San Francisco Opera’s opening night may not be until Friday, but San Jose Classical Music Examiner got a chance to check out Wednesday night’s dress rehearsal for Christopher Theofanidis’ new world premiere: Heart of a Soldier.
The opera tells the story of Rick Rescorla (Thomas Hampson), his best friend (William Burden), his men in battle, the woman he loved, and his ultimate act of heroism on September 11th. The plot chronicles his life from inspiration to be a soldier as a little boy at D-Day (boy soprano Henry Phipps was impressive in the role), and continues through assignments in Rhodesia, Vietnam, and after intermission, as security manager at the World Trade Center.
The production feels cinematic as a whole. Not only is it jam-packed with action and dialogue, the scene-setting is right out of from Patton and Platoon. The libretto feels very politically correct—like something cleaned up for press scrutiny—polished as a political candidate. Political correctness gets a bad rap, but there is really nothing wrong with respecting everyone and covering your bases. Unfortunately, in an opera, it can mess with the artistic flow. The inclusion of the Muslim chant was beautiful and worthwhile but in the context of the plot it felt contrived, the music sounded like a non sequitur. It was forced. The sound world of Middle Eastern Muslim chant and Western pit orchestra doesn’t easily mesh (I know this because I tried it!).
The opera documents Rescorla’s life through many wars and the political undertones of these wars and their distant connection with 9/11 cannot be escaped, especially in the ironically named “War Memorial Opera House” (named after World War I). The historical tone and contemporary scope of the opera reminded me of another San Francisco Opera premiere: John Adams' Dr. Atomic.
With so much ground to cover, the opera hints at but doesn’t really delve into the deep emotions that accompany war and loss. This is also due to the lack of extended-length “arias” for the characters to really tell us how they feel. Nonetheless, the opera succeeds at conjuring the pain of 9/11.
The musicians of the orchestra—many of them having lived through the attacks in New York—report crying while playing through the final scene; their dedication to the score can be heard and they played with finesse and clarity.
In the final scenes, each impact of each airplane hitting the towers is set to music. The fall of the towers is achieved through poignant lighting effects while papers fall from the sky. After 9/11/01, people sought the healing power of music in an outpouring of memorial concerts dedicated to the victims. Ten years later, music, story and staging combine to reopen America’s wound.
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