American Operas, Sifted and Sampled
By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER
Published:
Since 1999 New
York City Opera’s lively Vox series has
offered concert performances of excerpts from new operas by American composers,
like fashion designers previewing a new collection on the runway.
Of the 82 works presented at previous Vox
concerts, 33 have received full stagings, including
Robert Aldridge’s “Elmer Gantry,” Mark Adamo’s “Lysistrata” and Richard
Danielpour’s
“Margaret Garner” (at City Opera last fall). At the
The Sunday lineup, ably conducted by Gerald Steichen, David Wroe, George
Manahan and Zachary Schwartzman, opened with “Charlie Crosses the Nation,” a
“jazz opera” by Scott Davenport Richards, who also wrote the lively libretto.
The evocative work, a Kurt Weill-like synthesis of jazz, blues and operatic
elements, tells the story of Charlie, a mixed-race driver with a desegregated
big band in the segregated United States Army during World War II. The excerpt
concluded with a soulful gospel number.
“Soldier Songs” — a theatrical cantata for solo baritone
composed by David T. Little, who grew up listening to heavy metal, classical
music and musical theater — also had a military theme, with driven, slashing
figures juxtaposed with moments of melodic calm. The work, based on interviews
with soldiers, opens with audio interviews with
Female historical figures were also explored on Sunday
with Alice Shield’s “Criseyde,” a feminist interpretation of Chaucer’s “Troilus
and Criseyde.” Nancy Dean’s libretto offers a rare chance to hear Middle
English sung, punctuated by critical lines spoken in modern English. The
melodic development and ornamentation of the intense, richly scored work
reflect Ms. Shield’s lengthy study of classical Indian raga. The mostly strong
lineup of singers throughout the afternoon here included the bass Eric Jordan
as Pandar.
“Jeanne,” Justine F. Chen’s lyrical, atmospheric
adaptation of Joan of Arc, was inspired by a painting by Jules Bastien-Lepage and Ms. Chen’s study of witness testimony at
the trials. The opera alternates between scenes focusing on Joan alone in her
prison with interludes from witnesses, opening with a striking a cappella aria
for Joan followed by a peasant woman’s monologue. Throughout, Ms. Chen balances
despair and humor.
Robert Manno’s “Dylan and
Caitlin” draws on the turbulent romance between the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and
his wife, with Gwynne Edwards’s libretto based on letters and eyewitness
accounts. The lyrical score was somewhat bland given the turbulence of the
relationship it evoked, although the soprano Emily Pulley aptly conveyed the
turmoil of Caitlin’s life.