WORKS IN PROGRESS (11/1/2010)

One of the delights of the New York music scene is that performances and compositions at all levels and stages of "readiness" are available for the public to experience.  On November 1 at Symphony Space on Broadway, the American Lyric Theater presented three one-act operas in various stages of completeness for readings before an audience. Appropriate for the Halloween season, all three works were inspired by the gothic, macabre style of Edgar Allen Poe.

Ostensibly, all three operas were to use exactly the same vocal and instrumental resources so that they could be performed as a triptych. A piano was used instead of an orchestra for this "lab" performance so it is impossible to comment on the scoring, however, only the first and third operas made extensive use of all the voices.

The first opera, Buried Alive, is the closest in style and theme to Poe in terms of the libretto of the three.  A man has hallucinations about being dead and crying out for his wife to save him.  At the end, he is buried alive as an alternative to life in a mental institution.  A strong gothic feel permeates the work, which is largely sung in declamatory fashion. The accompaniment frequently alludes to bells tolling.  Ensemble writing for the two leads is extremely effective and the movement from recitative to arioso is quite natural.  The connection between the libretto and the music is always strong and and vocal lines makes sufficient use of repetition for the audience to follow the unfolding of the plot easily. The ending could have been a little stronger.  The composer of the score is Jeff Myers, who studied with William Bolcom and the librettist is Quincy Long.  This opera has much potential.

I found the second opera, Of the Flesh, less successful although a person beside me shouted "Bravo" at the end.  I noticed he was not present for the final opera so perhaps he knows either the composer or librettist of the second opera. In my opinion, of the three operas presented, it seemed the most unfinished. The story of the opera deals with two male lovers, one of whom contracts AIDS.  It is set at the very beginning of the AIDS epidemic.  The libretto was far too graphic for me and was basically an extended short story rather than a true libretto.  The music couldn't settle on a style and moved from modernist dissonant writing (somewhat expressionistic) to musical theatre. The accompaniment had many empty filler passages and all in all I rarely found a connection between the music and the libretto. The work is basically scored for three men.  The three women had little to do.  The composer Anthony Gach and the librettist Royce Vavrek, in my opinion, have much work to do to strengthen this opera.

After two dark operas, comedy was needed and the third opera of the evening, Embedded, fit the the bill well.  First of all, the libretto writing is superb.  Not only is it succinct but it is filled with both obvious and more subtle word play. The rapport between music and libretto is always strong. Set in the early 21st century, the opera plays on the superficial world of television reporting.  The story being  in New York City, I was not sure if the work was supposed to reference a particular situation but it essentially involves an aging female news anchor who finds herself about to be replaced by a young, fresh face.  However, the anchor gets a chance to bring live breaking news to the audience but it is as she is trapped in the Holland Tunnel, which has been blown up by terrorists. Of the many tragi-comic scenes in this opera, the duet between the anchor and her GPS as she drives toward the tunnel takes the cake!   The writing suited all of the voices involved well and the aria writing is quite effective. Composer Patrick Soluri and librettist Deborah Brevoort deserve a special applause. Only the very end could use some tweaking.

It is great that all involved in these projects get such great experience.  I wish ALT continued success.

(This performance took place at Symphony Space on November 1, 2010)