The English king Edward II was one of the most colourful figures of the Middle Ages. His biography is now being staged in operatic form at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Swiss composer Andrea Scartazzini and librettist Thomas Jonigk have penned a brand-new piece of musical theatre exploring the relationship between Edward II and Piers de Gaveston. The childhood friend of a homosexual king becomes his lover and eventually the second most powerful man in the land. The king’s marriage collapses, the aristocracy and the people rise up and the king is finally murdered. Baritone Michael Nagy, familiar to opera audiences from Vienna and Zurich to Bayreuth and Oslo, takes the role of the powerful yet hapless and powerless Edward II in Christof Loy’s production.

Intrigues, affairs, abuse of power - Edward II’s biography appears to have all the ingredients of a perfect opera. How has Andrea Scartazzini approached the character? Has he lifted him out of the 14^th century and into the present day?'
Michael Nagy: The basic issues facing the Edward II of the history books have not changed. As the ruling monarch, how do you go about wielding power? Do you abuse your power for your own ends? Another thing is that Scartazzini’s opera looks at the big existential issues that concern us today as much as they concerned the mediaeval Edward, issues revolving around the intrinsic nature and identity of a particular individual. What exactly is this “I”? What does my sexual orientation mean for me and society? What factors delimit, or determine the boundaries of, my existence? And more than this: What happens after we die? And love is a huge subject, of course, with all its shades and including questions of yearning, passion, eroticism, jealousy - in this case involving a triangular relationship between two gay men and a woman. Andrea Scartazzini has pulled off a coup: without denying the traits of the historical personage, he has managed to create a character who could just as well be living in our midst today.

How close is the character of Edward II to your own?
I’d love to be able to say that he’s a terrific guy! And that all true enough, but it’s only half the story. Edward is a fascinating character: he follows his own sexual leanings, undeterred by doubts, unwavering in the face of resistance from church and society. Very impressive but also very scary, the way this king goes his own way. Edward isn’t a nice person, he’s just different, an outsider and, as such, a shameless exploiter of his power. He humiliates political and personal enemies alike, even ends up having them killed.

 It’s in the nature of a world premiere that there are no past performances to relate to and no mental images of previous singers. How do you go about approaching a role that’s completely new and unknown?
First I look at the material available. I’ve dipped into a few biographies of Edward, and of course I’ve read Christopher Marlowe’s 16^th century play. In that way I got a rough idea of who I was dealing with and I can now relate to his portrayal in the libretto better: Thomas Jonigk has sketched a bristly, dramatic character and cut the material down to its essence. My next access point is via the score. When I got my hands on the piano arrangement, I was amazed at how bare it looked. At first I really had no mental or aural image of how it might sound at the end of the process.

Then comes the hard work. I committed the role to memory, primarily the words and the rhythm. The metronome is ticking away and that’s the only objective reference point that you have when you’re learning. So it’s rhythm, text, rhythm, text, and then the music is added.

And now, with a few rehearsals on piano behind us, I’m looking forward to hearing what the score sounds like in the hands of the orchestra. Edward’s nightmares, the angry mob stirring up hatred against him, the yearning he sometimes expresses, premonitions of his own death. What I can say at this early stage is that Scartazzini has written a thrilling score. That’s clear from a glance at the piano arrangement. But in the piano rehearsals you don’t get the colour provided by the full orchestra. And I can tell you, I’ve never been as excited in the run-up to the first orchestra rehearsal as I am with this production.

Director Christof Loy was very clear that he would like to see you in the role of Edward II at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. You’ve sung in a number of Loy’s productions. Can you say a few things about what it’s like working together?
There’s no director I trust more implicitly than Christof Loy. I’m sure he senses that, too, and it’s probably a necessary precondition when you’re working with material that’s not part of the normal repertoire. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I’d say that any time spent working with Christof Loy is a life-changing period. I find myself considering issues that wouldn’t be raised without his input. And then the rehearsals phase can turn out to be an existential experience for me, too, as a singer. With “Edward II” I’m hoping that, through my work with Christof Loy, my interpretation will reflect every aspect of Edward’s character and will do justice to the multi-layered personality, his conflicts and psychological injuries, his questions, his yearnings and his fear of death.