft.com.
  2. ^Thompson, Ayanna (2018).Shakespeare in the Theatre: Peter Sellars.London: Bloomsbury. p. xxx.ISBN978-1-350-02174-7.
  3. ^"Peter Sellars | A.R.T."americanrepertorytheater.org.Retrieved2024-09-02.
  4. ^Ridenour, Al (2002-05-16)."The Automated Andy Warhol Is Reprogrammed".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2023-08-04.
  5. ^Magazine, Smithsonian; McGreevy, Nora."Hear an A.I.-Generated Andy Warhol 'Read' His Diary to You in New Documentary".Smithsonian Magazine.Retrieved2023-08-04.
  6. ^Watercutter, Angela."Why 'The Andy Warhol Diaries' Recreated the Artist's Voice With AI".Wired.ISSN1059-1028.Retrieved2023-08-04.
  7. ^Hogrefe, Jeffrey (1984-10-02)."It's A Mod, Mod World".Washington Post.ISSN0190-8286.Retrieved2023-08-09.
  8. ^"Peter Sellars".www.macfound.org.Retrieved2023-08-04.
  9. ^Shewey, Don (May 1, 1983)."HOW 'MY ONE AND ONLY' CAME TO BROADWAY".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 7,2022.
  10. ^Rich, Frank; Times, Special To the New York (1986-02-24)."STAGE: 'IDIOT'S DELIGHT,' AT THE KENNEDY CENTER".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2023-09-07.
  11. ^Brown, Joe (13 June 1986)."'Ajax': A Murky Muddle ".The Washington Post.Retrieved6 September2023.
  12. ^Braxton, Greg (1990-08-31)."The Artist at the Helm: Can Festival Director Peter Sellars Pull It Off on Vision Alone?".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2023-09-04.
  13. ^Haithman, Diane (1993-06-05)."Scaled-Down L.A. Festival Loses International Artists: Arts: On the positive side, artistic director Peter Sellars says that 'the whole world is in L.A., and the festival is actually going to prove that.'".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2023-09-04.
  14. ^Rockwell, John (July 18, 1985)."Opéra: Mozart's 'Cosi fan tutte'".New York Times.Retrieved3 February2019.
  15. ^Rockwell, John (July 15, 1988)."A Sellarized 'Figaro' in First Performance".New York Times.Retrieved3 February2019.
  16. ^Maurin, Frédéric (2002). "Did Paris steal the show for American postmodern directors?". In Bradby, David; Delgado, Maria M. (eds.).The Paris Jigsaw: Internationalism and the City's Stages.Manchester University Press. p. 244.ISBN0-7190-6183-0.
  17. ^"UCLA Arts: School of the Arts and Architecture".UCLA Arts: School of the Arts and Architecture.Retrieved2024-09-02.
  18. ^Ross, Alex (2017-08-14)."The Salzburg Festival Reawakens".The New Yorker.ISSN0028-792X.Retrieved2023-09-05.
  19. ^"Peter Sellars, Visiting Artist".Berkeley Arts Research Center, UC-Berkeley.RetrievedSeptember 2,2024.
  20. ^Attilio Favorini.Memory in Play: from Aeschylus to Sam Shepard,pp. 56–58 (2008)
  21. ^"Doctor Atomic".earbox.Retrieved4 September2023.
  22. ^Midgette, Anne (2006-11-29)."An Earnest Meditation on a Life Devoted to Human Suffering".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2023-09-05.
  23. ^Westphal, Matthew (15 November 2006)."Photo Journal: John Adams's A Flowering Tree Premieres at New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna".Playbill.Retrieved5 September2023.
  24. ^Brantley, Ben (September 28, 2009)."The General in His High-Tech Labyrinth".The New York Times.pp. C1.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2024-09-02.
  25. ^Press release,San Francisco Opera to Present World Premiere of "Girls of the Golden West"Archived2016-06-17 at theWayback Machine,San Francisco Opera, 14 June 2016, accessed 15 June 2016
  26. ^Ross, Alex (2014-10-20)."Atonement".The New Yorker.ISSN0028-792X.Retrieved2024-09-02.
  27. ^Laurson, Jens F."Making Music Visible: Peter Sellars' St John Passion From Berlin".Forbes.Retrieved2024-09-02.
  28. ^"Blog • Peter Sellars to Deliver Keynote Address at the Opening of the 2019 Salzburg Festival".Salzburger Festspiele.2019-05-17.Retrieved2020-12-27.
  29. ^Apthorp, Shirley (29 July 2019). "Peter Sellars brings a message of love to Mozart's Idomeneo at Salzburg Festival".Financial Times.
  30. ^"Peter Sellars".www.wacd.ucla.edu.Retrieved2023-08-04.
  31. ^"Archive of Celebrated Stage Director Peter Sellars Comes to Getty".www.getty.edu.Retrieved2023-08-04.
  32. ^Service, Tom (2009-08-27)."Ligeti's riot through history".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved2024-08-22.
  33. ^"Erasmusprijswinnaars".Praemium Erasmianum Foundation.Retrieved2023-09-04.
  34. ^"History of the Harvard Arts Medal".Harvard University Office for the Arts.Retrieved23 February2019.
  35. ^The Dorothy and Lillian Gish PrizeArchived2013-10-06 at theWayback Machine,official website.
  36. ^"Peter Sellars — Polar Music Prize".www.polarmusicprize.org.Retrieved2023-09-04.
  37. ^Newsweekinterview, 15 October 1990
  38. ^Adams, John (2008).Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life.New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 126.ISBN978-0-374-28115-1.
  39. ^Said, Edward (2008).Music at the Limits: Three Decades of Essays and Articles on Music.London: Bloomsbury. pp. 89–90, 213.ISBN978-0-7475-9778-0.

Sources

  • Favorini, Attilio. 2003. "History, Collective Memory, and Aeschylus'Persians."Theatre Journal55:1 (March): 99–111.
  • Meyer-Thoss, Gottfried,Extrakte. Peter Sellars – Amerikanisches Welttheater,Parthas Verlag Berlin, 2004

Further reading

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McClary, Susan.The Passions of Peter Sellars: Staging the Music.University of Michigan Press, 2019. ISBN 9780472131228

Interview with Sarah Mahler Kraaz, "Peter Sellars, St. Matthew Passion, Opera." InThe Bloomsbury Handbook of Music and Art,edited by Sarah Mahler Kraaz and Charlotte de Mille. London:Bloomsbury Academic,2024, page 311–315. ISBN 9781501377716

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