Operatic issues flow in ‘Alien Corn’
Premiere of work by Peabody pair
by Tim Smith, Sun music critic
The Alien Corn
at
Peabody
March, 2005
Nearly a century ago, the great pianist and intriguing composer Ferruccio Busoni declared that the duty of the performer is to liberate music “from the deadness of the printed page and bring it to life again.” In The Alien Corn, an opera based on a short story by W. Somerset Maugham and premiered Wednesday night at the Peabody Conservatory, a would-be musician faces the dreadful realization that no amount of study will enable him to conquer that deadness — “Not in a thousand years.” All he can aspire to, he learns after playing for an eminent pianist, is to be “…an accomplished amateur.”
Pretty rough. But there’s more. George Bland, the young man with the burning artistic ambition, also faces a daunting struggle to reclaim his heritage, to embrace his Jewish-German roots after being raised as a proper Englishman on a proper English estate by parents who have successfully Anglicized themselves and gone all posh. Caught in a curious limbo — dedicated to the art of music, incapable of rising above mediocrity; anxious to reclaim his identity, unsure of how; maybe even a little worried about his sexuality (a wrinkle the opera subtly introduces to the original story) — George gives up on everything. His suicide marks “…the death of all he might have been… all he never knew he was.”
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| JESSE HELLMAN |
| Daniel Seigel as George Bland |
| with Lucas Tannous as Somerset |
There is obviously no shortage of issues in The Alien Corn, either Maugham’s (which some Nazis absurdly embraced as a justification for their racial policies) or this new work by Peabody faculty veterans Thomas Benjamin (music) and Roger Brunyate (libretto). Whether those issues gain in power or depth from an operatic treatment is not as clear. For all of the literary quality of the text and the craftsmanship of the score, the piece made a modest impression Wednesday. Scenes with emotional impact, wry humor or character insight competed with discursive, listless ones. Moments of musical sweep and intensity lost steam as melodic lines wandered and chord progressions followed well-worn paths.
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| JESSE HELLMAN | |
| Jenni Lynn Bank as Hannah | |
| Lucas Tannous (left) as Somerset |
That said, there are some remarkably effective passages, among them a gem of an aria for the character of celebrated pianist Lea Makart, who delivers the devastating verdict on George’s talent. Sung just before she goes in to hear him play, her aria celebrates the beauty of the English countryside in a disarmingly tender style. And the monologues for Somerset, a writer/traveler character who is drawn deeply to George and serves a narrator function in the opera, reveal a strong theatrical streak in composer and librettist alike.
The first cast (a second one sings tonight) was vocally uneven, but connected well enough to the roles. The most telling work came from Lucas Tannous (Somerset), Daniel Seigel (George), Jason Widney (Bertie) and Jenni Lynn Bank (Hannah). Garnett Bruce directed the action smoothly. Conductor JoAnn Kulesza drew a sturdy response from the orchestra. James M. Fouchard’s minimal set — a collection of door, window and picture frames — neatly reflects the opera’s dominant theme of strangers “…in an alien world of others’ making.”
The Baltimore Sun, March 12, 2005.