(Image Source: Phillip Addis Official Website)

Brott Music Live will present an innovative virtual production of Mozart and Da Ponte’s opera “Don Giovanni.”

The production will be available on the company’s Facebook page on July 30 at 7:30 p.m. EST. Baritone Phillip Addis will perform the title role.

All scenes will be rehearsed remotely based upon a piano track. The singers will record their parts at home and then send them to videographer Neil Craighead who will knit all the videos together into the final digital production. Stage director Anna Theodosakis has adapted the staging so that each singer works within the frame of the video camera.

“The first step is the creation of accompaniment videos or backing tracks, which are then distributed to the singers,” Craighead noted in explaining the process. “They use headphones to play the track and record their isolated vocals and video which are then sent to the editor. Once received, the files are converted, edited, layered, synchronized, and balanced. Video shots are selected based on a storyboard from the director, and multi-screens, cuts, and transitions are put in place. Each scene is compiled into a video and then they are sequenced together to form the full broadcast video.”

“The singers are mostly using their laptops and external mics for these sessions, which helps the sound quality,” added vocal coach Emily Hamper.

The Brott Music Festival is Canada’s largest not-for-profit orchestral music festival, and the only festival with a full time, professional orchestra-in-residence.