The official gazette for Michael Berkeley's Jane Eyre opera Saint Louis Today has a lengthy article on
Michael Berkeley's Jane Eyre opera with lots of info on what's behind it.
Why "Jane Eyre"?
"It was David Malouf's suggestion," Berkeley said in an e-mail exchange, "and at first I was a bit wary, since it is such a famous book. David, an experienced hand at opera, believes passionately that in a new opera, you really need as much going for you as possible and that if the audience already knows the story, then that is a huge advantage for them and for you."
To make it more dramatically immediate, Opera Theatre's artistic director Colin Graham asked Berkeley to turn the original two brief acts into one, adding some transitional music. That puts the total running time at a short, but intense, 80 minutes.
Berkeley agreed to the change.
"We did not set out to do a Hollywood extravaganza using the whole of 'Jane Eyre,' but rather a concentrated and intense take on the central domestic kernel of the drama at Thornfield," he said.
It's also a modern take.
"We have walked round the piece and viewed it very much from the terrible predicament of the first Mrs. Rochester up in the attic. Jean Rhys' 'Wide Sargasso Sea,' feminism and the developments in psychology in recent years mean that we necessarily see the scenario with a contemporary eye," Berkeley said. "Jane is a very single-minded girl. Ultimately, it is a timeless story of 'three into two won't go,' and in the effort to make it go, a terrible price is paid. It's not just, 'Reader, I married him,' because we have, at the end, the corpse of the original Mrs. Rochester and Rochester himself burnt and blinded."[...]
His godfather's impact is also present, not surprisingly. Graham said he finds "strong overtones of 'The Turn of the Screw,'" Britten's setting of Henry James' supernatural tale. Like it, "Jane Eyre" has "a strong spirit of haunting," in this case by Mrs. Rochester. Also like "Turn of the Screw," "Jane Eyre" was written for a small group of musicians - five singers and 13 instrumentalists. The string parts have been doubled for this production.
Graham has a knack for bringing out the dramatic possibilities of new works. This one will "be strictly in its own period." The set is dominated by high mirrors and a staircase that winds upward - toward the attic.
He has a strong cast, headed by Kelly Kaduce in the title role. Kaduce, who made a strong impression as Sister Angelica here in 2004, is a fine singer and intense actress. Mr. Rochester is baritone Scott Hendricks, whom Graham calls "a dark, brooding actor." Mrs. Rochester will be sung by mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Batton.
The cast is completed by mezzo-soprano Robynne Redmon as the housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax, and a Gerdine Young Artist, soprano Elizabeth Reiter, as Adele.
"There's a marvelous quote from Charlotte Bronte: 'Goodness must be passionate to be worth anything,'" Graham said.
"Jane Eyre" promises to provide a passionate evening of music theater.
Details:
Where: Loretto-Hilton Center, Webster University
When: 7 p.m. June 4 and 8 p.m. June 8, 10, 14 and 16.
More info: 314-961-0171 or experienceopera.org
(Picture: (Left to right) Soprano Kelly Kaduce, with famed costume designer Jane Greenwood and draper Rick Tuckett. (Ken Howard))Categories: Jane_Eyre, Opera, Music
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