Quebec maestro brings Siegfried in 3-D to the Met

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Siegfried's slaying of the dragon is among the most exciting, spectacular moments in the specialized world of Wagner; some would argue in opera itself.

Now picture the drama enhanced by 3-D.

Later this year, live opera will join movies and television with a leap into the third dimension. And once again, Canadians are at the heart of the project.

Robert Lepage's Siegfried, the third instalment in the Ring cycle the Quebec theatre icon is directing at the Metropolitan Opera, will employ what's being called a revolutionary new 3-D technology when it opens in New York next October. The technology, developed by a Montreal company, will be used to create a dense forest dwelling for the title character. Three-dimensional tree roots, vermin, a snake.

"The idea is to give the forest this kind of dimension and movement to it, so all the creatures and elements of the forest can become a three-dimensional environment," said Peter Gelb, general manager of the Met on Wednesday, the day of its 2011-2012 season announcement.

What's earth-shattering about this, says Mr. Gelb, is that 3-D technology is being applied in a major theatrical environment for the first time - without the need for glasses to experience it.

"If people had to wear glasses," he says, "it would never have been considered."

So how does it work?

It begins with Mr. Lepage's already super high-tech, complex contraption of a stage, revealed last year at the Met in Das Rheingold. To achieve the 3-D effect, a moving piece of scenery rotates along a horizontal axis, and computer-generated projections follow it in real-time. Without physically moving, the audience has an altered point of view, the projection being presented to them from the bottom to top - which tricks viewers' minds into perceiving objects as three-dimensional.

"If the rendering on stage permits all these different points of view, then you have a definite perception that is 3-D because of the movement," says Roger Parent, president of Réalisations.net, which has been licensed to use the innovative software.

Developed by Catalin Alexandru Duru, a 26-year old subcontractor to Réalisations, the technology has applications that may go far beyond the opera stage. With apologies to that other 3-D pioneering Canadian, James Cameron, the Met is just the tip of the iceberg.

Speaking from Montreal, Mr. Parent said he's planning to use the technology with some of his other clients, including Cirque du Soleil, and suggested potential uses for museums, and the hospitality industry.

"But definitely I want Peter Gelb and his Metropolitan Opera group to be the first ones to have this thing on stage."

Mr. Lepage was not available for an interview on Wednesday (he is with The Blue Dragon in London), but released a statement through the Met. "When you come to Siegfried, you can fully appreciate the complexity and genius of the leitmotifs Wagner has used to create another world. That is what we must do onstage as well - create an organic world of dragons and bears and insects and other creatures, where Siegfried can prove himself the strong, fearless, virile hero."

But unlike Mr. Cameron's breakthrough 3-D film Avatar, Siegfried's use of 3-D is meant to be subtle.

"We're trying very, very hard not to upstage the music," Mr. Parent said. "This is a very kind of low-key intervention we're doing. It may be revolutionary in terms of the technology, but it's there to serve the purpose of the music, and Robert's vision. ... In fact, if we do our stuff well, it's like maybe the soundtrack to a good film. You won't notice it."

If some opera buffs are uncomfortable with all this technology invading their time-honoured traditions, Ken MacLeod, assistant professor of music history and culture at the University of Toronto, says they shouldn't be.

"I think it's both inevitable and a logical progression in operatic staging. I basically see it as merely an extension of Wagner's fascination with spectacle, technology and overall Gesamtkunstwerk ethic."

Mr. Parent ventures even further than that. "I'm sure if Wagner had access to this, he would have used it."

NOTE TO READERS: The story has been changed to reflect the following correction: Réalisations.net licensed the technology that is being used to create 3D projections for the Robert Lepage-directed production of Siegfried at the Metroplitan Opera in New York. The software was developed by Catalin Alexandru Duru's company Maginaire, a subcontractor to Réalisations. Incorrect information appeared on Feb 17.