[Met Performance] CID:351368

World Premiere, New Production, Commission, American Opera

An American Tragedy
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, December 2, 2005

Debut : Jennifer Aylmer, Graham Phillips, Adrianne Lobel




An American Tragedy (1)
Tobias Picker | Gene Scheer
Clyde Griffiths
Nathan Gunn

Roberta Alden
Patricia Racette

Sondra Finchley
Susan Graham

Elvira Griffiths
Dolora Zajick

Elizabeth Griffiths
Jennifer Larmore

Samuel Griffiths
Kim Begley

Gilbert Griffiths
William Burden

Bella Griffiths
Jennifer Aylmer [Debut]

Grace Marr
Clare Gormley

Orville Mason
Richard Bernstein

Reverend McMillan
Mark Schowalter

Young Clyde
Graham Phillips [Debut]

Hortense
Anna Christy


Conductor
James Conlon


Production
Francesca Zambello

Set Designer
Adrianne Lobel [Debut]

Costume Designer
Dunya Ramicova

Lighting designer
James F. Ingalls

Choreographer
Doug Varone





An American Tragedy was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and has been dedicated by the composer to his mother, Henriette Simon Picker, in memory of his father, Julian Picker.
An American Tragedy received eight performances this season.
Production photos of An American Tragedy by Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera.

FUNDING:
Production a gift of the Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation.

Review 1:

Review of Martin Bernheimer in the February 2006 issue of Opera

The mighty Metropolitan Opera, mightily cautious when it comes to novelty, proudly and loudly mustered the premiere of Tobias Picker's "An American Tragedy" on December 2. Even with a reportedly generous distribution of free tickets (the practice of "papering" seems alive if unwell at Lincoln Center), the house wasn't exactly packed. Still, those who came and stayed seemed to like what they saw and, perhaps, what they heard.

The project, the first adventure of its kind since John Harbison's "The Great Gatsby" in 1999, promised much on paper. Picker knows his way about the lyric stage. Theodore Dreiser's novel of 1925 - of class-inequity, love, death and the American dream - is well known, thanks primarily to George Stevens's film of 1951, "A Place in the Sun." Gene Scheer's libretto, despite some awkward word-setting, demonstrates enlightened shrinkage.

Francesca Zambello staged the circuitous proceedings with sharp dramatic focus and a keen eye for character delineation. Adrianne Lobel's ingenious set, sensitively lit by James F. Ingalls, accommodated the fluid action on three tiers, austere vignettes appearing and disappearing behind sliding panels. Dunya Ramicova's costumes defined the turn-of-the-century milieu meticulously. Everyone seemed to appreciate that less can be more, even in a house that celebrates the excesses of Franco Zeffirelli.

The general projection of time, place and mood was so convincing that one wanted to forgive a couple of jarring details. When, for instance, Clyde Griffiths, the troubled hero, declared his love for the socialite Sondra Finchley, he sported a swimsuit, while she, true to the libretto, modeled formal finery. Later, when Roberta Alden, Clyde's spurned girlfriend, fell from a rowing boat and drowned, one was treated to a tawdry Grand Guignol gimmick, her body twirling on wires.

The cast - call it an ensemble - offered revelations. Agile and suave, the baritone Nathan Gunn projected Clyde's agony as well as his fatal ambition with astonishing sympathy. Someday and in some opera, one hopes, he will be allowed to score his baritonal points without recourse to beefcake display. Patricia Racette managed to fuse vulnerability and ardour as Roberta, the working girl he betrays, and she floated exquisite pianissimo tones. Susan Graham exuded erotic compulsion and giddy sophistication as Sondra, who inadvertently hastens Clyde's downfall. Although Dolora Zajick sang in some lush foreign tongue that acknowledges no consonants, she brought intense pathos to the sanctimony of Clyde's mother. Keen cameos were provided by William Burden, Kim Begley and Jennifer Larmore as Clyde's well-to-do relatives. Richard Bernstein blustered darkly as Orville Mason, the district attorney. James Conlon, ever discerning and ever virtuosic, conducted as if a masterpiece were at hand.

These ears, alas, recognized no masterpiece. Picker's score is undeniably crafty, also cautious and well-mannered to a fault. It deals knowingly in second-hand operatic devices, predictable set pieces, harmonic platitudes. Cranking out good mood-music and gutsy clich?s at every turn, the composer allows no surprises, no shocks, and few dissonances. The first-nighters seemed grateful. This could be the perfect modem opera for people who hate modern opera.



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