San Francisco Classical Voice

“Incomprehensible drivel,” said one patron interviewed at intermission. “Atonal nonsense,” said another. These for a superbly performed opera in plainly sung English, with surtitles, strophic arias, formal tonal cadences, and overtly simple plot: a 1950s businessman opposes the upcoming marriage of his daughter to an orphan. The couple invite 70 of their friends to an outdoor wedding in the woods; the father shows up with two associates to prevent it. After some soul-searching, the couple take one look at him, and he dies of a heart attack.

It would be, except there are these “ancients” living in a temple by the wedding site, and their dancing woodsprites. They guide the wedding couple on a necessary journey of spiritual discovery that gives them the readiness for marriage and power to kill the old dad (“King Fisher,” a reference to ancient rites associated with soil refertilization). The same crew and the oracle Sosotris give Tippett the means to inject hefty doses of Jungian archetypical symbolism and a hodgepodge of other mystic references that leave the uninitiated scratching their heads.

On the other hand, another interviewee, a psychotherapist, said she “loved every minute.”

So, is there a need for "edublitz" here? The Lyric Opera Web site (http://www.lyricopera.org/midsummer) has kindly posted introductory program notes and an MP3 of the de rigueur panel discussion the precedes such advents, but the key question remains no matter how much background is assimilated: Is this a Magic Flute? Is the marketing claim true?

To enjoy the Mozart, one doesn't have to delve into the mysteries of the Masonic order. The tunes, characterizations, and humor carry the day. This is what geologists refer to as “ground truth,” reality vs. head games.

There is not enough of ground truth in Tippett's opera.

The most important factor, the music, has its moments, but Tippett is no Mozart. The opening sunrise music sung by the huge chorus of guests is probably the best music in the opera, along with the bridegroom Mark's opening aria, “. . . the summer morning dances in my heart,” exquisitely sung by a Canadian tenor, Joseph Kaiser. Also memorable is a long ascending mezzo aria punctuated by chimes for Sosostris, an Erda-inspired oracle summoned by King Fisher. But then there are the four Ritual Dances, the extract of which commonly appears in British concert programs. These and much of the rest of the music suffer from signature use of brief pauses, sudden ellipses that break the flow and reset the meter on the off beat. Advocates of Tippet's style would say that the breaks heighten the excitement; detractors, that the frustrated expectations produce a fidgety nervousness at times inappropriate to the mood at hand and causing a sense of dissociation on the part of the listener. Good or bad, the fidgets were aptly conveyed by choreographer Wayne McGregor, cofounder of the Random Dance company at Sadler's Wells, emphasizing neck jerks and a moderate amount of spasmodic, unpredictable body movements.

As for the characterizations, too much is sacrificed on the altar of symbolism. The couple to be wed aren't real. Mark has one spurt of humanity when he sings his impassioned aria at the outset, but his bride Jennifer, who shows up with a suitcase to declare there will be no wedding, says this when asked why: “Why have I come here, here when all the world's to choose? . . . No, I must go further, out of sound and out of sight.” The first part of this response might make sense at some point in a less formal relationship, but not on a wedding day. And the second part makes no sense in light of the first. The real reason Jennifer says these things is to provide an excuse for her to rush off to an aluminum-framed elevator that suddenly appears in the midst of the woods (a staircase is what Tippett originally had in mind), and “set my feet upon the way to heaven.” Soon thereafter, Mark descends into a hole in the floor (“For me, the shadow!”). Simple as the language is, these and so many other symbolically directed statements fatally weaken the characters. The three characters immune from heavy-duty symbolism are a simple couple Jack and Bella and the chorus. They are a welcome relief, but are not enough themselves to rescue the opera.

Finally, there is the all-too-mild and infrequent humor, provided by lines that are funny in reference to the opera itself (King Fisher: “Now is this nonsense at its noon. But I'll be even with it yet.”) or in sexual reference (Sosostris: “The glorious lion of love / with symbol erect he…”). Lack of humor is the opera's biggest failing in comparison with another of its progenitors, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

It must be noted that, for the most part, the production is magnificent. All the parts were sung as well or better compared to the cast of Colin Davis' first complete recording on Philips in 1970. Peter Rose was an excellent bourgeois King Fisher, Janice Watson a fine Jennifer, and Catherine Wyn-Rogers a suitable Sosostris, though I wish her voice had been miked with reverb for effect. The six-part chorus coached by Donald Palumbo was perfection itself. Sets and 1950s-era costumes by Alison Chitty were interesting, if deviating from the composer's directions in fact but not spirit. Special mention must be made of Peter Mumford's lighting and projections, which did much to create the proper aura of wonder and magic. And overall loomed the guidance of Andrew Davis, Music Director and Peter Hall, Stage Director, whose joint passion for the music of Tippett provided America an opportunity to reevaluate an important British opera.

The American premiere of Midsummer Marriage was in San Francisco in the fall of 1983. In his review at the time, Robert Commanday claimed the music wouldn't “frighten your maiden great-aunt.” The fact that some Chicago attendees hearing it 22 years later felt that it was atonal and that 10 percent to 20 percent of the audience left at intermission indicate that this opera still has a long way to go before it can be advertised in the Midwest as truly Flute-like.