Chamber Operas: Bruce Saylor at Queens College

A Night At the Opera

Premiers of "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" and "The Image Maker"

by Bruce Saylor

New York City is an opera town, for sure.  And if you look for opportunities to see and hear and experience opera in New York, you'll likely find an opera playing at least three times a week in the city.  Perhaps only a place like Berlin could compete with the frequency of operas--at one a day.  But we are surely fortunate to have such opportunity in NYC.  What we are also lucky to have is a place where new operas can be performed.  Admittedly, this does not happen as often as some might like, but when it does, and those operas are great works, then we are given a treat.  

This was definitely the case in a recent production of two operas by NYC composer and professor, Bruce Saylor, whose works were performed at the Goldstein Theatre at Queens College on May 4-6. The operas "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" and "The Image Maker" were both a joint presentation of the Aaron Copland School of Music, the school’s Opera Program, and the Department of Drama, Theater and Dance.  They were conducted by Maurice Peress; with stage director, Lorca Peress. Sets and lighting were designed by Harry Feiner; costumes were by Sam Fleming; projection design by Jan Hartley; and choreography by Carolyn Webb, (CUNY Queens site).

First, I must say that I was completely thrilled to get a chance to see and hear this work.  I'd met Bruce some dozen years ago in Rome, Italy, while I was there for a year studying, and he was there with his lovely family, working and composing.  I'd heard some of Bruce's music before, which I really liked, but I hadn't heard anything extensive, such as an opera.  So, after all this time, I finally had the opportunity, and it wasn't an opportunity to be missed.  I'm glad that such great works as these were performed in Queens, which for many New Yorkers would seem to be too far afield; but having the works done here lends to the power and force that great opera and music can be and is made everywhere.  Indeed, if these operas had been performed in Manhattan in Symphony Space or at the NYC Opera, for example, the press would have been bigger.  And I think that at some point these excellent operas need to be performed more regularly for larger audiences.  

This said, the operas themselves are masterfully written in every way.   "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" based on the story by Hawthorne and adapted by Barnard faculty Cary Plotkin, is now more than three decades old, but re-worked by the composer for this performance.  The first of the operas to be formed in the two-opera billing, we find its content to be reminiscent of the classical opera, where characters from the late 18th century, in the most Revolutionary War era manners, talk, and sartorial demonstration, show us the most human (and inhuman) sides of the operatic character: searching, suffering, and discovering the mysteries and miseries of life.  (A young man is in search of his "kinsman," but he cannot find him in the town that he is supposed to be in--then, he discovers that his kinsman is in fact a pariah, tarred and feathered...and sent to his fate.)  In some ways, the tale is very Kafkaesque, and both Plotkin's rendering of the libretto and Saylor's tonality are a perfect match.  The characters have a darkness, and the music not only echoes this, but penetrates their performance throughout the entire work.  The scenes, both outside and inside (such as in an old bar or ale house), were beautifully executed, and the performers all played their parts with stunning acuity, embodying the characters so that you really do think you're back in the 1780s--or, at least ready to bump into some creepy Salieri character at any moment!

The second opera, "The Image Maker," was a setting of the play by James Merrill, and had its World Premier at this performance.  Different in many ways from "My Kinsman...," "The Image Maker" is, nonetheless, and equally powerful and complex opera.  This opera is semantically "brighter" and "livelier" than the Hawthorne work, in many ways.  It is a work that is based in the Caribbean (and I must say that I'm happy to have found the opera picked up by "Caribbean Life" Online), and plays with many themes of religion, family, and relationships.  The image maker is a "carver" of statues, very particular, religious statues, and his life is drawn up into the relationships he has.  The musical construction of this opera is very evocative, with a magical and lyrical flute opening the work, pulling the audience and listeners into the very demonstrative, colorful, ornate, and complex world of the characters.  Perhaps one of the highlights of this work is the dance scene, complete with drums and a percussive accompaniment that is both raw and beautiful, but also perfectly powerful and suitable for this piece.  It reminded me of how ballet had once been banned in court operas, and how far things had changed in the last 220 years of opera making!  This is surely an opera that must be performed again.

I was very pleased with these performances--with all aspects of the works, including Maestro Peress and his musicians; and with the whole design, choreography, and direction.  The works were superb.  And I was completely drawn into the works, as holistic operations and experiences of the operatic milieu.  The accessibility of these works, especially as we continue to crawl into 21st century "musics" is refreshing, and I hope that Mr. Saylor and his musical and artistic friends are working on more operas...because they are necessary for the vibrancy of this city.