On March 8, 2020, the Dresser attended a premier performance
of Briscula the Magician by composer Frances
Pollock and first-time librettist Robert Misbin. Bel Cantanti Opera under the
artistic direction of Katerina Souvorova at the Randolph Rd Theater in Silver
Spring, Maryland, developed and produced this ambitious production. This production's stage manager is Jennifer Blades.
Some operagoers of the greater Washington, DC area may be
familiar with Frances Pollock since she presented What Gets Kept, a 20-minute opera in the 2017 Washington National
Opera American Opera Initiative. Work under development includes Stinney (which has won awards in
workshop presentations) and Salt, a cross-disciplinary piece. Opera of Chicago
and Seattle Opera co-premiered her children’s opera Earth to Kenzie. She is currently working on a doctorate in
composition at Yale University.
Portions of the score may be characterized as accessibly
atonal, while also including themes reminiscent of carnival music and waltz. Considerable
stretches of recitative allow the stories of the various characters to unfold
with elegance and clarity. In the beginning of the opera, the Dresser wondered
about clusters of words that seemed squeezed into too few musical notes, but
that did not persist. Overall, the music worked reasonably well for this
complex libretto.
The libretto of this two-act opera is based loosely on
Thomas Mann’s novella Mario und der
Zauberrer (Mario and the Magician).
Set in 1929 in a rundown seaside town east of Venice called Bibione Spiaggia,
the libretto, as does the novella, deals with the rise of Facism. Shades of contemporary
political discourse rear its head when characters in the public square of the
town talk about making the town or country great again.
Central to this libretto is a young woman named Sylvestra
(sung impressively by soprano Leah Brzyski). Sylvestra is the flower girl and
all the young men seem to be in love with her, especially the café worker Claudio
(tenor Michael Butler). Claudio who lines up with Mann’s Mario is hypnotized by
Briscula (tenor Peter Joshua Burroughs) who is the stand in for Mann’s
Magician Cipolia. In both stories, Claudio/Mario is humiliated by the so-called
magic man. In Mann’s story, Mario kills the magician, but in Misbin’s story, Claudio
attempts to attack Briscula, for mocking him about his unrequited love for
Sylvestra and then for kissing Claudio on the lips. However, the town’s
militants (called thugs in the cast list), dressed in black shirts, beat and
kick Claudio, allowing Briscula to get away with shaming and humiliating Claudio
and everyone this evil hypnotist has called on stage.
Puzzling was the unidentified female character who opens and
closes the opera. Like Charles Dickens’ Madame Defarge from A Tale of Two Cities, she is an observer
who sits and knits while events in the community unravel in an alarming way. The
libretto summary tells us that this character is an “allegorical figure” who “is
both observing and controlling the action.” Later, we see that she transforms
to become Briscula and then, after he is attacked by Claudio, retreats back into
the character of the mysterious knitter. Dr. Misbin’s artistic instincts are
good in creating a play within a play, which has the potential to add a
sophisticated richness. For someone who had an accomplished career at the Food
and Drug Administration as a medical officer, one would not expect a flawless
work. Perhaps his mysterious woman would work better if there were evidence that
she was interacting and thereby visibly controlling the players on stage.
What is exciting about this production is that a small opera
company that is community oriented, with some financial support for its entire
season from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and the
Maryland State Arts Council, would give a young composer such a grand opportunity.
Running about one and ¾ hours long, the opera
includes 13 singers, 6 actors, and 8 musicians (including Dr. Souvorova at the
keyboard) as well as impressive props/set, costumes, and surtitles. Surtitles
are an optional detail which speak to the care that went into this production.
While there is a small amount of text in Italian, overall the work is in
English. In theory, if the diction is good (and it was), most small opera
companies might not offer surtitles.
Her cast of singers, a mix of newcomers and practiced
performers, also speaks well of Dr. Souvorova and her stated goals, which
include sending those studying music into the professional opera arena. In Brisula the Magician, everyone performs
well and contributes to a theatric wholeness that delivers a thoughtful
experience.
In Camille-Yvette
Welsch’s poem “The Ugliest Boy in Christendom Considers Bliss,” the reader
enters the thoughts of an adolescent boy that might draw attention to the
plight of Claudio who is pulled out of himself by the evil Briscula. Under Briscula’s
spell, Claudio reveals his unreturned love for the flirtatious flower girl Sylvestra,
who is Claudio’s “absent Eve.” Except Briscula makes Claudio kiss him and then
snaps Claudio back into reality, such that Claudio moves from momentary bliss
to feeling that he has just had a homosexual encounter. The Dresser cannot help
but wonder if Thomas Mann, if not Robert Misbin, was addressing the consequences
of political brainwashing.
THE UGLIEST BOY IN CHRISTENDOM CONSIDERS BLISS
If I were the first person in the new world,
symmetry would not equal beauty.
A face, split in half, should not
recast itself. That is a sign
of evil, doppelganger. In this new world,
I would be Adam, etymologist and poet.
One plus one would not equal two.
Nothing would be whole, no parts
would fit. All uneven pieces, we would tumble
lopsided, never knowing enough to miss
the perfect circle, the absent Eve.
by Camille-Yvette
Welsch
from The Four Ugliest Children in Christendom
Briscula the Magician
has two more performances March 14 and 15, 2020.
