Mozart Reimagined – Die Schuldikeit des Ersten Gebots

Mozart Reimagined by Tyson Vick will be launching pre-orders on Kickstarter on September 14th, 2015! Until then, I wanted to give you a glimpse of some of the photos and excerpts from the book so you can see what’s in store!

The book showcases nearly 100 photos that bring to life Mozart’s operas through photography. I spent a decade building props and sets, meeting models and photographing across the country to showcase what Mozart’s music has meant to me. The book also features essays written about each opera from my own unique perspective. The book humorously points out plot-holes, gives insight into past and present performances, recites a little bit of History and overflows with my own passion for the music of Mozart.

First up in the book is Mozart’s “Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots”, which is more of an oratorio or religious play that is performed without sets.

Mozart Reimagined features two photos by Tyson Vick from the opera Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots.

Here’s an excerpt from the chapter accompanying these images:

“The strengths of the play, both music and text, are completely in sync. The music and text each have their own strengths separately as well. It is dramatically, philosophically and musically sound. However, because of its extremely specific focus on religion, and in particular the dangers of half-assed Christianity, the opera won’t appeal to as large an audience as something more secular and dramatically engaging. It’s really an opera for intellectual minds that are wondering why anyone should believe in Christianity. Therefore, if the viewer doesn’t like the subject, the music might not be enough to hold their interest. Similarly, if the viewer doesn’t care for vocal pyrotechnics, and is also uninterested in the subject matter, the opera could be considered a complete dud. However, it is almost a perfect example of the type of musical drama that it is.”

Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots, Act 1 by Tyson Vick

The photos feature costumes that you can read about here and here. I built them myself 🙂

Actress Jadi Stuart models as Worldliness and filmmaker Nick Cammilleri as the Christian. Nick is currently raising money to make a documentary called “The Dale” about a transgender woman in the 70s who may have been trying to change the world or take advantage of it, depending on who you ask. Check it out here.

I’m going to be giving you a preview of photos from every chapter of Mozart Reimagined over the next month, and then it will be time for pre-orders. Subscribe to the blog for every update, or check back on September 14th for the launch of the book.

Go Behind the Scenes with the Costume Sketches and Concept Art of Tyson Vick’s Photographic Mozart Illustrations

Whenever I take photos with big concepts, I start with concept art and costume sketches. Usually these aren’t so detailed that someone else can interpret them, but they are detailed enough for me to remember what I feel the need to include in an image. There are three types of art I can potentially do in order to help conceive my vision.

1. Costume Sketches

2. Concept Art

3. Thumbnails 

I use these three types of art to help me develop my ideas into costumes, find models and locations and compose images.

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First up is a set of thumbnails I drew up for my illustrations of Ascanio in Alba. Interestingly, while I did photograph these things, I did not use any of these ideas in my final photograph.

Ascanio in Alba concept thumbnails

Next is a sketch for Fiordiligi’s costume from the opera “Cosi Fan Tutte”. This character dresses up in her boyfriends military uniform.

Fiordiligi costume art for Cosi Fan Tutte

Der Stein der Weisen was a fun opera to bring to life through illustration. Set in a fantastical Asian world, there was a lot to play with.

Der stein der Weisen concept sketch for Genie

My genie is based off of Buddha and the maidens vying for his bird’s attention were drawn from Chinese inspiration.

Der Stein der Weisen costume concept for maiden

The thumbnail below is followed by the image I produced.

Der Stein der Weisen concept sketch

Compare the thumbnail above to the finished image below to see how closely my concepts are followed.

Der Stein der Weisen Act 1. Photo by Tyson Vick. Hair & Make-up by Lizzie Hatfield. Models: Sierra Rae, Meilyn Saychow, Kolya Cain

Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots didn’t have such a big concept process, I only needed the thumbnail to get an idea of what I wanted to get out of the final picture.

Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots thumbnail sketch

You can compare the thumbnail above to the finished image below.

Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots, Act 1 by Tyson Vick

Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail was costumed out of clothes found in my friend and fellow costumer Camille’s closest. I thought about all the pieces she had available, and then combined them on paper as seen below.

A costume sketch based on Camille’s costumes and set in the yellow void.

Below you can see some of these costumes in the finished image.

Mozart Project. Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail. Photo by Tyson Vick.

The Magic Flute is an opera I have extensively illustrated. When I first heard it, I was inspired to fill an entire sketchbook.

An early drawing of mine, illustrating the Act 1 Aria “O zittre Nicht”

But when I decided to use photography to bring these ideas to life, I did not know anything about costuming. So, I started petty small. I would probably go bigger today, especially with the Queen of the Night.

Papageno concept art

My costume ideas of Tamino and the Queen of the Night were based on what I could realistically make at the time.

Act 1 Costume Sketches for Tamino and The Queen of the Night

Tamino’s outfit is influenced heavily by Japanese history and video game costumes.

Tamino Costume Sketch for my Magic Flute photos

Below you can see the outfit created from the above design.

Papageno was always meant to be a sort of bird version of a faun in my final image. I based his tattoos and look of of the Egyptian art of the Ba Spirit. A half-bird/half person creature represent a person’s soul.

Papageno costume sketch for my Magic Flute photos.

Papageno was brought to life by Jon Sollee in the image below.

Die Zauberflote, Act 2 by Tyson Vick

My Don Giovanni costume sketches were fairly blank, mostly focusing on shape.

Donna Elvira costume sketch for my Don Giovanni photos

In the end, Don Giovanni got a much more complicated white doublet, but the same cut still applies.

Don Giovanni costume sketch

My thumbnails for Don Giovanni, below.

Don Giovanni concept art

A set of Il Sogno di Scipione thumbnails.

Il Sogno di Scipone concept art

Don Pippo of L’oca del Cairo and Lucio Silla, of Lucio Silla, costume sketches.

Don Pippo costume sketch for L’Oca del Cairo and Lucio Silla costume sketch.

Compare the Lucio Silla Sketch to the final image.

La Finta Semplice was originally meant to feature five or so models, but they kept dropping out. Below was my last minute attempt to create some costumes that could be pulled from what I already owned.

La Finta Semplice costume sketches

The Marriage of Figaro photos were inspired by the image below, something I created after first hearing the opera a decade ago.

The Marriage of Figaro concept art

The Marriage of Figaro photos involved so many models and stylists, that I needed a thorough map of thumbnails to keep them straight.

The Marriage of Figaro Concept art

I used the page below to keep track of which photos I had taken on the day.

The Marriage of Figaro thumbnail art

Compare the middle sketch above to the final image below.

For Mitridate, I based Aspasia’s outfit’s off of Historically accurate garb.

Aspasia costume sketch for my Mitridate photos

Farnace was also based off of History, but with a fantastical tattoo addition.

Farnace costume sketch for Mitridate

Compare the costume sketch above to the final costume below. I regret selling that cool pirate belt holding his cape up.

This is the photo that I will be showing you how I made! Mitridate, Act III, by Tyson Vick.

Finally, I end with the costume sketches for Zaide, another set of costumes pulled from my friend Camille’s closet.

Zaide costume sketches

I hope you enjoyed viewing all this concept artwork! I have much, much more, but none of it is scanned.

If you like following the creation of my illustrations of Mozart’s operas through photography, please feel free to subscribe to the blog! All you have to do is type your email into the box and the blog will be sent directly to your inbox from here on out! You don’t need to provide any information beyond your email!

Thanks for reading!

The Christian from Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots

That crazy German title, “Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots” means “The Obligation to the First and Foremost Commandment”.

This opera, Mozart’s first, is an allegorical play about Christianity where Worldliness (similar to a disguised Satan) comes and tries to lure a sleeping Christian away to earthly pleasures.

My photo illustrates this allegory. The Knight has cast his armor aside, and fallen asleep, while Worldliness disguised as a beautiful woman comes to seduce him.

Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots, Act 1 by Tyson Vick

I wanted a super-cool Knight costume for my sleeping Christian, and because I was in my early stages of learning to sew, I wanted to re-create something I loved, the costume Prince Caspian wears in the film “Prince Caspian”.

Prince Caspian from The Chronicles of Narnia in a costume by Isis Mussenden.

Isis Mussenden, the costume designer for “The Chronicles of Narnia” blew me away with her handsome outfit from the end of “Prince Caspian”. I wanted to try to recreate it, and like most early costumers, I didn’t know where to look for the correct fabrics. So, I used my favorite, silk, the completely wrong weight.

Jake models the outfit I made for my sleeping Chrisitan.

To bolster the weight, the silk is fused to a heavy interfacing. I altered another pattern, this time really heavily. This was one of the early projects that started to teach me how patterns are made.

Another front view.

I like how the outfit turned out, even though if I were making it today, I probably wouldn’t copy Isis so thoroughly.

The Back.

In my images of the costume that I used on Etsy, Jake models wearing a different shirt than the one I used in the photo. The shirt I used in the photo was made from the best fabric I have ever found. I love the colors, the pattern, and I used every inch to make this shirt. It is one of my favorites!

Gold damask shirt.

Remember to subscribe to the blog to see all of the upcoming costume posts!

Worldliness from Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots

When you look at the title of this post without a background in German, the title of the play just looks like a jumble of letters. I assure you, however, that it means something in English, the equal jumble of letters, “The Obligation to the First and Foremost Commandment”. This opera, Mozart’s first, is an allegorical play about Christianity where Worldliness (similar to a disguised Satan) comes and tries to lure a sleeping Christian away to earthly pleasures.

My photo illustrates this allegory. The Knight has cast his armor aside, and fallen asleep, while Satan disguised as a beautiful woman comes to seduce him.

Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots, Act 1 by Tyson Vick

These costumes were some of my earliest costuming work. At this point I was learning how to sew using patterns, and this was the first pattern I needed to alter. This gown comes from Simplicity 3782.

Simplicity 3782

I needed the lower cut bodice to close in the front, and so began my long career of pattern altering.

Elizabeth models this gown for Etsy.

This gown also caused a bit of a problem, when after it was complete, I realized it could never — ever — be laundered. It was made out of a Brocade with a Rayon blend and Satin. The rayon would shrink by entire inches when wet, the satin would stain and the boning that I used could not withstand the dry-cleaning. I am now much more careful. I pre-shrink everything — who cares what it is? All of my wool is very tiny now, lol. Or I make sure it can be dry cleaned.

The gown has a full skirt.

However, the color choice is still very pretty. I sold this gown on Etsy when I first set up shop! And yes, I told her about the laundering trouble!

The bodice was altered to close in the front.

You will also see that I altered the pattern to have more sleeve slashes. I wish now I would have put these on the top of the arm, because you cannot see this detail in the final image very well.

The sleeves pour out of cuts in the back.

I also made a corset for this gown!

Elizabeth laughs in the matching corset.

The corset was pre-shrunk, thank goodness, and so it won’t warp when you spill water all over yourself. It was made out of scraps which were cut and sewn back together, a bit like a quilt!

The corset is made of strips of yellow and brocade fabric.

This was the first thing I ever listed on Etsy, and it still lingers there, unsold. 😦 It was even down to $30 once, when I was trying new things and seeing if low prices would move the items. It did not, and so I put it back up, but not, perhaps so high as it should be…. go buy it.

The corset is in the medieval style. and comes from Simplicty Pattern 2621

 

Remember to subscribe to the blog to see all of the costume posts! There is a new one every week, and this will last a while!