Teodor Currentzis is no stranger to major film projects. The haunting Plan B, which the conductor created with film director Sergey Nurmamed back in June, addressed pressing world issues – not least the isolation of artists as a result of the current pandemic – using the music of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as a powerful backdrop.

Now, along with his musicAeterna musicians in the studio at Dom Radio, St Petersburg, Currentzis has been rehearsing and recording a series of iconic opera scenes. Every scene has then been given its own visualisation by a filmmaker, each video reflecting the concept behind the music.

Collectively called ‘Fragments’, the project will be unveiled this coming Friday with the first recording in the series – the Prelude to Act 3 of La traviata, and Violetta’s famous aria ‘Addio del passato bei sogni ridenti’, sung by Russian soprano Nadezhda Pavlova. The video was made in collaboration with NOIR Films, St Petersburg – a team of video artists renowned for their experimental films and video art.

At a time when so much live music-making is being curtailed, the ‘Fragments’ project is a reminder of opera’s potential to impact an audience. Moreover, it’s an endeavour that has allowed Currentzis – a musician known for his devotion to detail and fascination with the recording process – to spend a prolonged time with his musicians in order to uncover what he describes as ‘the true essence of the piece’. With many opera houses closed and standing empty, this was, he said, ‘the right time to reconsider the approaching of making music in a manner that would allow us to finally reach the inner layer of the musical text’. He continued: ‘This project will be a compilation of fragments, scenes from different operas. We aim to restore the wasted beauty, the abundance of flavours and colours that have been sacrificed on the altar of the mainstream and the music industry.’

Following the release of ‘Fragments’ Part 1 this Friday, subsequent releases will be announced during 2021.