The University of Arizona Mounts a Powerful ‘Crucible’

L to R Robyn Rocklein as Elizabeth Proctor, Jennifer Beauregard as Abigale Williams and Seth Kershisnik as John Proctor in The Crucible. ©

The Opera Theater took a big risk this year as part of its series of presenting contemporary operas in English. After four years of successful modern productions – including a 2008 heartfelt rendition of Benjamin Britten’s Rape of Lucretia - Stage Director Charles Roe and Musical Director Thomas Cockrell decided they finally had the vocal and orchestral talent to give a good account of Robert Ward’s opera The Crucible, based on playwright Arthur Miller’s searing drama.

“It’s an opera I always wanted to do since I was a senior at Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland, Ohio,” Roe said at a rehearsal about three weeks before the November performances at Crowder Hall at the University. “Melvin Hakola, my voice teacher at the time, sang the lead role of John Proctor, and I was very impressed with the drama and music and hoped some day to participate in a production. Obviously, I finally got my wish.”

Now that Roe and Cockrell are firmly partnered in their quest to present exciting operas in English, specifically from the second half of the 20th Century, the duo was ready and able to tackle Ward’s opera. The result was a gripping dramatic and vocal production based on the theme of the 1672 Salem Witch Trials, still recognized today as a metaphor for the McCarthy HUAC hearings that so divided our nation in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The opera was an immediate success at its premiere at New York City Opera in 1961 (it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music) and had the added benefit of a Bernard Stambler’s libretto which he skillfully adapted from Miller’s play.

But the obstacles Roe and Cockrell faced in doing justice to The Crucible were in the details. The opera, which has 16 singing parts and 39 orchestra members, is the largest performing group the duo has had to work with since their first collaboration of Mark Adamo’s Little Women. Ward’s music is heavily orchestrated, quick moving and demands a range of vocal expressions from the singers. Right from the start of Act One, the cast has to delineate a text filled with declamation that quickly moved into a parlando style interspersed with lyrical phrasing – which it must project over orchestration – that moves faster than a speeding bullet.
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F. Alfano, Cyrano de Bergerac

From Seen and Heard International
By: José M Irurzun; Picture © Teatro Maestranza de Sevilla

Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla. Coro de la Asociación de Amigos del Teatro de la Maestranza, Conductor: Marco Guidarini. Teatro Maestranza de Sevilla. 18.11.2009. (JMI)

Natalie Manfrino (Roxanne) and Roberto Alagna (Cyrano) ©

After the performances of Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac in Valencia some three years ago, this opera returns to another Spanish stage. First time round, the title role was sung by Placido Domingo and now the focus turns to Roberto Alagna. I have to say that on each occasion the outcome was a huge success with interpretations from both great stars which were magnificent.

The Seville production comes from Montpellier, where it was premiered in 2003 and was subsequently revived in 2006. I saw it there in March 2006, when it was turned out to be a most unfortunate evening, since Roberto Alagna withdrew during the first scene and was replaced by an immature cover. The Montpellier production was credited with stage direction and sets by both David and Federico Alagna, while now David’s name appears in the programme. The production is thoroughly traditional with the action taking place as written, i.e. in the 17th century and is still most effective, although the direction of the singer/actors is not particularly good, particularly in the crowd scenes. There are suitable period costumes and very decent lighting which at Montpellier was responsibility of Aldo Solbiati; here it was Laurent Fleutot’s. In general, the production worked rather better in Seville, probably due to very difficult circumstances in Montpellier surrounding at the 2006 revival. A DVD of the Montpellier premiere is also available for comparative purposes.
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