Mozart Reimagined – Il Sogno di Scipione

Mozart Reimagined by Tyson Vick will feature photos illustrating “Il Sogno di Scipione”, a fast paced opera by a teenage Mozart!

Mozart Reimagined features three photos by Tyson Vick illustrating the opera Il Sogno di Scipione

Mozart Reimagined 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.

Here’s an excerpt from the book which accompanies the Il Sogno di Scipione pictures:

“The opera opens when the legendary warrior, Scipio, wakes up in the sky to find two women arguing over him. Each one wants him to choose her to follow and guide him throughout the rest of his life. Each woman is a goddess. One is Fortune, the other is Constancy. Scipio is so bewildered that he asks the women to leave him alone for a while to consider. He then takes a sort of Dante-esque adventure through the celestial spheres doing things like meeting his dead family members who advise him, and hearing distant choruses of celestial beings. The goddesses return and demand an answer. He chooses Constancy, and Fortune throws a fit. However, Constancy trumps fortune and Scipio wakes up, … again.
Suddenly the staging is swept away and an allegorical figure, Licenza, bursts forth with a chorus. She sings directly to the benefactor of the play, who is in the audience, relating that Scipio actually represents him, and the character’s divine journey represents the journey that the said benefactor is traveling.
Talk about breaking the fourth wall!”

The models include actress Jadi Stuart who also created her own hair and make-up designs for this shoot which led to me asking her to do the styling for around 10 other photos!

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. I 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! Subscribe to the blog for every update, or check back on September 14th for the launch of the book.

Mozart Reimagined – Ascanio in Alba

Mozart Reimagined by Tyson Vick will feature numerous photos illustrating Mozart’s “Ascanio in Alba”, a play that was written for the wedding of the year in 1771!

Mozart Reimagined features five photos by Tyson Vick illustrating the opera Ascanio in Alba

Mozart Reimagined 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.

Here’s an excerpt from the book which accompanies the Ascanio in Alba pictures:

“Uniquely, for Mozart, he treats the piece with an unyielding festive spirit, and does not frequently use dramatic or emotional painting for the arias. All of the music is meant to be celebratory, and any sign of pathos or seriousness is kept far at bay. There are large decorative arias, ballets during the overture, repeated and growing choruses with group and solo dances, and the original text calls for many fantastical and striking stage images to occur during the music, including Venus descending from the sky and trees turning into buildings.
Because of this joyous narrow focus in the music, Ascanio in Alba completely upstaged the actual opera composed for the event, called Ruggiero, by Hasse, a major popular composer of the day. He remarked days after the repeated performances of Mozart’s piece, “This boy will cause us all to be forgotten.”

Ascanio in Alba, Act 2 by Tyson Vick

The awesome Model/Actor/Fitness Coach Justen Phelps portrays Ascanio in the photos. Five years ago when I worked with Justen he hadn’t started fitness training, but now he’s practically the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger! He is active and friendly on social media and if you like fitness you should check out his instagram @Phelps_fitness. You can also check out some of the sexy modeling work he did with me, but be forewarned, the photos may verge on NSFW.

You can also check out some behind-the-scenes work on the costumes worn in the photo here and 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. I 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! Subscribe to the blog for every update, or check back on September 14th for the launch of the book.

Idomeneo – Ilia’s Gown

In the opera Idomeneo, a captive Princess falls in love with the enemy Prince. It’s all very romantic. She is very calm, and loving, and full of tranquil beautiful music. Her name is Ilia.

 

Ilia

When designing her gown, I wanted it to reflect the concept of tranquil waters. It is made from shot silk which is silk with a different colored warp and weft. The silk is also transparent, and underneath I put a layer of gold netting. In real life, when the gown moves, it looks like you are looking into tranquil waters.

Ila’s sea inspired gown for my Idomeneo Photos.

The straps are made of crystal beads, and the high set waist is lined with real pearls.

Bodice detail.

The dress buttons up the sides, and each button has a blue gem in the center.

The dress buttons up the side.

The bottoms of the skirts are beaded and trimmed. I feel this evokes sea-foam and detritus that washes up on shore.

The layers of netting and silk create a shimmer effect like looking at still waters.

If you’d like to read about the model who wore this costume, Chantell, and her lover for sharp objects, read this post!

Chantell gets all stabby, while Bowen observes the Lake in the traditional Lewis & Clark manner.

In the photo below, you can see the button-up side detail.

Chantell as Ilia, holding my camera. On the right I stand with the male model, Bowen.

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