Review: An ALT-ernative View of Opera for the 21st Century

Opera for the 21st century is more than regietheater--where the director is king and existing music and libretti are merely fodder for sometimes half-baked ideas, like setting RUSALKA in a whorehouse, populating RIGOLETTO with a cast of apes or sending MARIA STUARDA to a maximum security prison.

It must start with a different vocabulary for the words and music--one that still appeals to traditional audiences while also being true to new listeners. Achieving that goal is not easy. Or, as American LyricTheater (ALT) puts it, "Great Operas Don't Just Happen." Founded by Lawrence Edelson in 2005, ALT is one of the organizations currently nurturing composers and librettists "to build a new body of operatic repertoire for new audiences."

On Sunday February 7, New Yorkers had a glimpse into what's going on in ALT's world at the National Sawdust venue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with a program by alumni of its core initiative, the Composer Librettist Development Program. There was a broad range of approaches to contemporary storytelling through opera and the afternoon was full of surprises for audiences that might be afraid of what "new" means when it's associated with "music."

There were excerpts from five operas, every one distinct from the others, all providing wonderful roles for singers, and each leaving me with admiration for the storytelling of the librettist and wanting to hear more of its score.

THE POE PROJECT: BURIED ALIVE by Jeff Myers & Quincy Long and EMBEDDED by Patrick Soluri & Deborah Brevoort

The performance started off with a double-bill of BURIED ALIVE by Jeff Myers & Quincy Long and EMBEDDED by Patrick Soluri & Deborah Brevoort, under the collective title, THE POE PROJECT. It asks, "What might Poe write if he were alive today?" Introducing BURIED ALIVE, librettist Long described it as related to Poe's story 'The Premature Burial' in theme only. EMBEDDED, on the other hand, more closely resembles its source material, updated to the world of broadcast news and sexual politics.

These short works were commissioned by ALT and had their premiere by the Fargo-Moorhead Opera in 2014, with a new production due at the Fort Worth Opera in April. (Simultaneous with the Poe, the adventurous Texas company is also scheduled to give the world premiere of JFK--recounting the final evening that JFK spent in Fort Worth--by the team of David T. Little and Royce Vavrek, perhaps best known for DOG DAYS.)

In the first piece, bass-baritone Kyle Albertson struck the perfectly somber (pun intended), resonant note as the Gravedigger in his aria, "Lo, 'tis a somber night," bringing a chill to the air of the stark National Sawdust. A second aria, the piece's Mortuary Scene, "Cold, so cold in here" featured Michael Weyandt as the protagonist, Victor, subtly using his sweet lyric baritone and the invaluable mezzo Eve Gigliotti (as the undertaker) showing off her sense of humor along with a sonorous voice.

The other half of the bill, based on Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," showed off the full-bodied voice of soprano Caroline Worra, in the juicy role of Sylvia, with the aria "Our value lies in how we look." Bass-baritone Albertson was back, as Montresor (spoiler alert!), the villain of the piece, giving heft to his scene and duet with Worra, "I, who know so well, the nature of your soul...."

BREAKING THE WAVES by Missy Mazzoli & Royce Vavrek

The centerpiece of the program was a series of arias from Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's BREAKING THE WAVES, based on the Lars von Trier film that won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1996 as well as a slew of other awards. Commissioned by Opera Philadelphia and Beth Morrison Projects, it will have its world premiere at Opera Philadelphia in September. (An excerpt was heard at BAM's Next Wave Festival in 2013.) It tells the story of an oilman (Jan) who is paralyzed in an accident, his wife (Bess) and what happens when he urges her to have sex with another man. (While I haven't read the libretto, if it follows the film, there's no happy ending for Bess, while Jan makes a recovery.)

Composer Mazzoli's musical language gave real thrust and excitement to the three meaty excerpts presented at the concert; the highlight (for me, at least) was Bess's aria, "The Map of Jan's body," sung by the high-flying soprano Sarah Joy Miller (who made such a strong impression in City Opera's swan song, ANNA NICOLE, at BAM) sensuously portraying her predicament. Baritone Weyandt's smooth instrument did well with Jan's poignant aria, "A Lover's Grave," while the aria of Dodo, Bess's sister-in-law, "Golden Heart," was sung knowingly by the warm-voiced mezzo Gigliotti.

THE PROPERTY by Wlad Marhulets & Stephanie Fleischmann

Now for something completely different: THE PROPERTY by Wlad Marhulets and Stephanie Fleischmann, with a score that brought copious melody with a klezmer beat and a story with a mystery at its heart. In some ways, this was the most purely entertaining of the works on the program, adapted from a graphic novel by Rutu Modan.

The piece was commissioned by Lyric Unlimited at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as one of the companion pieces to Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Holocaust-themed opera, THE PASSENGER, but it has a bittersweet rather than horrific edge to its story. Mezzo Gigliotti and soprano Miller made a wonderful grandmother/granddaughter pairing, their voices easily melding in their duet, "The Hotel Krol," as well in their quartet, "The Fotoplasticon," joined by the smooth voice of baritone Weyandt and the burlier sound of bass-baritone Albertson.

DAUGHTERS OF BLOODY DUKE by Jake Runestad & David Johnston

The final work on the program was DAUGHTERS OF BLOODY DUKE, commissioned by the Washington National Opera from composer Jake Runestad and librettist David Johnston. It combined humor with blood-and-guts--a kind of spin on the classic movie musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" taken to the nth degree; this time, it's 40 daughters for 40 sons, with the women's goal of killing all the men. Screams from all over the theatre punctuated the action, adding to the delight of the audience.

The performers seemed to be having fun, too, particularly soprano Worra, who wielded her knife as knowingly as her full-voiced soprano, and mezzo Gigliotti as the ghost of grandma Craven, the Countess Eleanor. I sometimes wonder where musical theatre stops and opera starts in the current musical environment, but composer Runestad doesn't seem to have such concerns; the attractive cast, which also included lively soprano of Sarah Joy Miller and the bright-voiced tenor Glen Seven Allen, found the smart score congenial to perform.

Gloria Kim, performing at the keyboard and as music director, gave us a fine representation of what to expect from the full orchestral scores of operas. She easily adapted to the demands of the varied works (no easy task), while keenly supporting the vocal performers.

Will any of these works replace LA TRAVIATA or TOSCA in the standard repertoire? That's hardly the the point. Expanding our horizons beyond the masterworks of Verdi and Puccini--as well as developing audiences for the art form--is what it's all about.

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