Review: NYCO Monodramas

it’s not very often when something makes you watch and listen. tonight was one of those nights for me, and luckily, i enjoyed every part of the experience. i attended New York City Opera’s trio of contemporary monodramas: La Machine de l’être by John Zorn, Erwartung by Arnold Schoenberg and Neither by Morton Feldman. when i was sketching out what i had planned to say here, i found myself at a loss for words. i was both subsumed and overwhelmed by the works, understanding and not understanding all at once. from the very beginning, i knew it would be a production. in front of the curtain as the orchestra warms up are a man and a woman in suits…they immediately reminded me of Pulp Fiction (especially the woman who had a striking resemblance to Uma Thurman in that sexy black bobbed wig) as they stared out into the crowd with cold looks on their faces. The Zorn began with masked bodies on stage, revealed to be culprits, participants and this singers themselves. though some aspects of the piece elicited laughter from the audience (the giant thought bubbles rising from the stage, revealed to be the canvas for the animations of Antonin Artuad’s art), everyone soon settled. i found myself absolutely captivated by everything happening: the dancer in the lace negligée, the soprano’s rapturous and explosive lines, the repetitive images. soon it all dissolved in a flash of fire.

before i move on, there is something that must be said about the three women performing these monodramas. an intense amount of vocal skill is needed to pull off these works and they did it with power and commitment. if there’s one thing that stuck, it’s how incredible these performances were.

the performance went straight into Erwartung with this beautiful connection that immediately made me smile. the blooming spring that turned into the cold, desolate forest of the soprano was heartbreaking. everything about this piece was visually astounding. and though i thought the schoenberg-iness went on a little long (which has always been my problem with this work), sticking it out to the end was worth it (READ: spoiler alert). the Feldman was chock full of all the things i love about Feldman: light, reflection, piercing, encapsulated sound. now THIS was a tour de force. and of course, a room filled with spinning reflective cubes never hurt. and the soprano struggled with her alter ego and the light that seemed to be trapped and beyond her reach, it seemed to me that an epic battle was taking place. one that could only be fought on a sonic level and Feldman’s fragments were the perfect weapon. there is a beautiful moment where the soprano is standing over a whole in the stage, wind and light emitting while her alter ego watches in confusion as the others leave the stage. it felt like a moment of pure sadness only accentuated by silence.

now i’m sure that nothing i just wrote falls into the majority’s understanding of what opera is. and i’m sure that these monodramas are not for everyone. but if you leave yourself open to experiencing, not listening, not looking for a narrative but experiencing, i think you’ll find all the things you would look for in a non-contemporary opera. what that means is you might just like it.