Pittsburgh Opera to Stage Benjamin Britten’s “Parable for Church Performance”

The Madwoman (Logan Wagner) and two monks (Erik Nordstrom, left, and Matthew Soibelman) Credit all Photos: David Bachman Photography

          Like other iterations of art, opera has many different genres. Opera seria, opera buffa, grand opera, operetta and musical drama are all fairly common, but one that’s a bit more obscure is opera as parable meant to be staged in a church.

          Pittsburgh Opera is set to present the latter in four performances amid the magnificent Gothic Revival architecture of Calgary Episcopal Church in Shadyside when it stages Benjam Britten’s “Curlew River,” a haunting reimaging of a Japanese Noh play as a medieval morality tale.

          “Curlew River” resembles an opera, but Britten called it a parable for church performance. Some who’ve seen it liken it to a religious experience rather than a typical opera.

Composed eight years after the composer visited Japan in 1956, the work is based on the Noh play Sumidagawa (Sumida River) by Kanze Jūrō (1395–1431) and draws extensively conventions of Noh theater.

          Pittsburgh Opera’s Study Guide for the opera calls “Curlew River” “a blend of medieval mystery play structures and music, Japanese theatrical traditions, and western operatic elements. It’s a unique cross-cultural work of musical theater that includes powerful emotional expressions.”

Processional by the Abbot and two monks

          The adapted for opera plot takes place not in Japan but in the fenland of East Anglia, England, and concerns a woman driven mad by the loss of her 12-year-old son who disappeared a year earlier. Now searching for her son, her journey takes her to the bank of the Curlew River, which she attempts to cross to the other side via a ferry.

Onboard, she’s accompanied by a Ferryman, an Abbot and various Pilgrims wanting to visit a shrine with alleged miraculous powers on the opposite bank. Along the way the Madwoman overhears a tale told by the Ferryman, which even deepens her sorrow.

The woman’s grief and desolation is eventually mollified and the tale ends transcendingly and miraculously with a note of comfort and spiritual healing for both the mother and, presumably, the audience.

Baritone Erik Nordstrom

In keeping with Noh traditions and medieval theater conventions, all the roles, including that of the Madwoman, are sung by males. Cast in the role of the Ferryman, baritone Erik Nordstrom is a second year Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist. This season, Nordstrom has already portrayed Schaunard in “La Boheme” and Hawkins Fuller in “Fellow Travelers.” Yet to come in February and March, he’ll sing the role of Tyson in “Time to Act.”

When asked how the range of operatic roles he’s singing this season might impact his career, he mentioned that one of his goals is to eventually work in European opera houses.

“The way we’ve scheduled our rehearsals here as Resident Artists, performing one opera while getting ready to perform the next one, is similar to the way European opera houses operate,” he said.

“For instance, we start rehearsing for ‘Time to Act’ the day after our final matinee of ‘Curlew River.’  This will be very helpful experience if and when I get a chance to sing in Europe.”

In general, though, he said, it’s very advantageous to sing a diverse diet of musical input and have experience in a lot of different vocal styles.

To prepare for Curlew, he said he started by reading and researching the opera. One of the things that interested him was discovering “where Britten was in terms of Japanese Noh theater and ancient and sacred Gagaku music and how they infused Britten’s work. He also watched film clips of Noh plays as well as productions of “Curlew River.”

“I also highlighted specific instructions Britten inserted into the score such as how the Ferryman should deliver a certain line,” he said.

The Madwoman (Logan Wagner) and two monks (Erik Nordstrom, left, and Matthew Soibelman)

Nordstrom said the piece is difficult in general. For one, the orchestra and singers are not always on the same pitch, with the orchestra often playing a half tone below or above the singer.

Britten also indicates in the score a lot of sliding from one pitch to another reminiscent of the call of the curlew, a shore bird with a long, downward curved bill. This is especially true of the Madwoman who goes from low to high, then stops abruptly.

“As the Ferryman, I’m trying to portray a living, breathing person to visually create the character while, at the same time, sing the role with 100 percent accuracy, which is not an easy thing to do,” he said.

          To develop his character, he said he tries to do as much as he can on his own ahead of time, but that the character doesn’t really solidify until he enters the rehearsal room.

“I have some ideas ahead of time, but I know things will change in rehearsal and really coalesce fully in the late stages of rehearsal.”

.         Another rehearsal adjustment comes from the time the opera moves from the rehearsal room to the open expanses of the church. Nordstrom said he’s fortunate in being able to adapt to the different space, and its different acoustics, rather quickly, usually after just one rehearsal.

The Abbot (Matthew Soibelman, center) and two monks (Erik Nordstrom, left, and Logan Wagner) 

Britten’s orchestration calls for seven instruments, namely flute (doubling piccolo), viola, double bass, harp, horn, chamber organ and percussion (5 small untuned drums, 5 small bells and 1 large tuned gong).

Some have called the flute the Madwoman’s alter ego, while saying the horn serves the same concept for the Ferryman.  Nordstrom agrees saying “there’s an explicit connection between the horn and the Ferryman. The flute, in our production, signifies the Madwoman and is also connected to the curlew. The horn and Ferryman have masculine energy in contrast to the fragility of the flute and the Madwoman.”

          Britten’s infusion of Noh influences into the opera include the use of masks on the part of the singers, that they all be men, that the performance style be ritualized and that there be no conductor. Pittsburgh’s production will discard the use of masks and will have music director, Antony Walker, conduct.

          As Britten intended, the set is minimalist, although Nordstrom said the church is as luxurious a setting as it gets. “I’m also excited that the performance will be lit in candlelight,” he said.

            When asked why this particular opera was chosen to be part of the current season, Nordstrom mentioned that it is one of Pittsburgh Opera General Director Christopher Hahn’s favorite pieces, and that Pittsburgh Opera has an excellent cast of resident artists suited to the roles.

          “Curlew River” a production of Pittsburgh Opera, is at the Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside for four performances from January 24 to February 1. For tickets, phone 412-456-6666.