“Edward II” is generally known as a story with a pronounced sexual - indeed, homosexual - subtext. Is it the same with your version?
Christof Loy: It can’t be denied that the hero’s homosexuality is a major feature of Christopher Marlowe’s tragedy, which was one of the source texts for the libretto. It’s central to the hero’s basic conflict, which consists in the fact that, at the time of his reign, homosexuality was considered a deadly sin and was condemned by the Church and yet Edward was quite open about it. He had a lover and, after the death of the lover, a number of favourites. As such, he laid himself open to attack from his political foes. In a general sense you could say it’s an opera about an outsider.

And with it a world premiere which actually does tell a story?!
Loy: Exactly so. It’s a narrative opera with a dramatic conflict that culminates in a catastrophe. Edward’s wife Isabella, who feels neglected by her husband, makes common cause with his enemies. She attempts to have him declared mentally ill and even ends up plotting with his murderers. The story really does have everything.

It sounds pretty old-fashioned for a contemporary opera!
Loy: I admit that, for me, theatre always has to explore psychology. I can do it any other way.

In “Edward II” there’s only one major female role. So is it actually an opera about men, like “Parcifal”, “Billy Budd” or “From the House of the Dead”?
Thomas Søndergård: To my ears it doesn’t sound like an opera about men. What I’m hearing is more like a mass of short, jostling intervals and “narrow” chords, which is a perfect way of conveying the cramped and restrictive nature of society at the time. It’s the first time I’ve seen a composer doing something like that. On the audio track you can also hear choral and orchestral pieces and a number of synthesizer sounds.
Loy: If I’m honest, I wouldn’t want to stage a purely male opera like “Billy Budd”. I’d miss the female voice. But alongside Edward’s story there’s a parallel story being told about Isabella’s emancipation. It’s a great role with its own in-built conflict and positively Shakespearean in scale and stature. It forms part of a larger social panorama, in which the ruler becomes a dictator. His inferiority complex spirals into delusions of grandeur.
Søndergård: The eponymous hero is sung by Michael Nagy in a baritone. By the way, this would be a good time for people to disabuse themselves of the notion that tenors tend towards the hysterical and baritones are more sensitive. We’re dealing here with general human relationships. In the same way, Verdi’s “Rigoletto” is totally not a story about a hunchbacked court jester but rather a father-daughter drama. The question we are addressing here is: what is a ‘love affair’ actually?

Do we get a feel of the Elizabethan Age from Thomas Jonigk’s libretto?
Loy: I think we do. It’s still very Shakespearean in tone. There’s also the contrast between the tragic and the comic, similar to what we find in “Hamlet” with the roles of the gravediggers written for two comedians. There are parts for jokers and jesters, which was typical of the theatre of the time.

So why didn’t they just set Christopher Marlowe’s tragedy “Edward II” to music?
Loy: I have the feeling that Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini sets great store on being able to liaise with a living writer. Besides Marlowe’s drama - which incidentally was made into a film with Tilda Swinton as Isabella - Thomas Jonigk has adapted other period works including “Vita Edwardi Secundi” from the 14th century and contemporary chronicles from England, Ireland and Scotland. This isn’t an extract that’s been lifted wholesale and neither is it just a rehashing of historical accounts. Information has been added and a number of scenes are positively surreal in character.

How would you describe the musical style of composer Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini?
Søndergård: As juicy and altogether very free. And very organic. It would be hard to pin a stylistic label on it. As soon as I saw the score I was struck by how specific the music is with its tonal lines, its clarity and its richness. Another thing about it that appeals to me and fascinates me actually is the way he conveys the anger and pride that features in a lot of the scenes. It’s unique in modern music.
Loy: I’d also say that anger is a key theme for Scartazzini. And it encompasses the subtle, round-about way of attacking someone, which is expressed in quiet, creeping unrest. Not that that is very different to Mozart: much of what goes on on the surface of the music is alluded to in the minor voices, on the fringes of the score, as is were.
Søndergård: What really appeals to me is the fact that the music is so sympathetic towards the singer, that it has been composed with the voices in mind. Some stretches feel tonal even though they are all but devoid of tonality.

How modern or experimental is Scartazzini?
Søndergård: I’d say we don’t know yet.
Loy: He’s certainly more psychological than, say, Helmut Lachenmann. In my mind “Edward II” is a grand opéra for the 21st century - albeit much shorter in duration. In the end the great opera runs just 90 minutes.

Mr Loy, you’re one of the most successful directors of opera in Europe today. What criteria do you use to measure success?
Loy: Whether I’m reaching the audience and whether the people who come to a performance leave the opera house with a different perspective. I want to change lives. And I sometimes even think I can see if I’ve succeeded, when I’m sitting in the audience at the premiere.

Do your productions go down the same with the audience, regardless of venue?
Loy: No, I don’t think so. One of my favourite regions to work in is Scandinavia because I believe people there are very open to my way of telling a story. They’re well prepared, as it were, thanks to Ingmar Bergman films. I like working in Germany, too, because there’s not an exaggerated insistence on storytelling, unlike in America. In America they’re not familiar with the Brecht backstory. I want to find a language to suit each particular audience. And since audiences vary from location to location, I’m sceptical about coproductions. There are even places where I couldn’t really imagine myself working. The Metropolitan Opera, for instance.

Mr Søndergård, you’re from Denmark, like Michael Schønwandt and Thomas Dausgaard. Do you think your country of origin is audible in the way you work?
Søndergård: No, definitely not. And the times are past and gone when symphonies by Carl Nielsen or Jean Sibelius were performed much better in Scandinavian countries. That’s one of the positive aspects of globalisation.

Mr Loy, this is yet another instance of you staging a production involving a libretto by your partner, Thomas Jonigk. Does that take the pressure off or add to the pressure?
Loy: Neither nor. It doesn’t increase the pressure or reduce it. As it is, I only ever get to see the libretto after the composer has given his input. And only when questions are raised involving singers. In this case I’ve been more in touch with the composer than with the librettist, whom I’m married to.

And what’s that like?
Loy: There’s a clear division of labour and that’s exactly how it should be. We don’t take work home. That’s important. No one need worry that we might present some united front simply because we’re a couple in our private lives. I’m already looking forward to the next time we have this odd state of affairs where we’re involved with each other on a professional level. But there are no plans as yet.