Benjamin Virc

Enhancing Performativity Through Multimodal Connectivity: A New Slovenian Vocal Translation of the Fairy-Tale Opera The Jungle Book

The paper presents a case study focusing on the 2023 Slovenian vocal translation of the interactive fairy-tale opera The Jungle Book (Il libro della giungla) by Italian composer Giovanni Sollima and director and librettist Pier Francesco Maestrini. Inspired by Schenkerian analysis, the author employs a unique translation methodology to re-evaluate and deconstruct the multimodal nature of the text and its performance, incorporating interactive moments between singers and an animated film projected on the stage screen. The translator's strategy prioritizes the performative potency of various media and semiotic codes, while also striving to preserve the original vowel sequence using the Vokalurlinie method. Furthermore, the translation strategy considers the linear, i.e. temporal, aspect of the musical flow and the interaction between the sung text and visual elements on stage, applying the gestalt principle of good continuation. To ensure comprehension by the target audience, including pre-school children, the translator analyses formant ranges at critical performance points such as sudden melodic leaps, coloratura, and rhythmic turns. This analysis aids in rendering the translated text more effectively by the singers. The anticipated outcome is an enhanced musical theatre experience, encompassing multimodal performativity and improved auditory comprehension.

Keywords: The Jungle Book (Il libro della giungla), vocal translation, fairy-tale opera, multimodal connectivity, Schenkerian analysis, Vokalurlinie method, gestalt principle, formant ranges, musical theatre

References:

Recording of the opera in Italian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0HYja_tCuM&t=472s (produced by Teatro Regio di Parma, 2022).

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Marais, Kobus (2020). Translating Time: Modelling The (Re)Processing of Emerging Meaning. In: Punctum – International Journal of Semiotics, Vol. 6 No. 1. Thessaloniki: Hellenic Semiotic Society, 109–131. DOI: 10.18680/hss.2020.0006.

Schenker, Heinrich (1935). Der freie Satz. Wien: Universal-Edition A. G.

Schenker, Heinrich (2004). William Drabkin (Ed.) Der Tonwille: Pamphlets in Witness of the Immutable Laws of Music. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Şerban, Adriana, Yue Chan and Kelly Kar (Eds.) (2020). Opera in Translation: Unity and Diversity.  Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Virc, Benjamin (2021). In Search of Innovative Approaches in Interdisciplinary Libretto Research within the Field of Music Theatre. In: De musica disserenda, Vol. 17 No. 2. Ljubljana: Institute of Musicology ZRC SAZU. ZRC Publishing, 7–28. DOI: 10.3986/dmd17.2.01. 

Virc, Benjamin (2021). Intersemiosis of Libretto and Music: A New Take on Analysing Multimodal Mechanisms in Musical Theatre Works. Musicological Annual, Vol. 57 No. 1. 85–108. Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana Press. DOI: 10.4312/mz.57.1.85-108.

Bio:

Benjamin Virc is a doctoral candidate in musicology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. He is currently working on his dissertation, Entanglement of Literature and Music within the Context of Translating Works for Musical Theatre. His main research interest is the phenomenon of intersemiosis in multimodal artistic works. As a musical theatre professional, he has translated libretti from German, Italian and French into Slovenian. He has also created Slovenian sung translations and adaptations of César Cui's Puss in Boots and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Most notably, he also produced the first Slovenian literary translation of Richard Wagner's music drama Das Rheingold.