Oscar (opera)
Oscar | |
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Opera by Theodore Morrison | |
Santa Fe Opera, venue of the opera's premiere | |
Librettist |
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Premiere | 27 July 2013 – Santa Fe Opera |
Oscar is an American opera in two acts, with music by composer Theodore Morrison and a libretto by Morrison and English opera director John Cox. The opera, Morrison's first, is based on the life of Oscar Wilde, focused on his trial and imprisonment in Reading Gaol. It was a co-commission and co-production between Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia (formerly the Opera Company of Philadelphia). The opera received its world premiere at Santa Fe Opera on 27 July 2013. It is scheduled for a production at Opera Philadelphia in February 2015.[1]
The genesis of the opera resulted from a 2004 meeting in London between Morrison and Cox, after the premiere of Morrison's James Joyce song cycle, Chamber Music, which he wrote for countertenor David Daniels, a former student of his. Upon learning that Morrison had never composed an opera, but wished to write one for Daniels, Cox encouraged that idea. This led to correspondence between Cox and Morrison, and an agreement to collaborate on an opera based on the subject of Oscar Wilde. Cox and Morrison had each read the biography of Wilde by Richard Ellmann, and settled on a plan for co-authorship of an opera libretto based on the writings of Oscar Wilde and his contemporaries, with Walt Whitman serving as a chorus speaking from the realm of immortality. The opera used Wilde's poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", documents, letters, conversations and remarks by Wilde's contemporaries as source material for the libretto.[2] Cox also consulted Merlin Holland, the grandson of Oscar Wilde and a scholar on Oscar Wilde.
Roles
Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 27 July 2013 (Conductor: Evan Rogister) |
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Oscar Wilde | countertenor | David Daniels |
Walt Whitman | baritone | Dwayne Croft |
Ada Leverson | soprano | Heidi Stober |
Frank Harris, A journalist and Wilde's ally and friend | tenor | William Burden |
Bosie, Wilde's great love | Non-singing role | Reed Luplau (dancer)[3] |
Mr Justice Sir Alfred Wills, Trial judge | bass | Kevin Burdette |
Henry B. Isaacson, Governor of Reading Gaol | bass | Kevin Burdette |
Detective #1 | tenor | Aaron Pegram |
Detective #2 | bass-baritone | Benjamin Severding |
Hotel Managers | baritone | Ricardo Rivera |
Leggatt, A butler | bass | Patrick Guetti |
Baliff | tenor | Yoni Rose |
Jury Foreman | baritone | Reuben Lillie |
Prison Warder #1 | tenor | Aaron Pegram |
Prison Warder #2 | bass-baritone | Benjamin Sieverding |
Chaplain | tenor | Christian Sanders |
Infirmary Patient #1 | tenor | David Blalock |
Infirmary Patient #2 | bass-baritone | Benjamin Sieverding |
Warder Thomas Martin | baritone | Ricardo Rivera |
Synopsis[4]
- Time: 1895–1897
- Place: London and Reading Gaol
Act 1
Prologue: In the regions of Immortality
Walt Whitman introduces himself. He tells of meeting Oscar Wilde in the 1880s when Oscar was lecturing across America, then describes what happens to him in the years leading up to his conviction. Wilde is present and sings of "Sorrow" concluding that "what lies before you is my past".
Scene 1: In the streets of London, 1895
The action takes place while Oscar is undergoing his second trial, but he is out on bail and looking for a hotel room. With Bosie behind them, two detectives, who have been hired by Bosie's father, the Marquess of Queensbury, arrive at a hotel's reception desk ahead of Oscar. Here they intimidate the manager not to give him a room, and, when Oscar arrives, he is turned away. This happens at two other hotels, each somewhat more shabby than the others. Alone on the street corner, Bosie comes forward, they say goodbye, and Bosie leaves, while Oscar remains alone.
Scenes 2 - 7: In the nursery at the home of the Leversons
Oscar arrives and is welcomed by Ada. She expresses her feeling that Oscar should ignore Bosie's advice, given out of fear for his father, that he should stay for the sentencing rather than flee to France. However, she tells him that his friend Frank Harris has a method of helping him escape and that Frank will arrive soon. Meanwhile, as they talk of drink, in Oscar's imagination the Dancer enters, dressed as a waiter, and Oscar recognizes him to be Bosie. They dance, until Oscar is left alone crying out "Bosie!" - and then he quickly returns to reality.
Leggatt, the servant, announces Harris' arrival. Frank and Ada talk about Oscar, and of how Walt Whitman, "the noblest of Americans", was left in poverty in old age and supported by the English, but Frank notes: "England will not save Oscar Wilde!" At that, Oscar enters, and Frank lays out his plan to spirit Oscar away on a private boat to France. Oscar is reluctant, but Ada and Frank think that they have persuaded him and tell Leggatt to send a message to the yacht owner. As they leave, Bosie appears before Oscar and dances seductively, but disappears as Oscar comes back to reality. At Ada and Frank's return, Oscar declares that he cannot flee: "All that is not for me, for I know that it is nobler and more beautiful to stay for this Cause". Sadly, Frank leaves, pledging his support.
Walt Whitman appears alone, asking "Why is it that a man runs to his own ruin?". Then, as Oscar is revealed at his desk and writing a letter to Bosie. The words of the letter are read out loud by Walt as Bosie appears, dancing as the words are spoken. Walt then leaves and Bosie remains standing as Oscar extols the virtues of his young lover: "You are the atmosphere of beauty through which I see life; you are the incarnation of all lovely things....My sweet rose!" At that moment, breaking into Oscar's fantasy, Lord Queensbury's men burst in and order Bosie to leave England. They torment Oscar who reacts with fury: "the Oscar Wilde rule is to shoot on sight!" As he attacks the detectives, his fantasy subsides and he is in despair.
Act 2
Scene 1: Inside Reading Gaol
As Walt Whitman is on stage, asking us to identify with the prisoners and their plight, Oscar is brought in - in chains. The prison governor, and the dancer (who is portraying the prison doctor, Quinton) appear, the former regaling Oscar with the rules of the institution. Oscar is then examined and made to dress in prison garb, taken to his cell, and given the crank which he is obliged to keep uselessly turning. In an another fantasy sequence, Oscar imagines that the doctor is Bosie, but when revealed, Bosie quickly vanishes.
Scene 2: The prison chapel
As the prisoners are about to sing a hymn, Oscar is sitting and is approached by the Chaplin, Midway, who insults Oscar. Trying to stand up, Oscar collapses, hitting his head, which causes him to be taken to the infirmary. At the same time, the rebellious prisoners are subdued and returned to their cells.
Scene 3: The infirmary
With Whitman advising Oscar that he must forget about the pain of the moment, Oscar lies alongside two other prisoners. One speaks to him kindly, and Oscar is touched; it is the first human conduct he has encountered in the gaol. Martin, the warder (who is described as "the only one who's human" by the first prisoner) comes in to treat the patients. Interested, he asks Oscar a few literary questions, and then the two prisoners and the warder begin to recall a musical hall number, "Burlington Bertie" well-known at the time, in which Oscar joins with the final lines. After Martin leaves, the two prisoners discuss the plight of a convict to be hanged the next day for murder.
Scene 4: In the prison
The text for this scene is taken from Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol. While Whitman and Oscar act as observers and commentators, each on either side of the stage, in highly stylized actions, the prisoners recite lines from the Ballad ("There is no sleep when men must weep") while Death (in the form of the Dancer) leads them to their lowest point of despair and then they clear the space for preparations for the execution to being. As the condemned prisoner and prison officials enter and take up their places: the Dancer becomes the executioner, the 8 o'clock bell sounds, the lever is pulled, Death appears on the beside the gallows, and Oscar is alone on stage with the final words.
Scene 5: The prison's visiting room
Frank Harris has come with good news to visit Oscar, who is brought in by the warder Martin. Frank's intervention through his newspaper has resulted in the replacement of Isaacson and Oscar being allowed to have books and writing materials as well as work in the prison garden rather than the useless cranking to which he has been subjected. Oscar vows that he has learned one thing: pity. Suddenly Isaacson enters, Oscar is taken back to his cell, and Isaacson in his fury expresses his desire to break Oscar completely. Martin then escorts Frank out of the cell.
Scene 6: The prison garden
Ada Leverson is brought into the garden to see Oscar, who is taken aback and can only kiss her hand. She expresses joy that he will be free in three days, and he says that Frank has made arrangements. However, she tells him that the Jesuits have rejected him, and Ada implies that she will take care of him. As Martin escorts Ada out, Bosie appears upstage and dances towards Oscar who reads from his 1881 poem, "Glukupikros Eros": "Sweet, I blame you not, for mine the fault was, had I not been made of common clay..." They embrace.
Epilogue: Immortality
A group of the Immortals calls out to Oscar as he and Bosie say farewell. Bosie leaves and Walt, singing words from Leaves of Grass, then joined by Oscar in further verses, leads Oscar towards the threshold of the House of Fame, welcomed by the Immortals. Walt presents "Oscar Fingel O'Flaherty Wills Wilde" to the company as they cross into the House of Fame.
Premiere and reception
The director of the premiere production was Kevin Newbury. Other members of the production team included Seán Curran (choreographer), David Korins (scenic designer), David Woolard (costume designer), and Rick Fisher (lighting designer). Merlin Holland travelled to Santa Fe for the premiere.
Reviews of the opera's premiere generally praised the singers and the orchestra.[1][5][6][7][8][9] Criticism focused on the weakness of the opera's dramaturgy and the hagiographic depiction of Oscar Wilde:
"[Walt Whitman] introduces the tale at the outset, strolls in to comment on the situations as they unroll and ushers Wilde into the realm of immortality at the end. This device is useful to the extent that it efficiently fills in some backstory, but it also gives away where the drama is going. 'Oscar himself was prosecuted by the Crown for 'gross indecency' and found guilty,' states Whitman up front — after which the act moves back a step to the runup to that event, and then the action plays out exactly as we have been told it will. This is not a unique example of how the libretto manages to eviscerate what is already only marginally dramatic."[1]"The libretto....is a high-minded affair, preaching tolerance and abhorring bigotry at every turn. Mr. Cox, in program notes, makes a case for Wilde as a tragic figure. The opera goes further, all but deifying him.....One problem with agendas is that they don’t always make for good drama. There is much to be explained and argued, and until the actual trial, late in the first act, there is much talk and exposition, whether spoken or sung (or danced), and little action."[6]
"Morrison and Cox are so busy telling us of Wilde's greatness, if not actually deifying him, that they neglect to show us why he was held in such high esteem both before his fall and in modern times."[7]
"The opera....captures him as he is convicted and brutally imprisoned for being gay in 1895. You feel great pity for Wilde. But you don't feel empathy. Wilde's character is rendered with dull perfection, deified, even, as a victim with no evident flaws of his own."[8]
"[Frank] Harris becomes a central character in the story (urging Wilde's flight to France), and a sympathetic one, but the opera ignores his brutal assessment of how success had corrupted Wilde into a dangerous arrogance and complacency: 'He had changed greatly and for the worse; he was growing coarser and harder every year. All his friends noticed this.' The result is a passive, amiable, mildly likable vision of one of the most tart, acerbic, brilliant, and intellectually preposterous men of his age; and even Wilde's likability is known not through what he says or does on stage, but by frequent assurances by secondary characters that he is a great and good man. He has no tragic flaw. In the end, he is simply a victim of intolerance. This is the source of the opera's excruciating sentimentality, the reduction of Wilde's tragedy to a fable of bigotry and victimization (with, of course, that happy Parnassian ending)."[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 James M Keller (2013-07-29). "Opera review: Oscar unveiled at Santa Fe Opera". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
- ↑ Adam Hetrick (2011-08-11). "Santa Fe Opera Plans Work Based on Oscar Wilde". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
- ↑ Nominee, "Best Male Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work" for Sid's Waltzing Masquerade, Helpmann Awards, 2009
- ↑ Synopsis based on that included in "Act 1 Workshop Presentation, August 17, 2011" and "Act 2 Workshop Presentation, July 27, 2012" given privately at The Santa Fe Opera. Score published by G. Schirmer, Inc., 2012
- ↑ John Stege (2013-07-30). "Oscar’s Fatal Attraction". Santa Fe Reporter. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 James R Oestreich (2013-08-01). "When a Poet’s Life and the Law Are at Odds". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 John von Rhein (2013-08-13). "Santa Fe Opera's ultra-safe 'Oscar' deifies Wilde more than it defines him". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ray Mark Rinaldi (2013-08-11). "At the Santa Fe Opera, highs, lows and in between". Denver Post. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
- ↑ George Loomis (2013-08-04). "Oscar, Santa Fe Opera, New Mexico – review". Financial Times. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
- ↑ Philip Kennicott (2013-10-31). "Gay Life at the Opera: Between homoeroticism and kitsch". The New Republic. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
Cited sources
- Mays, Desirée, Opera Unveiled: 2013. Santa Fe, NM: The Santa Fe Opera, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4675-5718-4
External links
- Composer Theodore Morrison's website
- Stage director Kevin Newbury's website
- "Opera's Next Wave: Conductor Evan Rogister", Opera News, Vol. 77, #3, August 2012
- Official Santa Fe Opera video of Morrison discussing the genesis of the opera
- Official Santa Fe Opera video of Newbury discussing his approach to the opera