Showcased at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Lennon is an opera by recent Croatian president Ivo Josipović, an award-winning composer who was also head of the country for five years until 2015.
With the recent release of Beatles single Now and Then, in which all four members are present, and a docuseries on Lennon now screening on AppleTV+, the profile of the world’s most popular group has never been higher since their 1960s’ heyday. As revealed in this exclusive interview with its celebrity creator, however, the idea for an opera dates back long before the current revival of interest.
Similar to the film on AppleTV+, the focus of the English-language Lennon is his murder on December 8, 1980. On stage, the shooting allows the opera to then explore the many facets of his life and relationships, grounded in fact while searching for meaning.
On the anniversary itself, this Friday, at Zagreb’s National Theatre, Croatia Records will be promoting Lennon with a box set of a DVD, a Blu-Ray, 2 LPs, a CD, a book and a USB stick containing a recording of the production, and a book and a score of the opera.
After five successful performances of his work at Croatia’s most prestigious showcase for culture, Ivo Josipović talks to Time Out Croatia about why he wrote the opera, how the Beatles influenced him and where he would next like to take Lennon:
Time Out Croatia: When did you first hear the Beatles and what was it about them that you liked?
Ivo Josipović: I don't remember exactly when it was, somewhere at the beginning of my elementary school, so in the mid-Sixties. They were attractive, bringing crowds of young people together, not only at their concerts, but also at receptions and homecomings... However, I was a child and did not fully understand the phenomenon and all the social aspects of what the Beatles were about.
First of all, I liked their hairstyles and the party music they sang. Over the years, I began to better understand the content of their songs and their social context. In fact, I still find new messages in them today. I am impressed by their desire for peace and social rebellion. It doesn't seem as radical to me today as it did in the Seventies, when I began to better understand the art of the Beatles. However, their activity and social influence should be seen in their historical context.
The songs that today evoke mostly nostalgia and admiration for the Beatles, at the time they were written had a high social impact, so much so that the FBI was very intensively involved with Lennon and the Beatles. If today I were asked to characterise the Beatles and Lennon as simply as possible, I would say, ‘peace and love’.
TOC: Have you had the chance to visit any of the famous Beatles sites in England, in Liverpool or in London?
IJ: Unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure. In fact, I would love to visit the places you mention in conjunction with Lennon. It would be interesting to see how Beatles fans in their homeland would receive an opera about Lennon that does not contain a single note of the Beatles music, but speaks in the language of contemporary classical music.
In Zagreb, too, many people asked me which of Lennon's compositions would be in my opera and were surprised by my answer: None.
TOC: Where were you on December 8, 1980? Can you remember how the news was received in Croatia?
IJ: I was in Zagreb, having just graduated in Law from the University of Zagreb and completing my composition studies at the Academy of Music. For the public here, too, Lennon’s murder caused huge interest and the grief of many Beatles fans. You could hear a lot of Lennon’s music on the radio and TV. In particular, the youth press covered the murder with various kinds of comments. In short, everyone mourned Lennon deeply.
TOC: When did you decide to write your opera – and what is the idea behind it? How easy is it to write about an event that everyone already knows about?
IJ: I had been planning the idea of an opera about Lennon’s murder for a long time, more than ten years. The subject first interested me because of the character of the murderer, Mark Chapman. I must acknowledge that in the meantime, I had also become a professor of criminal law. I was intrigued by the personality of a person who worshipped Lennon, but decided to kill him in the end.
For a long while, I did not have a clear picture of the content. I imagined certain possible scenes and ‘listened’ to the sound of the singers and the orchestra accompanying them. But I didn’t write a single note for many years, primarily because I didn’t have a libretto. I talked about it with several famous Croatian writers. They all said they would gladly work on something, but not about Lennon. Everyone offered their own topic. And it was Lennon that I wanted.
Over several years, I stated publicly that I was going to write an opera about the murder of Lennon, and I was a bit embarrassed to answer frequent questions from friends and the media about its whereabouts.
And then, a small miracle happened. One day my mobile rang and a pleasant female voice said to me: “Good afternoon, I’m Marina Biti, a professor from Rijeka. I have the first draft of the libretto for your opera. Are you interested?”
“Of course!” I exclaimed, not believing that such a miracle was possible. At the first reading, I was delighted with the libretto. Here was not a mere retelling of an event that everyone already knew about. After the first scene in which Chapman shoots Lennon, the opera is actually a poetic recapitulation of Lennon’s life and his relationship with the closest people through the eyes of the dying man, in the short time between his shooting and his death. Those ten minutes or so in the opera are a fantasy spread over about 85 minutes of music.
Finally, an important point of the opera is the emphasis on Lennon’s peace initiatives and the opera, despite its tragic content, has a touch of optimism. Certain characters, such as Yoko Ono, are not presented as they are predominantly perceived by the public, but as librettist Marina Biti believed that Lennon himself perceived them.
The libretto is the result of her extremely thorough study of the vast literature and films about the Beatles, especially about Lennon. Despite the fact that the opera is a kind of fantasy, it has a firm footing in real events described with imaginative allusions to people and events from Lennon’s life.
From the first to the final version of the libretto, there were many changes and revisions to fit the text into the given duration and format of the opera. That is why, in the book about the opera that has just been published, a complete, much broader version of this beautiful libretto is available.
TOC: After Lennon’s successful performance in Zagreb, are there plans to take it elsewhere?
IJ: Moving the performance to other stages is a demanding technical and financial undertaking, as is a new set in another theatre. Little time has passed since the five successful performances at the Croatian National Theatre and the uploading of the opera on the European internet platform OperaVision. There is interest, but it is the manager’s job to find a favourable arrangement.
TOC: Do you have plans to write another piece – or do something else concerning the Beatles?
IJ: For now, I have no such plans. But, if any theatre is interested, I would be delighted. I am currently considering an offer from Baku to make an opera based on the text of the great Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. I hope we will find a common language...
TOC: How would you define the Beatles’ legacy?
IJ: Today, the Beatles are popular music history. Their legacy is, above all, beautiful music with meaningful lyrics full of warm and humane messages of peace.