Underground Treasure in Venice

In which we discover Venetian Pearls and Buried Beauty 

 

San Simeone Piccolo, Venice, built 1738

The Maestro, as we call him, composed the first two acts of his new opera in the spare bedroom of our Florentine flat this winter. When the time came for him to take this work up to Austria to present it to the theatre, we put the electric piano in a snowboard bag (it fit perfectly) to make it easier to take on the train.

I know, it sounds glamorous, and maybe it is.

A glass bead coral necklace by Marisa Convento

I accompanied Erling and his piano as far as Venice, and treated myself a day to wander about the city on an unusually warm and uncrowded midwinter day, feeling a bit blue that I would not be staying for Carnivale this time. Feeling even bluer that I wasn't able to return to Venice with my mother, something we talked about a lot during her last year.  I was cheered and inspired by a visit with the great Impiraressa, Marisa Convento, a Venetian artisan reviving the traditional art of seed glass beading from her small shop in San Marco, Venetian Dreams.  Not just an expert beader, Mariso knows the history of her art, and the significance of its revival.  She works with vintage and antique glass beads, and has an impressive collection of the special "Pearls:" antique (and highly collectible) Murano-made beads used for centuries in trading around the world, and which have found their way back to the city, and into her skilled hands.

Marisa is one of the artisans involved with Venezia Autentica, a brilliant organization helping to educate visitors on how to have a more meaningful experience in a city being trampled by mass tourism.  While we commiserated on the fate of the artists in our respective cities, I could see that the fight to save Venice may well be won by her artists.  Who knows more about perseverance than a Venetian?  Than a Venetian artist? 

Buried Treasure

Just across the canal from Santa Lucia station is the strangely proportioned church of San Simeone Piccolo (above.)   Attracted by its impressive copper green dome, visitors might peek inside the circular nave, see the protective plastic sheet covering the ceiling, and then leave.  I personally have never seen the inside of this dome and the church under it is unremarkable. However, this church keeps a secret treasure in its crypt.  You can buy a candle from the attendant as admission, and go down the stairs.

Now, stay still, until your eyes get used to the dark. 

painted designs on the walls of the crypt

You will see, the entire crypt is covered in ornament and murals! Rough and sort of theatrical in style, the painting shows up pretty well in low light.  Most of the ornament is done with a very limited palette of yellow ochre,  red, white, and a bit of black.

Lit by a single candle, the crypt walls and ceiling are visible only for a few feet.

Crypt ceiling painted in ornament with red and yellow ochre

Yes it is well below ground, and yes it is damp and cold.  It appears to have been painted in the 18th century after the church was built,  and I have no idea if...  

darn it my candle went out and I have to make my way back to the entrance, where one little candle was left burning.    

Xe mejo on mocolo impissà che na candela stuà. (1)

A small chapel in the center of crypt, lit by a single light near the entrance

Radiating from a central octagonal chapel are corridors leading to small shrines and burial chambers, These were ransacked and ill-used during the Napoleonic period. Any records about who is buried here were lost at that time.  Any candelabra that may have been here... have not been replaced.

A mournful mural detail by candlelight

A small shrine inside the crypt with loose but effective trompe l'oeil painting

The stoning of St Stephen,  in a faux gold mosaic cartouche.*

I don't have a flash on my camera but I resort to using the flashlight of my phone a few times. 

Especially when I hear things.

Entrance to a family tomb

inside a tomb, with a yellow, black, and ochre color scheme

A tomb where the tunnels split into four directions. The trompe l'oeil grill on the ceiling mimics a real grill elsewhere in the crypt.

macabre decoration in the crypt of San Simeone Piccolo, lit by a single candle

Five months later, in Klagenfurt rehearsals have started.  In three hours I  am in Venice to see the spectacular retrospective of Nancy Genn at the Palazzo Fero-Fini, which corresponds with the opening the Biennale Architettura.   The art galleries are opening new shows, and prosecco is being poured in every doorway of the Dorsoduro.

Erling joins me for one day. I pay my respects to Tintoretto.  On our way back, I stay with the bags while Erling ventures into the crypt.

It is perhaps better if you go into the crypt alone.

(1) Venetian proverb: Better to have a lit candle stub than an extinguished candle. 

All photos in this post by Lynne Rutter, 2018
except* by Erling Wold

Rattensturm a opera by Erling Wold and Peter Wagner,  13 -30 June, 2018 at the Klagenfurter Ensemble, Klagenfurt-am-Worthersee, Austria.

Churches of Venice  website in English with details on every church and its art

Venetian Dreams  Marissa Convento on Instagram
Alessia Fuga  contemporary glass bead artist

Venezia Autentica   because the more you know about Venice the more you will love it

Lynne Rutter Studio

Grotesque Obsession: Uffizi Revisited

Here is a beautiful video of one of my favorite spots in Florence, featuring the grottesca ceilings in the East Corridor of the Uffizi.

Last year, while touring the Uffizi by wheelchair (being dutifully pushed by my butler)  I noticed my perspective of the ceiling was different, wider.  Erling gave me his video camera and we tried making a slow tracking shot of the corridor ceilings.  That didn't work very well because every time we rolled over a seam in the marble floor the camera jostled.

We returned, several times, and Erling shot the ceiling again using a handheld gimbal.  And then he edited this lovely video and added some music from his opera A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil.  Thank you, Maestro!

Video and music by Erling Wold
Uffizi East Corridor Ceilings   Read more about these painted ceilings in this previous post:
A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil   a chamber opera by Erling Wold

Lynne Rutter Studio

Ravennae Inundata

mosaics circa 535 AD,  presbytery vault, San Vitale, Ravenna

“Ostrogoths” I said, punching Erling on the arm. As we entered the Basilica of San Vitale we heard music, and I froze on the spot. At first I thought it was in my head, because that’s not terribly unusual for me, but the magnificent tenor voice was coming from small well-placed speakers which filled the entire church with sound. Not plainsong or medieval chant, but a contemporary Russian choir singing a credo. Theatrical, yes, and compelling. We soon found ourselves overwhelmed by 5th century mosaics glittering with symbolism. 
Traveling with Erling is always good in these instances because like me he has a thorough education in Christian history and further, he is fascinated with it. Lunchtime conversations may involve intense discussions about transubstantiation or the Arian heresy. 

The walls of the Basilica di San Vitale are clad in book-matched marble imported from Constantinople

 
In such a place where there are so many brilliant buttons for my mind to push, my brain is flooded with words and phrases.  So passed this day...
   
geometry... fondo oro... iota... filioque... cosmatesco... horror vacui... clean-shaven Jesus... gammdia... bookmatched marble... octagons... conventional design... the Empress... archaic symbols... peacocks... palm trees... acoustics... recycled roman mosaic... roman mosaic... opus alexandrinum... opus sectile... Persian flaw... matroneum... pulvino... space ships... eunuchs... ecce homo... consubstantial... homoousios... transubstantiation... transfiguration... schism... spaceships...  Ostrogoths...

 mosaic in the apse features a youthful Jesus and an uncountable number of gold glass tiles

The floor of San Vitale was raised and repaved in the 13th century and again in 1599 with cosmateque mosaics.  The original 5th century floor is about 5 feet below and completely under water

counting the border elements under the Justinian panel (547 AD) and shoes...

This border is of  Roman design and references the Trinity. or spaceships.

The famous ceiling of the "Masoleum" of Galla Placidia (d. 450) and an obvious Persian Flaw

Mosaic ceiling of the 5th century Arian baptistry

All photos in this post by Lynne Rutter  Ravenna, 2018

Listen: Credo Universale (youtube)  New Liturgical Chant of the Russian Orthodox Church  Moscow Patriarchal Choir with Ilya Tolmachevy Natalia Haszler

Livia Alberti - fascinating report on the restoration of the mosaics of San Vitale

Lynne Rutter Studio

UKSUS a surreal comic adventure

Roham Sheikhani, Nikola Printz, Laura Bohn, and Duncan Wold perform an OBERIU play within the opera UKSUS. Costumes by Laura Hazlett.

A few weeks ago Erling Wold's Fabrications staged the U.S. premiere of UKSUS, a surreal comic chamber opera based on the life and work of Russian absurdist writer Daniil Kharms.

UKSUS was originally commissioned by the Klagenfurter Ensemble in Austria, and the libretto was written by Felix Strasser and Yulia Izmaylova, who also there directed it in December of 2012.  I attended several performances of that production and really enjoyed myself, in part because I don’t speak German and had no idea what was going on and could therefore approach it with a totally open mind; I felt like a kid watching a Punch and Judy show.  I loved the music, the energy of the band,  the bizarreness, the smoke-filled bar in the smoke-filled lobby of the theater, the paintings of the trumpet player Richie Klammer, the snow outside, the embarrassingly long applause of the Austrian audiences.  Everyone fell in love with Erling and everyone wanted to do the show again and again and everyone wanted to come to San Francisco to do it again.

The cast of UKSUS:  the downtrodden cheer three times for Stalin

For the U.S. debut of UKSUS, it became obvious as time passed, that bringing over the Austrian cast was unfeasible.  A new and local cast was assembled with Jim Cave directing.   Jim is not afraid of nonsense, wackiness, surreal or absurd anything. He and Erling have worked together so many times they nearly finish each others sentences.  I was asked nicely to be involved with the scenic design, and was even offered a  budget.   But when Jim started talking about the lunatics putting on a play in the asylum my eyes rolled into the back of my head and stayed there until he changed the subject, and so began our collaboration.  Erling asked for three backdrops.  The guys went and rented a theater that required  the set to be struck every night to make room for the next day's classes,  necessitating a lot of portable bits rather than something grand and unwieldy.  

The UKSUS set pieces prior to lighting

I meant to write a post just about this scenic work: about the process of addressing the problems of the giant black space of Dance Mission Theater, the inspiration for the design, the tight budget and even tighter deadline;   leaving out the parts about the emotional turmoil I felt working on this project at a time when I was already insanely busy and already suffering from the all-too-familiar torture that is the lot of the long-suffering wife of a too-charming pathological liar.  Does anyone actually care that our lives were imploding while this all took place? Of course not.  After all, the show must go on.

UKSUS had only three performances in March, 2015. Despite full houses every night, lusty applause and effusive praise from the audience, especially from the younger attendees, some reviewers showed up with their cranky "Opera" pants on and just didn’t get it.  This piece didn't really get the attention it deserved, and so I feel compelled to speak up and publish these awesome photos I took.

  

Beth Custer is so damn cool.

Let's start with the Music.

Erling Wold's music is wonderful, transporting, by turns fun, tragic, solemn, uplifting. The orchestra gathered up like a great jazz band, rocked during the rock parts and danced through complex rhythms and delicate poignant passages thanks to our amazing conductor, Bryan Nies, whose skill is all sorts of amazing to watch as well as hear, as if everyone on the stage and in the band are strings of a single instrument, which he plays effortlessly. 

The story is ridiculous. There is no comprehensible narrative and there is no point. There is  absurdity,  nonsense, observations of everyday or imagined moments.  Pushkin makes love to his wife, an old woman falls from a window,  children are given tetanus to shut them up, the OBERIU put on a play in arty clown suits, the artist dies during one of Stalin's purges and his widow goes to Venzuela.  

Duncan Wold as Pushkin, making naughty with his wife Fefjulka (Laura Bohn)

The Old Woman falls out of a window...

These scenes are arranged in boxes; we even made hand-lettered placards to tell you which box was being opened. Erling added a somewhat pleonastic narration to the libretto, packed with context and commentary, which Jim delivered in his role as "a samovar,"  but he might not have bothered: absurdity and confusion make a nice team. 

The cast was a fantastic mix of singers and actors, mimes and clowns.  Duncan Wold, one of the writers/comedians of San Francisco’s Mission CTRL comedy troupe, starred as the poet Pushkin, who is playing the role of Kharms himself.  He approached this part as a comic actor, creating a deadpan character which added depth and contrast to his role, and it should be said that his comic timing was pitch-perfect, recalling the straight delivery a young Johnny Carson.

 

Our favorite soprano Laura Bohn,   with her soaring, beautiful voice, in this production got a chance to show off her physical theater skills, clowning, and dramatic unibrow.  Her scenes with Duncan were both hysterical and endearing.

Fefjulka and Our Mama (and a hand-painted Soviet-style poster)

Mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz  gave a hilarious performance as both Our Mama and a gender-bending Stalin (both mustached parts) all the while thrilling us with her rich and resonant voice, especially thrilling when paired with Laura Bohn’s during certain goosebump-producing moments. 

Both our soprani are magnificent clowns, and it's refreshing to watch such versatile performers who can become their characters, without being overly concerned with how 'pretty' they look or sound.

The cast of UKSUS performing as the OBERIU

Mary Forcade as the Karabister

Bob Ernst, an actor with a face and voice so compelling he could read the label of cereal box and make you believe it the Magna Carta, declares that you must drink vinegar (uksus), and you pretty well want to do it.  Speaking of amazing faces, it’s widely known that I have a crush on Roham Sheikhani, an actor and brilliant mime who in this show added an element of sanity as well as paranoia when needed.  A deus ex machina appearance by Mary Forcade as the Karabister very nearly stole the show.

The sets were designed to emphasize the diagonal lines and  bright palette of the Russian Avant Garde painters.   I looked to Kharms’ close friend Kazimir Malevich, and the Constructivist movement, and to the splendid film posters designed by Russian graphic artists  in the 1920s and 30’s.   Costume designer Laura Hazlett  brought this concept home with her supremely colorful pieces for the OBERIU performance within the show.

Pushkin (Duncan Wold)  is interrogated by Comrade Stalin (Nikola Printz)

Closing night we danced deliriously in the side aisle while the audience laughed and sighed,  and afterwards everyone wanted to do UKSUS again and asked when can we? After the party and the vodka, we dragged the sets and costumes back to the garage where are stored the costumes and bits from the last opera and the one before that.

More UKSUS-related rants at Erling Wold's blog.

all photos in this post by Lynne Rutter 

Lynne Rutter Studio

Rococo Rose

Klagenfurt Cathedral- side chapel

I'm off to Klagenfurt, Austria for the premier of the Maestro's latest.  Here is a sneak peak of the frothy confection of the cathedral there!

plaster ornament in Klagenfurt Cathedral

What is it about that perfect rose color used in Rococo interiors?  It's just  lovely.



photos by Lynne Rutter,  Klagenfurt, June 2011

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting 

Vienna on my mind

Interior of Peterskirche, Wien

In December the Maestro has a commission for the Klagenfurter Ensemble premiering on December 6.  Hmmm, what a lovely ulterior motive to have Christmas in Austria. Even better, one of my oldest friends is coming all the way from New Zealand to meet us there!
I'm looking forward to a great big shot of Baroque inspiration, with lots and lots of gold leaf...
So here are a couple of moments in the beautiful Peterskirche in Vienna.
 

anamorphic trompe l'oeil dome over the altar

This fabulous confection was designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and features a dome and interior by Matthias Steinl filled with marble, stuc-marmor, painted faux marbre, carved figural pews, and plenty of gilding - as well as plenty of trompe l'oeil gilding. The painted decor and murals by Johann Michael Rottmayr replaced earlier efforts by Andrea Pozzo. (Can you can believe that?) 


photos in this post by Lynne Rutter, Vienna, 2007
click on images to view larger
more nice images of the Peterskirche
Uksus  Kammeroper von Erling Wold: opens December 6, 2012 in Klagenfurt, Austria

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

The Colorful Frescoes of Rila Monastary

One beautiful and very hot day in June, we visited Rila Monastery, in the mountains 117km south of Sofia, Bulgaria.  And I had my camera with me.

ceiling detail with the baptism of Christ,  Rila Monestary

Rila Monastery was founded in the 10th century  by the hermit St Ivan of Rila, who lived in a tiny cave in the hills above this site. The monastery was built by his students, and over centuries grew to become the largest and most important center for religious and cultural activities in the country.  During the Ottoman Empire rule of Bulgaria 1396-1878, the monastery took on the role of bulwark of the Bulgarian cultural identity in the face of foreign occupation, and a destination for pilgrimages from all over the Balkan region.

The interior courtyard of Rila Monastery and the Cathedral Рождество Богородично

We hired a driver for the day because I heard heard the bus trips don't allow much time to visit before you must to return to Sofia.  When we arrived in Rila our driver offered to come back in one hour to pick us up and take us to another place.   I showed him my camera and shook my head. Just leave me here. Come back tomorrow maybe.  Erling laughed, and offered to call the driver sometime before dark. My Ornamentalist Enabler.

painted doorway in the monastery

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Bulgarian culture and identity enjoyed a renaissance during the National Revival.  During this period Rila Monastery was destroyed by a fire, and rebuilt as we see it today, using a design typical of the Revival style of architecture and decoration.

Surrounding the church at the center of the courtyard, is the pleasant, four-story high residence of the monastery, decorated with simple painted designs in black and white and red, in geometric and floral motifs.
  These areas reminded me of the old mission churches in California.

Erling studying a panel on the Sin of False Confession

The domed porch surrounding the church is painted with intensely colorful frescoes, which have been recently cleaned and restored and really glow. I could almost hear and feel the color.   Especially that blue.  Every surface is covered with scenes of stories from the bible painted in pure, vivid hues.

Christ depicted in one of the domes of the porch

Completed in 1846,  the frescoes are the work of the famous Bulgarian muralist Zahari Zograf and his brother, the icon artist Dimitar Zograf, as well as many master artists from the schools of  Bansko, Samokov and Razlog.

In the spaces between domes are illustrations of stories from the Bible

Orthodox art observes a rigid standard of stylistic representation of sacred figures.  In between these iconic scenes however, are moments of decorative brilliance representative of the Bulgarian revival of folk art.

Archangels: detail of a fresco in the Rila porch

The palette is pigment-based and uses some lovely combinations of gold and green, blue and red, rose and brown.  In some places one of the red pigments has turned black, possibly due to exposure, or from a chemical reaction to the fumes from gas lamps that had been in use in the past.

ornamental elements support the architecture

I spent well over two hours studying the porch frescoes before taking a break and enjoying some Bulgarian donuts and a stroll around the rest  of the grounds, visiting the museum and touring the enormous monastery kitchens.  The inside of the cathedral was under restoration but still breathtaking, with an iconostasis [by Athanasios Taladuro of Thessalonica] a spectacular, intricately carved and gilt wall of icons.

Archangel Michael  / Архангел Михаил

Erling and I returned to the porch where I got out my 105mm lens and had another long look the frescoes and discussed their meaning.  Later we reconnected with our friendly driver,  who took us up the mountain to the 1/2 mile trail that leads through the most beautiful woods to the small cave where St Ivan spent his ascetic life.

A priest at Rila Monastery

The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila is UNESCO World Heritage site which receives nearly nine hundred thousand visitors each year. It is still an active  monastery and a pilgrimage site.  
There are volunteers inside the church who will give you a green cloak to wear over your head and shoulders if you are not modestly attired. I always travel with my own scarf  in case I need to cover my head in  the church, mosque, or temple I am visiting.

One of the priests was keeping a dignified watch over the area to make sure the younger tourists  behaved.  I showed him my camera monitor after taking this picture and asked his permission to use this photo.


More from Bulgaria:   Opus Lisatum
Erling Wold:  "Certitude and Joy"   mp3
performed by the Sofia Philharmonic, June 2, 2011

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In this post I wish to express my profound gratitude to my teacher and mentor, Dr. Otto Mower, with whom I traveled to Bulgaria in 1980 on my first visit to Europe, as part of a study tour of art history.    That I became  a decorative artist was in large part due to his influence and encouragement.  Dr. Mower passed away on February 7, 2012.  

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all images in this post by Lynne Rutter, Bulgaria June 2011 
click on images to view larger

 Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Setting the Stage

Everyone should have a leviathan at their wedding.

For our recent nuptial celebration, Maestro and I let the Slovenian Hall, only a few blocks from our home, with a small stage just begging for some decorating. Such a splendid event after all, required the proper setting.

The Slovenian Hall stage, lots of polysester drapes and potential

Friends far and near contributed ideas and inspiration.  Carla Eagleton lent me some fantastic vintage Fortuny drapes  from her wonderful textile collection, delightfully shredded and faded in all the right places, and I painted a valance to match their colors, with a metallic shell motif in its center. Something old, borrowed, and blue, and something new to go with it!

Shell valence in progress

I am also lucky to have as a friend, the sage and talented  Ziska Childs, who sent me the enormous gift of a suitably  fantastic designer elevation, with a baroque grotto, complete with a leviathan or two, of course.

grotto backdrop in progress in the studio

.... this would have been far easier to produce if  my studio were a bit bigger.  The backdrop had to be projected in  twelve parts.  The ground row had to be cut into  six pieces just so we could get it out the door (something we thought of at about 11 pm after nearly finishing the assembly of it. oops.)  Thanks to my volunteers Erling and Erika, and my assistant Sierra, it all gone done in plenty of time, and once installed was quite fabulous.

 

In addition to our ceremony, in which Erling pledged to be my  liege-man against all manner of folks, the grotto played host to many great performances throughout the evening. 

Woody Woodman and Igor Finger reading "The Devil in the Drain"  in their own inimitable style 

(photo by Marty Takagawa)

Griffin Runnels (my nephew) performing  "The Rainbow Connection"

which little monster is cuter, now I ask you.

More about the performances and happenings  are mentioned at Erling's blog
Endless thanks  are due to all our creative  friends and family who contributed their time and skill, painting and singing and playing and  tying ribbons and dancing and remixing things to make beautiful noise and clear the room just when I needed the space to dance, and all conspiring to make this all such an extraordinary evening.

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting