San Francisco Classical Voice

March 17, 1999

Over the last ten years, Steven Mackey's music has shown more and more influence of 1960's and 70's rock genres. But his first opera, Ravenshead, leapfrogs recent works; it is an actual fusion of vernacular and classical idioms. The compositional techniques are solidly based in contemporary classical practice, as with any serious, well-schooled composer, but the delivery is almost pure rock. The sole principal singer, a tenor with microphone, is accompanied by amplified violin, amplified bassoon doubling saxophones, electronic percussion, electric guitar, drums, and electronic keyboard.

Ravenshead is extraordinary theater. A combination of superb vocal and instrumental writing, a fine libretto, an effective set, and a gripping performance by vocalist Rinde Eckert lead to an evening that viewers will not soon forget. The work will be performed through April 4 at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater in Berkeley, by the Berkeley Repertory Theater with the Paul Dresher Ensemble Electro-Acoustic Band. I attended the March 17 performance.

Rinde Eckert was also the librettist. The action is based on the true story of Donald Crowhust (the character Ravenshead), who grandiosely, and unwisely, set out to win the first around-the-world solo sailboat race in 1968. Eight months after the start of the race, his boat was discovered with no one on board. During the course of the opera, we learn that after a series of blunders had put him irrevocably off course, he planned to hide in the south Atlantic and then sprint to the finish ahead of his competitors. But after 243 days at sea, faced with the likelihood that his deception would be discovered, it is believed that he simply stepped off his boat into open ocean.

Eckert's performance is explosively expressive as we witness his evolution from flamboyant entrepreneur to uncertain navigator to suicidal competitor. His vocal agility is heard from low baritone ("the last time I saw my wife...") to high tenor ("Ravenshead is a lucky man"), and into stratospheric falsetto ("The automatic steering whines while you sleep .... it falls apart while you sleep.") His tone is strong, even, and flexible in every tessitura. Eckert's articulation is so clear that we don't miss a syllable of the text. Not content to extend the voice by all human means, Mackey sometimes adds electronic distortion as Ravenshead reaches the psychological melting point ("What is that sound, what is that sound?")

Audiences will come away equally impressed by Eckert's physical agility. Tony Taccone's stage direction has the actor using every part of Alexander Nichol's set, a minimalist representation of Ravenshead's boat. In clear weather he climbs to the top of the mast; in storms he rides the swinging beam from one side of the stage to the other, or ducks out of the way as it swings over his head. Although the action sometimes reaches manic levels, it is never superfluous. It not only makes clear the movement of the boat, but more importantly parallels Ravenshead's physical, emotional, and existential breakdown.

Mackey's music also mimics Ravenshead's motion away from reality. The basic material -- a series of 36 six-tone scales -- moves progressively further away from the original, much like moving entirely around the circle of fifths in tonal music. The use of six-note scales instead of the usual seven-note scales of traditional tonality makes the progression quite subtle. New tones can be added and others removed without a jarring effect, and Mackey often overlaps the scales, purposely making the movement between them even more ambiguous. Occasionally, the scales form the musical surface, but more often they provide the basis for more interesting motivic and harmonic work. Flexible melodic fragments float over rich (usually nonfunctional) chords set to a rock beat. Mackey uses less "psychedelic" mood music than in other recent works (for example his Deal for electric guitar and chamber ensemble), and relies more on hard driving rhythms, often at a considerable volume. In these regards, Ravenshead is his most adventurous composition to date.

Steven Mackey combines intellectual integrity with an extraordinary imagination to create works that touch all listeners. With Ravenshead, he demonstrates mastery of theatrical as well as purely musical media, and by doing so he continues to prove himself one of the young musical giants of our time.

(Ronald Caltabiano is a composer living in San Francisco and teaching at San Francisco State University.)

©1999 Ronald Caltabiano, all rights reserved