(Above: The Cell Theatre, sandwiched on West 23rd Street)
American as apple pie and Jell-O, NFL and Prozac, the Center for Contemporary Opera launched its 27th season on Thursday night with an intimate, Atelier performance of poet and librettista and generally awesome J.D. McClatchy & composer Michael Dellaira's new opera, The Secret Agent. If you were lucky enough to snag one of the quickly-selling-out tickets to the double-header (Thursday & Friday night), you coukd get an all-access, VIP pass to an intimate theater full of the brightest lights of the contemporary opera scene.
Two hours sitting among that witty J.D. McClatchy-- Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet, president of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, editor of The Yale Review -- and all other artists, Opera Chic included, was really enough to glean the very big things happening in the evolving, thriving contemporary American opera scene. For American composers, librettisti and performers ONLY, you can take your socialist a$$es elsewhere.
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O the pulse of the contemporary opera world (presenting Atelier versions of groundbreaking compositions and hosting workshops to assist new librettisti -- our favorite being called "Libretto Slam"): the CCO is an arts organization that defies categorization. Nurturing the purely-American opera scene (and some musical theater) since 1982, it's now led by General Director capitano James E. Schaeffer, a disarming contemporary music scholar (and former conductor & bassoonist) who looks like he'd be equally at home holding-down tequila shots at a Livestock Convention or shaping the tempo in a European opera house.
The aptly-intimate Cell Theatre hosted the event, that gorgeously clean, well-lit space where one feels at home the moment you walk your McQueen stilettos onto the dark wooden floors. The semi-staged performance of The Secret Agent was excellently accompanied by piano (marathon-man Michael Pilafian), spurned by an authoritative, omniscient narrator, and well-acted (and sung) by approximately sixteen singers. Because Thursday night wasn't just about the new music (although compositionally keen), also imprudent to rate an evolving score without the orchestration that will breathe life into Michael Dellaira's notes.
The first public reading of McClatchy's libretto went off like a handful of really brainy firecrackers, the inaugural glimpse into the latest from his successful libretti body-of-work (Saylor's Orpheus Descending, Picker's Emmeline, Maazel's 1984, Goldenthal's Grendel). Based on Joseph Conrad's novel of the same name, The Secret Agent was -- JD knows the lesson of the Greeks by heart -- full of unflinching pathos. The tale of suicide, murder, omfgterrar, and political corruption filled the libretto with drama that was at the same time pulpy and clever, well-paced and brash: a mix almost impossible to tear oneself away from. The cast created a highly visual, nocturnal portrait of dark hearts in even darker dramas of late 19th century London. Co-commissioned by the Center for Contemporary Opera, the San Antonio Opera (where it will premiere), and North Carolina's Long Leaf Opera, it's an opera that unapologetically dares to speak about the depths of desperation and corruption in the human soul.
The CCO's season continues with highlights such as an Atelier performance of Anaïs (music & libretto by Susan Hurley); Neither (music by Morton Feldman and libretto by Samuel Beckett) in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Samuel Beckett's death, and also the CCO's international stage debut in Vienna at the Konzerthuas; and the world premiere of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, with music & libretto by John Eaton in June at Symphony Space -- based on the tale of F. Scott Fitzgerald, but sadly, not starring Brad Pitt in his homuncular incarnation.
Opera Chic, necessarily unsentimental living between Milan and NYC, is sacrificially keeping the gorgeous, simple (frame-able) playbill, evocative of the appealingly-clean graphic art we've seen from the likes of Chris Ware.
I've been going to events at the CCO for years. It's my secret little treasure of new opera, and now that you've blogged it, I can't help but admit that I'm a little worried that now I'll have to fight the unknowing masses for tickets! :) I'm excited to watch the new era develop under Jim Schaeffer who really is a man utterly comfortable, as you said, interacting with people from every walk of life. It's a great opera company for the city that nurtures new talent from all ages, races, and backgrounds. Really a perfect fit in New York City. Long live the CCO!
Posted by: Tigerlilly | October 25, 2009 at 03:13 AM
Tigerlilly, I tried to get a ticket for the Thursday night performance that O.C. went to, and it was sold out! Thanks for the full report, Miss Chic. I'm not sure if I have the vacation time for San Antonio, but I still look forward to the premiere. What's the word on the Benjamin Button opera?
Posted by: Fenwick | October 25, 2009 at 03:45 AM
Weird! I walked by that theater the other night but had no idea what it was. Strange timing! Even worse, I can't believe I missed this opportunity to hear McClatchy's new opera.
His Hazmat sits on my bedside table permanently. He's a genius and much worshiped in my house.
Posted by: Webster | October 25, 2009 at 06:33 AM
Is that Mattila clinging to the wall?
Posted by: siris | October 26, 2009 at 12:39 AM
Thank you so much for your review of the CCO. I had no idea it existed until now. I definitely want to conduct some internet research to find out more about it. The Secret Agent and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button sound fantastic; I can't wait to see them!
Posted by: Elisabeth Dorman | October 26, 2009 at 01:06 AM