Lorenzo de' Medici (1449-1492) was known as many things during his lifetime: ruler, statesman, politician, businessman, sportsman, scholar, poet, peacekeeper--and, literally, Renaissance man. Upon assuming leadership of the city at age 20, he began to transform Florence into the epicenter of the European Renaissance, championing the work of such artists as da Vinci, Botticelli, Donatello, and Michelangelo, and studying philosophy with some of the era's greatest thinkers. As leader of the Florentine Republic , “Lorenzo the Magnificent” maintained the delicate balance of power among Italian states including Milan , Venice , and Naples , narrowly survived an assassination attempt orchestrated by Pope Sixtus IV that wounded him and killed his brother, and risked his life to deftly negotiate an honorable peace against states allied with the Pope. Along the way, the charismatic leader married a young, conservative Roman girl to foster an alliance with Rome . Somewhat tragically, she refused to share her husband's worldly interests.
When Indiana University music professors P.Q. Phan and Robert Hatten began researching the life and times of Lorenzo de' Medici, they were astounded by the depth, drama and timelessness of his story. Love, hate, humor, art, sport, and political intrigue. War and peace. They realized Lorenzo's story had all the makings of a great classic opera, so they embarked on a project to tell his story through music. With the support of a grant from IU's New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities program, they began writing the libretto and music for Lorenzo de' Medici , a two-act opera that they plan to workshop at the IU Jacobs School of Music this fall.
“It's a great story. It's emotional,” says Phan, an associate professor at the Jacobs School and an award-winning composer. A Vietnamese native who came to America in 1982, he came up with the idea for an opera about Lorenzo after studying in Italy for a year and learning about the powerful Medici family that ruled Florence for centuries. The family's influence on art, politics, and religion fascinated him.
“This is a wonderful, dramatic story. It doesn't fit the archetypal story pattern,” adds Hatten, a professor of music theory at the Jacobs School , who is writing the opera's libretto.
Both men emphasize that they hope to create a “classic” opera, one that offers substance and is highly artistic, but is still capable of entertaining. They eschew some composers' proclivity towards following current operatic trends in favor of offering audiences a production they will find relevant as well as timeless. The inherent realism and drama in Lorenzo's heroic story promises to help Hatten and Phan remain faithful to this mission.
Over the past few years, they have worked together to formulate a storyline that follows Lorenzo's path from immature and inexperienced young man to intellectual seeker, responsible leader and savior of Florence . “We've taken advantage of the historical reality,” Hatten says. “There's passion and violence, but the story is also about Lorenzo's vision for the way society could be, one that could combine the arts with a republic and a democratic government. The times weren't exactly ready for this.”
Watching them bounce thoughts and ideas off one another so casually in Phan's basement studio in Sycamore Hall, it's hard to believe Phan and Hatten are collaborating on an opera for the first time. Despite the project being a huge commitment of time and effort, they exhibit a wondrous, unforced, and easily contagious enthusiasm for the process and for their subject matter. They hope their excitement translates to the grand stage and that audiences leave feeling energized and rewarded for their emotional investment.
“We're not trying to write an avant-garde opera. We want this to be accessible to audiences, not a stodgy costume drama,” Phan says. “Our goal is also not to make this seem like a two-hour voice recital. When you go to an opera, you're supposed to feel, to see, to be moved.”
