Go See These Black Operas -- Several Times

[Celerity]

Last edited Wed Oct 20, 2021, 02:25 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/opinion/black-opera-appropriation.html



In one of my first newsletters, I discussed an opera about Black people written by white men and suggested that we attend, as well, to operas written by Black people. I’ve experienced two of them lately. They, like “Blues Opera,” put me in mind of our current discussion about cultural appropriation — but not in the way some might think.

I refer to Terence Blanchard’s music for the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere piece of the season, the new “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” and “Highway 1, U.S.A.” by William Grant Still — the “dean” of Black classical composers — which the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis streamed until a few weeks ago.

Both operas are couched in the lush, and even dense, language of 20th-century modern opera. With busy, intricate scoring for a classical orchestra, the harmonic language in both pieces takes us, of course, far beyond the ordinary I-IV-V kinds of progressions of popular song, and beyond that, both challenge their audiences by withholding the easy pleasures of celebrated, hummable arias such as “La donna è mobile” from “Rigoletto.”

Instead, they require their audiences to adjust to Black American characters, leading contemporary, everyday lives, who sing in a musical language developed mainly by Europeans. Both pieces seek to take classical music a step beyond what sits most easily on the ear — in relative disregard of whether today’s listeners find it relatable. It’s bold, but the results leave me with mixed feelings.

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[Ocelot II]

1. I will be going to Fire Shut Up In My Bones on Saturday -

the Met's live streaming performance. Heard bits of it on the radio the other day, loved what I heard, so I'm really looking forward to it.