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| "Madame White Snake" (photo: ArtsEmerson) |
The ouroboros, an ancient icon
depicting a serpent eating its own tail, symbolic of eternal renewal,
is now also a symbol of three grand operas, created and written by
Cerise Lim Jacobs, consisting of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning
Madame White Snake,
along with two World Premieres, Naga and
Gilgamesh,
presented
by ArtsEmerson as The
Ouroboros
Trilogy.
The endless cycle of life, death and rebirth,
with each opera a fully realized production, features libretti by
Jacobs, each set to music by one of three composers. Naga
(composed by Scott Wheeler) is the story of a young Monk who
renounces everything to find nirvana, but is tempted to abandon the
path when he encounters Madame
White Snake (composed by Zhou Long), which is the
story of a demon who longs to become human in order to experience
love, while Gilgamesh
(composed by Paola Prestini) finds the demigod son of Madame White
Snake realizing his true power while being pushed into a position
where he must choose between his family and happiness. The operas
will be performed on separate nights as well as in full day marathon
events; each is less than two hours in length, performed in English
with surtitles. Any serious opera buff would do well to secure
tickets quickly,as these will be performed only twice more, all of them with Director and Production Designer Michael Counts at the helm.
Naga (referring to a semi-divine
snake), as noted above, is the story of a young monk (baritone
Matthew Worth) who has denied himself everything. The White Snake
encounters him saying goodbye to his wife (mezzo Sandra Piques Eddy).
Moved by the couple’s grief, she longs to experience such powerful
emotion herself. The monk subsequently comes upon Xiao Qing
(countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo), the Green Snake, who tempts him
three times. The monk resists the first two attacks, but his
resistance weakens during the third. The White Snake (soprano Stacey
Tappan) stops him from turning back and leads him to a renowned
healer, the Master (bass David Salsbery Fry), who takes him in as an
apprentice. When the healing master discovers the White Snake, he
recognizes her magic as the answer to his prayers for the salvation
of the world. He believes that whoever eats of her will be healed.
The monk, however, feels she should be free so the universe will
appreciate her beauty and uniqueness. The Master orders him to hold
the White Snake so he can sacrifice her. In the ensuing struggle, the
monk releases the snake and the master is stabbed. The singing was
uniformly excellent, including an adult choir and a children's
chorus. The challenging score by Wheeler, utilizing electric guitar
and a soprano sax as well as more ancient instruments, was lovely and
wonderfully conducted by Carolyn Kuan.
Madame White Snake (soprano
Susannah Biller) is the story of a white snake demon who longs to
become human to experience love. She transforms herself into human
form as a woman, encountering Xu Xian (tenor Peter Tantsits), a
mortal man, and marries him. Afraid to disclose her true identity,
she meets Abbot Fahai of the Golden Mountain Monastery (bass
Dong-Jian Gong) who recognizes her for who she is. He sows the seeds
of doubt in Xu Xian’s mind and gives him a truth potion which
re-transforms Madame White back into a snake. The Abbot leads Xu Xian
away but White Snake raises the waters to drown the Abbot. A great
flood covers the world as she is defeated by the Abbot after giving
birth to a son, rescued by the Green Snake (Michael Maniaci, one of
the world's rare male sopranos). This too was sung expertly by the
entire cast including two choruses, ably conducted by Lan Shui, and
beautifully composed by the Pulitzer-winning Long.
Gilgamesh, or
Ming (baritone Christopher Burchett), the semi-divine son of
Madame White Snake (soprano Hila Plitmann), was abandoned during his
mother’s epic battle with the Abbot (bass Andrew Nolen). He
encounters her for the first time in her human form as she is
imprisoned in the Golden Mountain Monastery. She reveals to him his
birthright, the power to control the waters, begging him to use his
power to save her. Ming returns home to find that his wife Ku
(soprano Heather Buck) has just given birth to a white, iridescent
baby girl who resembles her grandmother. Giving the baby to the green
snake (Costanzo again), who had saved him when his mother was
defeated, he returns to the Monastery. A robe and empty alms bowl are
all that are left. Ming dons the robe, takes the alms bowl, and
departs. Once again, the singers (and two more choruses) were all in
great form, especially Costanzo in his difficult register. Conducted
by Julian Wachner, Prestini's music was another wondrous take on this
mythological world.
Just as impressive as the audio
elements were the visuals created for all three operas: the striking
Costume Design by Zane Pihlstrom, the dramatic Lighting Design by Yi
Zhao and the absolutely stunning Video and Projections Design by S.
Katy Tucker. Tucker's work was especially mesmerizing.
The crowning moment was a (well
deserved) standing ovation for Jacobs, whose obvious glowing elation
with the reception of this audience was unforgettable. After decades
of work on her trilogy, the palpable warmth from the opera-lovers
present seemed to overwhelm her, as well it might. It was a
magnificent night for opera. And, if you're in the mood for even
more of an opera fix, note that Odyssey Opera Boston is producing,
for one night, 9/16 only, Dvorak's Dimitrij, and
Boston Lyric Opera begins its season at the end of this month with
several performances of Carmen. Suddenly,
Boston is awash with operatic opportunities, and Ouroboros
truly shouldn't be missed.
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