Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Miguel and Paula Azguime and the New Op-Era

2023; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 42; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/07494467.2023.2234182

1477-2256

Andreia Nogueira,

Historical and Modern Theater Studies

ABSTRACTMiguel and Paula Azguime are prominent figures in the contemporary art realm with a significant track record of interconnecting sound, text, poetry, movement, video, and live electronics. Together, they founded a new concept/project entitled New Op-Era that introduced a multimedia and creative collaboration in which the music and text of Miguel Azguime coexist with the staging and video composition of Paula Azguime in a truly symbiotic and innovative format. This paper examines whether the New Op-Era concept constitutes a new form of music theatre by reflecting upon the multimedia and electroacoustic opera Salt Itinerary created by Miguel and Paula Azguime between 1999 and 2006. This one-hour-long piece combines live audio and video processing along with an artistic, vocal, and theatrical performance by the composer himself to produce an extraordinary visual and sound experience that transcends traditional artistic conventions and crosses the boundaries prevailing between music, theatre, opera, performance, new media art, and sound poetry.KEYWORDS: New Op-Era; Miguel AzguimePaula AzguimeSalt Itinerary; music theatrepostoperacomposed theatre AcknowledgmentsI began studying the case of Salt Itinerary during my doctoral research (2014–2018), which was supported by the Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (FCT), through a Ph.D. research grant under reference SFRH/BD/52316/2013. At the time, Miguel and Paula Azguime were fundamental to my learning about the New Op-Era concept. So, I would like to thank them for their time and support. I also would like to thank TECHN&ART for the support of my post-doctoral project I am currently developing, ARTinBetween: Bridging the Gap for the Long-Term Sustainability of Multimedia Artworks in between Music and the Visual Arts (2021–2024, grant UID/05488/2020). My special thanks also go to my dear friend Filipa Magalhães who, over the last ten years, has been sharing her knowledge and expertise on the Portuguese musical theatre scene with me. I cannot end without acknowledging the vital contributions made by this paper’s reviewers that led to significant improvements.Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Original: ‘Sem a Paula eu faria no melhor das hipóteses um décimo do que faço. Ela é que permite que tudo se concretize e funcione e eu, em muitos casos, limito-me a ser um porta-voz’. Translated by the author.2 For the sake of clarity, I would like stress that I use the expression music theatre in its inclusive approach, as defined by Salzman and Dési: ‘The inclusive meaning of the term can encompass the entire universe of performance in which music and theater play complementary and potentially equal roles. In this sense, opera can be viewed as a particular and historical form of music theater. Music videos, to choose a radically different example, might be another’ (Citation2008, 5).3 Original: ‘Vim de Darmstadt transformado e nunca mais voltei a ser o mesmo’. Translated by the author.4 See the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre (Mic) webpage: http://mic.pt/dispatcher?where=0&what=2&show=0&pessoa_id=329&lang=PT.5 See the Mic webpage: http://www.mic.pt/noticias?where=8&what=3&id=167&lang=en.6 See the Mic webpage: http://www.mic.pt/noticias?where=8&what=3&id=167&lang=en.7 See the Mic webpage: http://www.mic.pt/noticias?where=8&what=3&id=167&lang=en.8 See the Miso Music Portugal webpage: https://www.misomusic.me/musica-viva-festival.9 See the Miso Music webpage: http://misomusic.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=390&Itemid=682&lang=en.10 Mic’s electronic archive is accessible through the following link: http://www.mic.pt/?lang=en.11 Part of this section is based on my doctoral research, which encompassed several moments of personal inquiry with Miguel and Paula Azguime, specifically the personal interviews I held on 23 October 2014, 23 June 2015, and 23 September 2015, at O’culto da Ajuda. For further detail, see Nogueira (Citation2018b) and Nogueira, Macedo, and Pires (Citation2016).12 The recording is also available at Miguel Azguime’s YouTube channel through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnDunioitU&t=33s&ab_channel=MiguelAzguime. A recording of the work performed on 4 December 2021, at O’culto da Ajuda, is also available at Miguel Azguime’s YouTube channel, through the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ9ZutqgkHQ&ab_channel=MiguelAzguime.13 Miguel and Paula Azguime in interview about the work A Laugh to Cry, within the context of the 56th International Festival of Contemporary Music ‘Warsaw Autumn’, 20–28 September 2013. Video recording available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT7nTZkt9Ro&ab_channel=WarszawskaJesie%C5%84.14 For more information on the how the ‘conventional’ operatic genre has evolved, see Kerman (Citation1988).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by FCT [Grant number UID/05488/2020] and hosted at the TECHN&ART research centre.Notes on contributorsAndreia NogueiraAndreia Nogueira holds a Ph.D. in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage from the NOVA University of Lisbon. Her dissertation research focused on the development of a comprehensive study dedicated to the preservation of the Portuguese contemporary musical heritage and on the implementation of the first worldwide investigation on contemporary music preservation conducted by a contemporary art conservator. Nogueira is currently engaged in innovative critical and reflective work on the meaning and significance of our contemporary cultural heritage (connecting both music and the visual arts) and on the relationship between sustainable development and creative conservation. She is conducting the postdoctoral project ‘ARTinBetween: Bridging the Gap for the Long-Term Sustainability of Multimedia Artworks in between Music and the Visual Arts’ (2021–2024), funded by FCT and hosted at the TECHN&ART research centre.