Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 20, 1995 TAG: 9505220021
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Or make that not so fast, since the first act of the world premiere of Victoria Bond's new opera frankly seemed to crawl at times.
But by the standing ovation that ended the Opera Roanoke show in Roanoke College's Olin Hall Thursday night, you could be excused for wondering if you were actually watching the same production you started with. Talk about a steep improvement curve!
The reason comes down to two words: good tunes. Act I had hardly any; Act II had some whoppers
It's a historical fact that opera audiences will tolerate any number of defects, from silly plots to bad librettos to stupid costumes, as long as they get compelling melodies beautifully sung. If Victoria Bond could retool this show so the first act had its share, it could be a real winner.
"Travels" is the opera that began with Bond's encounter with Jonathan Swift's pungent satire "Gulliver's Travels," and the first thing to note is that the connection with the original work is so tenuous as to be non-existent. In place of Swift's relentless expose of human foibles and pretensions, we have that most characteristic of late-20th-century pastimes, the search for one's personal identity. It lacks the gravitas of Swift's original conception, but as a conceptual framework it has dramatic possiblities.
But Opera Roanoke baritone superstar Nicholas Loren didn't have a lot to work with in the first act. "Travels" is a visually appealing show, with exciting dance segments choreographed by Carol Crawford Smith. And stage director Jonathan Arak got more movement and dancing out of this company than I have ever seen from a group of opera singers.
But the first act simply lacked the kind of music that sticks in the mind. Most striking were the costumes and set for the Coming Soon Kingdom, where Nicholas Loren, as Gull, is greeted by a bevy of Tammy Faye Bakker clones wearing more Maybelline than the entire cosmetics department at Kmart.
Worse, despite flashes of sly good humor, there was a tone-deafness to the associations of biblical and liturgical language in this section that might not have been so noticeable had the music been more memorable.
Loren's lovely duet with soprano Diana Walker in Act II's Gym of the Golden Calf signalled that things were getting better. Better yet was Loren's beautiful soliloquy in which he confesses that "My soul is hungry for something higher, always searching for my desire," a number that ended on a hushed, sustained high note.
After a bizarre interlude in the Laboratory for the Redesign of the Mind, Bond cut loose with a non-stop stream of movingly beautiful music. Especially poignant was a delicate pas de deux danced in the Peaceable Kingdom, which Gull views longingly through glass.
By the time Loren finished his soaring final aria, the 350 opera-goers in Olin Hall were glad they came. The crowd awarded the company a quick standing ovation and shouts of bravo.
Seats for tonight's and Monday's performances are available at 982-2742.
Seth Williamson produces feature news stories and a weekday classical music program on public radio station WVTF (89.1 FM) in Roanoke.|
by CNB