Friday January 6, 2006 SGN.org |
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Volume 34 Issue 01 |
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Monday, Mar 22, 2010
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Bits & Bytes |
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| Metropolitan Opera's world premiere of An American Tragedy highlights New York theater, opera, music visit | |
| by Milton W. Hamlin
- SGN A&E Writer
New York is undoubtedly the cultural center of the United States. Seattle arts fans will find a New York visit at any time of the year to be especially fulfilling. Bits&Bytes recently made his annual arts pilgrimage to The City That Never Sleeps for a week of cultural exhaustion. The League of American Theatres reported earlier this week that the year 2005 broke all box office records for attendance at Broadway plays and musicals-and last week shattered all sales records for 28 productions. Bits&Bytes loved every minute of his seven-night visit to The Big Apple. This scribe squeezed in 15 performances-plays, musicals, cabarets, opera and symphony-and will report on each in upcoming issues of SGN. This week looks at the world premiere of An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera and a mid-morning open dress rehearsal at the New York Philharmonic. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY DEBUTS AT MET OPERA The world premiere of a new operatic version of An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera was undoubtedly one of the highlights-personal and cultural-of a winter visit to New York City for Bits&Bytes. Tobias Picker, an up-and-coming opera composer, was commissioned by The Met for the adaptation with a libretto by Gene Scheer based on the classic novel by Theodore Dreiser. (Dreiser's novel is best known to many from an early 1950's Hollywood adaptation, the Academy Award-winning A Place In The Sun with Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters in the leading roles.) Expectations were high for the premiere of An American Tragedy, one of the few Metropolitan Opera commissions in recent decades. On a personal note, this scribe was super excited-it was the first time the Met had seated this reviewer on the opening night of a world premiere. It certainly was a first for Bits&Bytes and SGN. An American Tragedy turned out to be a solid new work in an incredibly successful and satisfying production. Emerald City opera fans had a chance to hear a performance on a Dec. 24 Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast, and many local opera fans were clearly happy with the music and the score. A three-level physical production and an outstanding series of performances elevated the new work to a tremendous high. No future productions are planned at this time-a hazard and the fate of many new operas-but the Met is sure to revive Tragedy in an upcoming season. European productions are undoubtedly in the planning stage. State supported productions throughout Europe find opera companies much more willing to take a box office chance on a new work than many groups in the United States. The Met production exceeded box office expectations-few sell outs but lots of single ticket sales, the real test for a new work which depends heavily on word-of-mouth and positive reviews. Picker's score was typical of modern opera-somewhat tuneful, often dissonant for no apparent reason. Scheer's libretto (book and lyrics), closely adapted from Dreiser, worked beautifully. The story, based on a tragically true story, concerns Clyde Griffiths, a poor young man raised in an ultra religious household. His chance encounter with a wealthy uncle gives Clyde a chance to escape his repressive past and his low socioeconomic status, to find (using the Hollywood title) his "place in the sun." Dreiser's best selling novel adapted and reset the true story in his own time-1925. The actual murder trail was at the end of the Victorian era. The classic 1951 Hollywood film retold the same story in its own 1950's setting. Scheer and Picker, wisely, returned the tale to the early 1900's, the time of the real events. This gave the composer a chance to use powerful Victorian-style church hymns. It also gave the production a "classic" look of Victorian costumes and finery and wicker porch furniture. Earlier stage and film adaptations-produced shortly after the novel was published-used Dreiser's 1925 setting, but flapper dresses and raccoon coats would be unlikely choices for 2005 audiences. Nathan Gunn, fondly remembered by Emerald City audiences from his work in Seattle Opera's Florencia en el Amazonas, was stunning as Clyde. His vivid portrayal as the socially ambitious Clyde was compelling and thoroughly believable. When he sang, "My future is a bright as polished chrome," he involved every member of the audience with his hopes for a better-and richer-life. The torment of his ultra-religious past was also evident. Torn between his strong Christian morals and easy temptation, he agonizes, "The music they play makes you forget what the preacher's say." His missionary mother notes, "I live in Christ-you live in commerce." Another character comments that Clyde is "a dangerous, wonderful flatterer." Gunn combines all of these qualities-and is one of the few opera stars who looks great with his shirt off, a physical quality that made his love/seduction/swimming scenes even stronger than they were in the music. Patrice Racette was memorable as the plain factory worker he courts and impregnates. In the Shelley Winters' film role, Racette was painfully hungry for Clyde's attention. A radiant young soprano, Racette was mesmerizing in every scene. Susan Graham, as the wealthy young socialite who attracts Clyde and promises him a chance at his place in the sun, was vocally outstanding. Graham, however, seemed more matronly than vibrant in the role that the young Elizabeth Taylor immortalized in the 1951 film. Graham's limited physical appeal threw the production slightly off balance-when the poor-but-honest Roberta is far more attractive than the rich-but-innocent Sondra, Clyde's attraction to the wealthy young woman seems more callous than Dreiser intended. Dolora Zajick was outstanding as Clyde's suffering mother-her rousing church hymns and the production's trial scene were among the evening's most memorable musical moments. The world premiere, solidly staged by Francesca Zambello, well known to Seattle Opera fans from her directorial work here, used an unforgettable set designed by Adrianne Lobel. The three-tier set actually allowed the audience to see Clyde and Roberta in the fateful canoe and then follow Roberta as the canoe tipped over and she plunged down to drown on a lower level. One friend had predicted that the drowning would be done off-stage-well, not at the Met. James Conlon-who has conducted more than 225 performances of 19 operas at the Met since his debut there in 1976-led the Met orchestra in an accomplished performance for the premiere. The Metropolitan Opera's 2005-06 season continues through the spring with multiple productions each week. Complete schedule details and ticket reservations are available at (212) 362-6000. NY PHILHARMONIC OFFERS MORNING DRESS REHEARSALS One of the best kept secrets in New York is the frequent number of morning open dress rehearsals by the New York Philharmonic. The mid-morning working rehearsals can vary from virtually non-stop performances to endless stop-and-start performances. Even after a nuts-and-bolts deconstruction, the symphony always plays the full work without interruption as the end of the program. For classical music lovers visiting New York, the periodic 10 a.m. Thursday rehearsal/concerts are a terrific way to squeeze in "one more" performance at a time that no other live entertainment is available. For serious music fans, the working rehearsals are an incredible educational opportunity to see how a symphony orchestra really works. Bits&Bytes attended a rehearsal/performance of the Philharmonic's December programming of Henri Dutilleux's rarely performed L'Arbre Des Songes (Tree Of Dreams), a 1979 composition by the modern French composer who is approaching his 90th birthday. The 25-minute tone poem, written and revised between 1979-85, was first performed in 1985 by Isaac Stern, the world famous violinist.. Minor alternations continued in 1998. The work is dedicated to Stern. Inspired by Van Gogh's 1890's painting, Road With Cypress and Star, which "fascinated and haunted" the composer, The Tree Of Dreams was well worth hearing. Ivan Fischer, conductor, took the work apart phrase by phrase-far more tearing apart than this reviewer has encountered at similar programs in New York and San Francisco. The attentive audience (despite some early departures) was rewarded with a lush performance of the complete work at the end of the first hour. Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances, clocking in at just seven minutes with no pauses between the seven short "dances," took another hour to rehearse. For many, including this scribe, it was a fascinating look at the workings of a symphonic program. As always, the faithful audience was rewarded with a spirited performance of the short work as a zesty finale to the morning. The working dress rehearsal did not include Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, the third-and major-work on the two evening programs. The world famous work would have been a welcome addition to the morning schedule, but the two-and-a-half hour rehearsal was a fascinating and wonderful bonus for this visiting music fan. Complete information on the New York Philharmonic's winter and spring performance calendar is available at (212) 875-5656. Be sure to ask specifically about the open dress rehearsals-they are often not singled out on the music calendar unless you know where to look. ON A LOCAL NOTE: SEATTLE SYMPHONY FILLS CALENDAR As usual, the Seattle Symphony has a dozen concerts planned for January's musical calendar. A tuba concerto and a Tchaikovsky symphony are double billed for Saturday's final Masterpiece Concert this week. A Mozart tribute highlights mid-month programming. Check with SSO's hard working (and wonderfully cooperative) box office staff at 215-4747 for programming and ticket details. Ask for a free brochure that details the Symphony's winter and spring offerings. And, yes, tell 'em Bits&Bytes sent ya. SEATTLE OPERA STAGES THE BAT / DIE FLEDERMAUS Nine January performances of Die Fledermaus (The Bat) by Johann Strauss, Jr. highlights the month's calendar for Emerald City opera fans. The Seattle Opera production features Jane Eaglen in her role debut as Rosalinde-a performance that could draw national attention to the Seattle Opera production. Eaglen, a full bodied, full voiced soprano, is an unlikely casting choice for the role-she will either triumph and send her career in a new, wider direction or&. Well, Bits&Bytes always hopes for the best. Die Fledermaus, one of the most popular operettas ever written, has Seattle "box office hit" written all over it. It opens next Saturday, Jan. 14, and continues through the month Ticket details at 389-7676. |
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