| . | 12/17/2002
The Seagull: Pasatieri/ Elmslie's 1974 opera
By: Bruce-Michael Gelbert
In mid-December, the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater offered the New York premiere production of Thomas Pasatieri and Kenward Elmslie's 1974 opera "The Seagull," based on the 1896 play of the same name by Anton Chekov. New York-born Pasatieri was one of the most prolific of young American operatic composers in the 1960s and '70s, before he moved to California to focus on orchestrating scores for such films as "American Beauty," "Shawshank Redemption," and "Fried Green Tomatoes." Poet Elmslie provided librettos for other Pasatieri works, as well as for Jack Beeson's "Lizzie Borden" and Ned Rorem's "Miss Julie," after Strindberg.
Frustrated love and aspiration, as well as acting, writing and aging, are themes of "The Seagull." Central to the action are three encounters between Constantine Treplieff, a writer, and Nina Zarietchnaya, the young actress he loves, on the Russian country estate owned by Constantine's uncle and dominated by the writer's mother, Mme Irina Arkadina, a great star. In Pasatieri's conservative but appealing idiom, solo and duo slip seamlessly into each other. In the first of their scenes together, high baritone Raymond Ayers, as Constantine, and soprano Amy Shoremount, as Nina, displayed well-placed voices in the melismatic, Monteverdian music of Constantine's earnestly experimental play-within-the-play. In their next lyrical and emotional duet, Constantine, who has shot a seagull, laid it at Nina's feet and threatened to shoot himself as well. In the last, both expressed disillusionment and world-weariness, her with her "sordid" acting career, which keeps her as wandering as a seagull, and he with his sterile avant garde writing and hopeless love, as she revealed her devotion to his rival, with whom she had a child who died.
Soprano Amy Gough cut a convincingly larger-than-life figure as the vain and frivolous Arkadina, who disrupted her son's play, took the stage herself to reminisce dulcetly about past love affairs, and led the other women, Nina and Masha, in a lilting trio about adopting a carefree attitude toward aging. Gough and Ayers had an intense scene, following Constantine's first, unsuccessful suicide attempt, which began and ended tenderly, but degenerated into an argument in the middle, as they slung cutting words at each other. Gough's Arkadina prattled on about her past triumph on the stage, as Jocasta in "Oedipus Rex," even as her son succeeded in taking his life offstage. Matthew Worth, a baritone with a darker but no less polished timbre than Ayers', portrayed Boris Trigorin, Constantine's rival for the affections of both Arkadina and Nina. Trigorin is also the more established writer, though he mocked his lack of critical acclaim, repeating, "Charmingly written, quite entertaining, but it doesn't stand up to 'War and Peace.'"
Soprano Keri Behan, as Masha, sang sadly of her own unrequited love--for Constantine, who spurns her-in a demanding, high-lying aria. Tenors Isai Jess Muñoz and Alvaro Vallejo, bass-baritones Maxime Alvarez de Toledo and Thomas Pertel, and mezzo-soprano Sarah Kraus gave strong support in other roles.
Guiding the efforts of these impressive young singers, and players of the Manhattan School of Music Opera Orchestra, with an expert hand was conductor David Gilbert. Direction, straightforward and lacking in fussiness, was by Mark Harrison. Set designer Dipu Gupta created a substantial-appearing production using only backdrops and panels of trees and few pieces of furniture. Period costumes were by Deborah Trout.
In observance of the bicentennial of the birth of composer Hector Berlioz, the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater will present his opera "Béatrice et Bénédict" on April 23 and 25, 2003,at 8 pm, and 27, at 2:30 pm.
December 11-15
& "Béatrice et Bénédict" April 23-27, 2003
Manhattan School of Music
Broadway & 122nd Street
Tickets $15 & $20 212/749-2802 x 4428
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