An American opera, with abundant melodies, will make its world premiere at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Oct. 9 and 10. Both performances are at 8 p.m.
Barbara Harbach, a composer whose symphonies and other works have received rave reviews from audiences and critics, has created her first opera, “O Pioneers!” with lyricist Jonathan Yordy. Scott Schoonover of Union Avenue Opera is the director.
It’s appropriate that the opera will debut at UMSL, because Harbach is professor of music at the university, and her husband is the campus’ chancellor, Tom George.
The work is based on Willa Cather’s novel of the same name. Called one of the leading figures of American literary modernism, Cather’s fictional work features love stories and the harsh realities of life on the American frontier. The wonder is, why wasn’t her novel made into an opera before?
Harbach and I began our talk by discussing composers. “Most of us are dead, you know,” the witty professor said. I told her my concern that a modern opera might not be lyrical. “I like to combine and manipulate melodies,” she said.
She and Yordy teamed for 27 songs for what she calls a “very strong cast of outstanding singers and dancers,” including Gina Galati in the lead role as Alexandra Bergstrom; Robert Boldin as Carl; Ann Hoyt as Marie; Thomas Wazelle as Emil; Ian Greenlaw as Frank; Philip Touchette as Oscar; David Dillard as Ivar; Joshua Stanton as Amedee; and Tom Sitzler as Lou.
“I’ve always been drawn to stories about strong women,” said Harbach, noting that her opera is the story of a family of Swedish immigrants in farm country near a fictional Nebraska town around 100 years ago. Alexandra inherits the family farm when her dad dies. She fights against the odds and tries to make a go of the farm, when others give up and leave the prairie. “The people don’t claim the land so much as they submit to it,” Harbach said. “And in the process, they become stronger.”
Backing the cast is a strong chorus of 16 singers, Harbach said, and an orchestra of more than 30 musicians. In all, expect the story to unfold in about two and a half hours.
“I wrote this for UMSL,” the professor said, but she hopes a good DVD comes out of the two-act performance so the opera can be performed in more places.
While composing an opera is daunting, Barbara Harbach is no stranger to composition or to having her work released on CDs. She has at least five full CDs of her work, all of it melodious. She clearly has a fondness for Willa Cather, as evidenced by one of her longer works, “One of Ours – A Cather Symphony.”
After listening to her discs, it is clear her pieces deserve to be heard by a wide audience in her new home city. One hopes to one day hear a Harbach piece performed by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Meanwhile, the opera’s the thing, with Harbach hoping that “tender love” combined with the terrors of life on the prairie will make for a compelling evening of entertainment for the audience at the Touhill.
Tickets for “O Pioneers!” cost $35 and are available at the Touhill ticket office, online at www.touhill.org, or by phone at 314-516-4949. All St. Louis students with a valid I.D. will receive a 10 percent discount for two tickets. Senior discounts also are available.
Fifty minutes before the Saturday production, a pre-show discussion will take place. Post-show receptions will be held Friday and Saturday.
The Touhill is on the north campus of UMSL, just 10 minutes from Clayton. From Interstate 70, take exit No. 240. Parking is free, and MetroLink is just a few steps from the center’s main entrance.
Comments