Jazz Language Opera

The composition "Blue Calls Set You Free" by American composer Anne LeBaron premiered in Russia.

The International Festival of Contemporary Chamber Opera by Women Composers, "Muffled Voices," organized by Lyrica Classic and producer and opera singer Yulia Petrachuk, started in early February at the Moscow International House of Music.

After a successful debut, the next stop was the Chamber Hall of Zaryadye, and at the end of May, an event took place at the Helikon-Opera. However, the festival is not limited to Moscow; its events have spread beyond the capital: exclusive performances of domestic and international chamber operas for Russia have already been held in Yaroslavl and Tula, and an "expansion" of the festival to St. Petersburg is expected in the summer.

The festival's repertoire includes several highlights. First, it features chamber operas by Tatiana Chudova, a senior-generation Russian composer and professor at the Moscow Conservatory. The entire festival is dedicated to her in memory of her 80th birthday. The repertoire includes her operas "Tatiana's Dream," "Russian Women," "Professor Dowell's Head," and "Von Meck – Tchaikovsky." Second, it includes operas by contemporary young Russian composers: Alina Nebykova ("Zhdana"), Alina Podzorova ("Periodic Table"), and Anna Kuzmina ("Dreams and Not Dreams"). Third, it showcases operas by American women composers: Amy Marcy Beach ("Cabildo"), Missy Mazzoli ("Proving Up"), and Anne LeBaron ("Blue Calls Set You Free").

In the club hall Concert Hall Tula, "Muffled Voices" presented the latter opera, quite an unusual one – jazz. Thus, "Blue Calls Set You Free" was staged for the first time in Russia, with a 90-minute performance without intermission directed by Elizaveta Korneeva and set designed by Varvara Trofimova. The plot of "Blue Calls Set You Free" is a modern version of the famous ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, transposed to North American realities in the Mississippi Delta region. The opera, written in 1989, combines elements of jazz, blues, and electronic music, transforming the ancient plot into a contemporary narrative.

In the librettist Thulani Davis's version, Eurydice is a blues singer striving for independence: she dies from a poisoned berry and travels to the underworld, which turns out to be a jazz club – a place of temptation and creativity. This plot twist largely dictated the choice of venue in Tula – not a philharmonic stage or theater, but a club space. Like in the ancient myth, the grieving Orpheus tries to bring his beloved back, but Eurydice decides to reject life with Orpheus and stay in the underworld, preferring the freedom of self-expression and creative independence over a marital idyll with the legendary singer. This unique interpretation of the eternal plot emphasizes the importance of personal choice and the power of art to grant eternal life through creative freedom.

Seventy-year-old harpist and teacher from California Anne LeBaron is an experienced composer with numerous works in various genres, and "Blue Calls Set You Free" is not her only opera. It is fully resolved in a jazz-blues style, bringing it very close to the aesthetics of a musical. Of course, jazz elements are not being introduced into the opera for the first time – it's enough to remember that the great Gershwin elevated jazz to the academic stage back in the 1930s, resulting in the creation of classics in this direction, his immortal opera "Porgy and Bess." However, in LeBaron's version, the jazz-blues structure does not merely become a cornerstone element of the opera's score; the opera itself seems to descend into jazz, simplifying and turning into a real musical.

The assertion of musical aesthetics is also facilitated by the extensive use of spoken lines and the fact that the entire opera is performed with sound amplification – just like today's musicals, with singers using microphones. The vocal parts are written and performed in such a way that the academic manner of sound production is inappropriate and replaced by, frankly, jazz vocals. In terms of genre, "Blue Calls Set You Free" clearly lies somewhere between opera and musical forms of musical theater.

Stage director Elizaveta Korneeva sensitively grasped and tried to convey the musical essence of this new opera for Russia in her production. The action unfolds in a space resembling a club bar, with the audience seated around a long catwalk extending from the stage to the stalls, reminiscent of a fashion show. The catwalk is marked with railroad tracks and ties, symbolizing Eurydice's journey by train, carrying a large suitcase. The huge screen backdrop, constantly flashing video projections, also provides the perspective of a railroad track stretching into the distance at certain moments, seemingly continuing the perspective of the stage catwalk. The performance has a partially immersive character, as the action often spills into the hall, involving the audience.

All characters in the drama possess a pop-culture stage presence, dressed in extravagant costumes and bright makeup. The jazz ensemble Lyrica Classic, conducted by Vitaly Kovalenko, is positioned on stage at the back. Each central character's solo numbers are staged as flamboyant pop performances, yet the production maintains dramaturgical clarity and cohesion; these "inserted numbers" do not disrupt the unity of form but rather emphasize the musical nature of the work. In the jazz style, Elizaveta Bokova (Eurydice) and Sergey Dudinsky (Orpheus) – singers specializing in this style – vocalize organically. However, even purely opera performers have mastered the unfamiliar manner excellently and fit perfectly into the context – Ilya Khardikov (Hermes), Ilya Ushullu (Pluto), and the vocal trio Melody (Harpies prisoners).

Alexander Matushevich

Independent Newspaper

Tula-Moscow, May 26, 2024