ComposerJones

Saturday was a big day at Cazenovia Counterpoint.  Unfortunately, your intrepid blogger was not able to attend the Writers Corner, but reports say it was a huge success.  Audience members stayed well after the “official” end of the program, continuing their discussions with poet Michael Jennings and fiction author Jennifer Pashley.  Have no fear, however.  Tuesday night is another writer’s corner, with fiction writer Roy Kesey and poet Philip Memmer, so if you missed the last Writers Corner, here’s your chance to make up for it.  Maybe I’ll even see you there!

I was able to attend the concert at First Presbyterian Church on Saturday night, however.  What a treat!  The concert opened with The Poet and the War, Norbert Palej’s settings of Polish poet Krzysztof Kamil Baczynski’s poems, written during Hitler’s occupation of Poland leading up to and during World War II.  Originally set in their original Polish, Palej explained that he was unsatisfied with other translations of the poems, so he translated them himself in order that the English would fit appropriately with the music he had written.  The result is superbly effective.

Of course, contributing to the power and emotion of the piece was an amazing performance by Soprano Judith Kellock.  Ms. Kellock gave a stirring performance, keeping the audience rapt as she brought to life the images from Baczynski’s poems.  Adding strength and support to her performance was the composer himself accompanying on the piano.

Next on the program were scenes from the new chamber opera Eleanor, by Persis Parshall Vehar (based on a play and historical novel by Rhoda Lerman, with librettist Gabrielle Vehar).  Eleanor explores the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, and the aspects of her life portrayed are extremely well chosen.  With Vehar at the piano, the opera was a marvelous pairing on the program, as it centers around the consequences of war, both personally and nationally.  The opera ends as Eleanor decides to accept President Truman’s request to work with the United Nations to “fight for peace.”

Soprano Corrie Grillo Raulli sang the role of Eleanor, and was outstanding in the role.  Not only was she in fine voice, but in fine acting form as well.  Eleanor is a complex character, a strong woman struggling in a time when women were expected to be submissive, and Raulli communicated this internal struggle most effectively.  A strong performer in this role is key, as Eleanor: Her Secret Journey was originally a one-woman play.  FDR (sung by David Neal), Duckworth (Jonathan Howell), and Mama (Lori Larson), although important to the story, are definitely secondary characters.  David Neal proved a strong and effective FDR, while Howell and Larson gave just the right voices to their respective characters.  Rounding out this performance were Sangeetha Ekambaram, Elizabeth Sutphen, and Carolyn Webber as the French Women.

The opera builds gradually, keeping one’s interest and driving toward the finale, where Eleanor accepts Truman’s offer while the ghosts of her past sing behind her.  This is where you realize the extent of Vehar’s talent.  Seven performers are behind her (the above characters plus Teddy Roosevelt, whose part was cut for this reading), singing passages from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which Eleanor was instrumental in shaping).  In the midst of this, Eleanor is on the phone with Truman.  Vehar wove the two texts as well as balancing the voices masterfully, with neither overpowering the other, and without jarring entrances and exits.  This is the mark of an exceptional talent.

I sincerely hope that this opera receives a full performance run.  Whether in its full form or in this shortened form, however, it is one that is well worth attending.  Keep your eye out for it, and don’t miss any opportunity that arises to attend!