InSeries: Peek at Their Commissioned Opera—Delta King's Blues

 

The InSeries of Washington, DC, noted for its updated classic opera productions, has commissioned an opera by composer Damien Geter and librettist Jarrod Lee. The opera titled Delta King’s Blues debuted January 26, 2025, as a workshop at the Martin Luther King Library in the Nation’s Capital.

 

 

The story is based on the myth that an unknown blues musician named Robert Johnson rose to celebrity status because he sold his soul to the devil when his pleas to God went unanswered. The devil then teaches Johnson how to play his steel-stringed guitar.

 

Five outstanding singers are cast in the following roles:

 

Robert Johnson (tenor): Curtis Bannister

The Devil (bass): Dr. Carl DuPont

Virginia (soprano): Melissa Wimbish

Willie (baritone): Marvin Wayne Allen

Son (tenor): Jonathan Pierce Rhodes

 

Johnson was considered a ladies’ man who was a loner, leading an itinerant life going from town to town where he usually had a woman who would look after him. One of these women appears in the Opera: the 14-year-old girl he married in 1929, but who died not long after in childbirth. Another woman (but not in the opera) that he had an off-and-on relationship with over a ten year period had a son named Robert Lockwood, Junior. Lockwood learned to play guitar from Johnson as well as stage presence and timing. By the age of 15, he traveled with Johnson and was referred to as Robert, Junior. Lockwood’s father and mother divorced, and Johnson was an unofficial stepfather to Lockwood. The character Son in Delta King’s Blues is most likely Lockwood.

 

Johnson’s mother had married twice but neither husband was Johnson’s biological father. With her first husband, the family lived in Memphis for eight or nine years, where Johnson was educated in such subjects as arithmetic, reading, language, music, geography, and physical exercise. Johnson’s education made him different from other Delta blues musicians, because he was literate and exposed to jazz, country, and other forms of popular music. His mother’s second husband was named Will "Dusty" Willis and was called Will. Will lived in the Mississippi delta. While the singers did a reasonably good job of articulating the words of the libretto, it was unclear to this audience member if the character Willie was meant to be Johnson’s 2^nd stepfather. Johnson died from an unknown cause in 1938 at the age of 27.

 

In the scant program notes, the libretto synopsis states that Johnson tries to “impress Willie, Son and Virginia” with his playing of a steel stringed guitar named Stella.” “Willie” might also refer to another blues musician. What’s clear is that this 45-minute work involves artistic license relative to the truth of Johnson’s story.

 

Geter’s complex dissonance-infused blues music is built on well-known songs by Johnson such as “Cross Roads” and “Come on in My Kitchen.” Music Director Emily Baltzer accompanied the singers with an agile and masterful piano performance. The quality of the vocal performances was excellent, particularly Curtis Bannister as Robert Johnson and Dr. Carl DuPont as the devil. This reviewer longed to hear more of the female voice. The only female singer was the impressive Melissa Wimbish, cast in the limited role of Virginia. The producers of this workshop did not include a talk-back session. Instead, the event offered a fundraising reception that followed the performance. This reviewer hopes that the piece will continue to develop. It is off to a strong start.

 

 

 

WNO Mini Operas Given Red Carpet Debut

 Washington National Opera presented three 20-minute opera premieres January 18, 2025, in their twelfth anniversary American Opera Initiatives program. In this learning laboratory that included sets and costumes, WNO staff headed by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and General Director Timothy O’Leary paired three composers with three librettists. Mentors assigned to these creative teams were the prolific opera composer Greg Spears (Castor and Patience) and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith (librettist of Castor and Patience). The works were performed by excellent singers in the Cafritz Young Artist Program and the Washington National Opera Orchestra conducted by George Manahan, who has premiered hundreds of operas. The director was Chloe Treat.

 

The three mini operas were:

 

—Tati by composer Kyle Brenn & librettist Lex Brown

—Cry, Wolf by composer JL Marlor & librettist Clare Fuyuko Bierman

—Mud Girl by composer Omar Najmi & librettist Christine Evans

 

The orchestra for all three operas provided a variety of interesting textures, especially involving percussion instruments. The mildly dissonant music seemed summoned from the same nickelodeon. Was this musical sameness a consequence of the preference of the vetting team that selected these composers, an influence of a mentor, or something else? 

 

 

Two of the stories Tati and Mud Girl deal with environmental issues. Tati concerns three people living inside a whale. Why they are there and how they plan to escape their current situation is too confusing and complicated to describe. The stage prop representing the sick whale’s heart co-exists in the space where the three are trapped. Swallowing plastic bags is a factor as to why the whale is sick.

 

 In an apocalyptic world, Mud Girl involves two women living under a bridge in a relationship that functions almost as mother and daughter. River, the younger woman, is lonely and thus constructs Poly to be her friend. River makes Poly out of mud, plastic and AI-infused trash that includes things like smart water, smart bombs and smart garden gnomes. Poly is played by two women dressed alike who cling to each other like Siamese twins. River’s mother-figure Maude, formerly a scientist, warns River against the flotsam delivered by a flood that presumably made them homeless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cry, Wolf is a more straight forward look at young men and their self-images as they try to attract the opposite sex. The story features two college boys, one full of bluster who says he is a wolf. He howls to make his point and claims that is the way to attract women. The other college boy has no self confidence and believes he is ugly. His younger brother still in high school shows up for a visit and tries to shake his brother out of his self-hating torpor.

O’Leary and Zambello say in their introductory letter that some mentors have “confided that they feel the 20-minute form is more challenging than a longer work.” This gives rise to the question: will any of these 20-minute operas ever be produced again? This year for the first time, these three short operas will be staged on January 23rd in New York City at the Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall. For these composers and librettists to work with such accomplished singers and musicians in two prestigious venues—Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and New York’s Kaufman Music Center—under the guidance and sponsorship of WNO, a major American opera company, is a major boost to their career paths.

 

 

Photos Bronwen Sharp

New Operas Online from Opera America

 

In their New Works forum, Opera America on January 16, 2025, showcased via YouTube, selected samples of four developing operas:

 

·      Faces in the Flames — Nathan Felix, composer; Anita Gonzalez, librettist

·      Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable — Jorge Sosa, composer; Cerise Lim Jacobs, librettist (White Snake Projects)

·      My Dearest Friend — Patricia Leonard, composer

·      Ululations and Gurgles of the Invisible — Elisabet Curbelo, composer (Guerilla Opera)

 

It was an exceptionally engaging set of new works.

 

The Dresser’s favorite Faces in the Flames saw six singers, a pianist, a cellist, and a violinist present tonal music that was dramatically impressive. A soprano and mezzo conveyed the music with a chorus of four. The libretto tells the story of Thomas Askew (1847-1914), an African American photographer who images  captured a true-to-life picture of Blacks in that period. Unfortunately, Askew’s studio and his work perished in the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917. Presented were three excerpts. 

 

 

 

Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable included an actor, two singers (countertenor and dramatic soprano), a pianist, and a Bunraku-style puppet master and puppet.  The music was tonal and powerful. The title of this work adequately provides what the story entails. The puppet master was highly accomplished, but he did not steal light from the music or the other performers which could have easily been the case. The overall presentation was a fine balance of talent.

 

My Dearest Friend featured one singer and a piano. The music was lyrically tonal and pleasing. The overall impression was an old-school opera and a rather quiet one. The libretto conveys the love story of John and Abigail Adams.

 

 Ululations and Gurgles of the Invisible is an experiment in the camp of John Cage. Based on poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca, it is a four-part work of which excerpts from three parts were showcased by a soprano, percussionist, pianist, and dancers. The Dresser would associate this work with performance art since it had to do with exploring silence in the world of those using sign language. It also incorporated motion sensors on the bodies of dancers.

 

The program can still be viewed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PRdO79I5bA.

 

In its 2024–2025 season, OPERA America Onstage is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The programming at the National Opera Center where this showcase took place was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.