I went to see a matinee of the opera, Heart of a Soldier, that made its world premiere last Saturday here at the War Memorial Opera House. Feel free to google all the other reviews about this opera. The NYT panned it, as did a local SF rag. The Chron gave it a decent write up. NPR also gave its review.
Here's my quick review: not a single dry eye in the whole damned place. As a big opera fan, I've enjoyed plenty of heart-wrenching operas. There's Puccini's La Boheme and Madama Butterfly. Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana is another tear jerker. Tear jerkers are bread and butter in the opera trade. But this one really hits home because, well, it tells the story of a recent seminal event that really hit home.
The opera's protagonist is Rick Rescorla, a ex-cornish Brit who became a US citizen by fighting in the Vietnam War and then became the head of security for Morgan Stanley. On the fateful September 11 day, Rick pressed his instructions for evacuation from WTC 2 to the employees of Morgan Stanley, much to the counter-orders of the Port Authority (who requested that people in WTC 2 stay at their desks). The 2700 employees of Morgan Stanley, plus others from floors above and below those leased by Morgan Stanley, escaped the destruction of WTC 2 because of Rescorla's leadership. He returned one more time to the burning building with first responders only to never exit.
It's a real and true and incredibly impactful story. The music and the set design provided an eerie yet novel interpretation of Rescorla's biography.
The first act recounts Rescorla's childhood through his experience in Rhodesia and eventually in Vietnam. Already, the swelling music from the first act brought tears from many an opera-goer, mine included. But the second act, with the telling of Rescorla's evacuation drills sandwiched around his brief love affair with Susan Rescorla, was the real punch in the gut. Unlike other operas where one has empathy for the characters, this one strikes you hard with the thomp of reality. It hits you with a "Hey, you remember what happened on 9-11, eh?" Only the most jaded, most ice-veined, unfeeling, misanthrope could sit through the ending and not blurt out a cough to mask his or her sinuses welling up with tears.
Operas are primarily musical. The credit goes to the composer, not the lyricists (or librettist in the case of operas), nor the set-designer, director, scene-producer or whatever their titles are. But a good opera incorporates all elements from the music to the lyrics (libretti) to the set design to the whole package. I can't say that there can't be an even better set-design for this opera, as this is the premiere and there has been no other to compare it to. But, the combination of the music with the singing (ok, you still need to read the supertitles despite the libretto being in English) and the visual set design made for a monumental spectacle.
Go see it before it's over. I think September 30 is the last day. Check it out.
Here's my quick review: not a single dry eye in the whole damned place. As a big opera fan, I've enjoyed plenty of heart-wrenching operas. There's Puccini's La Boheme and Madama Butterfly. Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana is another tear jerker. Tear jerkers are bread and butter in the opera trade. But this one really hits home because, well, it tells the story of a recent seminal event that really hit home.
The opera's protagonist is Rick Rescorla, a ex-cornish Brit who became a US citizen by fighting in the Vietnam War and then became the head of security for Morgan Stanley. On the fateful September 11 day, Rick pressed his instructions for evacuation from WTC 2 to the employees of Morgan Stanley, much to the counter-orders of the Port Authority (who requested that people in WTC 2 stay at their desks). The 2700 employees of Morgan Stanley, plus others from floors above and below those leased by Morgan Stanley, escaped the destruction of WTC 2 because of Rescorla's leadership. He returned one more time to the burning building with first responders only to never exit.
It's a real and true and incredibly impactful story. The music and the set design provided an eerie yet novel interpretation of Rescorla's biography.
The first act recounts Rescorla's childhood through his experience in Rhodesia and eventually in Vietnam. Already, the swelling music from the first act brought tears from many an opera-goer, mine included. But the second act, with the telling of Rescorla's evacuation drills sandwiched around his brief love affair with Susan Rescorla, was the real punch in the gut. Unlike other operas where one has empathy for the characters, this one strikes you hard with the thomp of reality. It hits you with a "Hey, you remember what happened on 9-11, eh?" Only the most jaded, most ice-veined, unfeeling, misanthrope could sit through the ending and not blurt out a cough to mask his or her sinuses welling up with tears.
Operas are primarily musical. The credit goes to the composer, not the lyricists (or librettist in the case of operas), nor the set-designer, director, scene-producer or whatever their titles are. But a good opera incorporates all elements from the music to the lyrics (libretti) to the set design to the whole package. I can't say that there can't be an even better set-design for this opera, as this is the premiere and there has been no other to compare it to. But, the combination of the music with the singing (ok, you still need to read the supertitles despite the libretto being in English) and the visual set design made for a monumental spectacle.
Go see it before it's over. I think September 30 is the last day. Check it out.
RSS Feed
