I have
recently added the Pittsburgh Opera to my empty- nest repertoire but I have
only experienced one other American Opera (see Day
212 Summer King). Moby-Dick is an
American opera with music by Jake Heggie and lyrics by Gene Scheer. It is
based on the classic novel by Herman Melville. I have to admit that I never read the book but I know the story of
Captain Ahab’s feverish pursuit of the great white whale that took his leg. It's the story of the whale’s defeat of man. I was excited to see if the musical
strength of the predominately male cast would match the power of this man versus beast story
in this Pittsburgh Primer of Moby-Dick.
I love that the
opera is usually a “larger than life production” with elaborate
sets, the symphony, and of course,
masterful song. This is a perfect art form for the tale of the great white whale!
Moby-Dick
ingeniously kept the audience at sea on the whaling ship. The realistic curtain
of waves moved to the symphony prologue that raced like a movie sound track. As the
sea adventure ensued, the set magically moved changing the view of the
ship and of the back drop which was the sky or waves.
Moby
Dick
opened with the all male crew calling "all hands on deck" as the ship’s sails
were raised. Captain Ahab soon revealed the real nature of their voyage was to
destroy the mighty Moby Dick and to take his revenge on the whale that took off
his leg. The excited crew all sang “Death to Moby Dick” and it was accompanied
by energetic choreographed dancing.
Although the opera started out with a punch, it kept
me at sea a little longer than I would have liked since the show was almost 3
hours long and contained some slower reflective arias. The upside was the powerful tenor and baritone voices of all the characters from Captain Ahab (Roger
Honeywell), Starbuck (Michael Mays), deckhand prince, Queequeg (Musa
Mgqungwana) ,and the newcomer to whaling, Greenhorn(Sean Panikkar). The cabin
boy, Pip (Jacqueline Echols) was the
only female in the cast and was a
fantastic soprano. Although this might sound a bit macabre, one of
my favorite moments was Pip’s aria as he was lost at sea after his boat capsized.
 |
| Greenhorn, Queequeg, and Pip- Pip is found after being lost at sea |
The long awaited “whale action” gave the ending a boost of excitement and it
was artfully performed both visually and musically. The audience reacted
with a gasp as the huge whale eye emerged. The battle of man against the beast ended in the demise of the ship and crew. Revenge is costly. Ahab stabs the whale but is dragged under the
sea as a curtain resembling ocean waves fell and the music played.
The strength of the great whale prevailed over man and Moby-Dick matched this dominance with powerful vocals in this Pittsburgh Opera premier production. Enjoying the extravagance of the opera with the Pittsburgh Opera 2018-19 upcoming season is defiantly something to keep in your survial tool box.
The strength of the great whale prevailed over man and Moby-Dick matched this dominance with powerful vocals in this Pittsburgh Opera premier production. Enjoying the extravagance of the opera with the Pittsburgh Opera 2018-19 upcoming season is defiantly something to keep in your survial tool box.
.
Spiritual Source
Do not say, “I will do
to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
(Proverbs 24:29)
https://www.pittsburghopera.org/