Rachel Portman's The Little Prince
By Steven A. Kennedy
Excerpted from FSM Vol. 8, No. 6, on sale eventually...
In an era when classical music appears to be in an utter malaise, there
is evidently room for one more new opera. Opera has become the trendy night
out for many younger adults who go more for the spectacle and recognition
factor than for the music or story. What aids opera in America is the introduction
of subtitle machines that help bridge the common language barriers along
with "reinterpretations" of standard fare. Most of the attention-getting
operas of the past couple of decades have surrounded a group of composers
utilizing minimalist techniques in this large-scale form. John Adams has
perfected this with his political operas like Nixon in China and
The Death of Klinghofer, but most of the standard new fare tends
to lie closer to the heart of neo-Romanticism with hints of the Minimalist
style. Composing music for the opera house seems almost an anomaly, but
it happens more often then most people realize.
Houston Grand Opera has a long history of presenting world premieres
of contemporary operas, many by Carlisle Floyd in particular, but other
than Nixon in China, none has really managed to move into a wider
circle of awareness. Their opera studio has produced the likes of Michael
Daugherty's Jackie O and Robert Moran's The Dracula Diary.
The HGO will be familiar to those who remember the Joplin revival in the
1970s and its Kennedy Center performance of Treemonisha. And until a few
years ago, the HGO held the honor of one of the best recordings of Gershwin's
Porgy and Bess. So it is with a great resume like this that the
HGO entered into commissioning a new opera by Rachel Portman.
Film lovers have grown to appreciate Portman's music for Emma
(for which she received her Oscar) and The Cider House Rules. Her
recent projects have been buried in films that did not quite make the cut
at Oscar time. The score for The Legend of Bagger Vance was an Americana
score that revealed her diversity of style, as did her score for Jonathan
Demme's dismal remake, The Truth About Charlie. Her relative absence
recently from the film world was due to her work on a children's opera
for the HGO based on Antoine de Saint-Exupery's 1943 novel, The Little
Prince.
First a brief word about the story for those who are unfamiliar with
it: A pilot is forced to land in the Saharan Desert during a sandstorm
where he meets up with the mysterious little prince who claims to be from
another planet. The prince relates his story and adventures while learning
valuable lessons along the way about love and seeking wisdom. Filled with
allegory masquerading as a children's tale, The Little Prince manages
to touch on materialism, greed, alcoholism, love, friendship and death
in ways particularly relevant for adults.
The most difficult thing to overcome may be the opportunity for Portman
to try her hand at extended vocal writing, though she had some chance to
do this on Disney's Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997).
Her interest in this project was revealed in this June's Opera News, where
she reveals her desire to add to the literature of children's opera. She
has been given an amazing libretto to work with as Wright's words pack
power into small spaces. The libretto design also allows for excellent
story arches that play better in the first act than in the second, at least
on the surface of things.
Portman's music will be mostly new to those who come to see The
Little Prince. Film music fans just have to be understanding that Hollywood
and the arts may meet on occasion, but the disrespect or disdain that film
music receives from the art world has always been there. So rather than
think of the work as a crossover opera, it is far better to hear this opera
as the first concert work by Portman. Film music fans will note that there
is a definite drawing on the soundworlds of her film scores. But it would
be more important to realize that perhaps we are just accustomed to her
style enough to recognize her distinct voice. The Little Prince is
filled with music that fans of Emma, The Cider House Rules, Chocolat
and The Legend of Bagger Vance will surely be able to point
to as reference points for its own musical language. The combination of
what would seem disparate film approaches does wonders for this fairy tale.
The opening "Prologue" is full of Emma-inspired sounds. The orchestration
is simply a magical extension of that sound world. The "Pilot's Song" is
truly a gorgeous highlight filled with beautiful soaring lines. There is
plenty of magical music to fill the following scenes, including a segment
that is very reminiscent of Elfman's music for Edward Scissorhands.
A highlight that allows Portman's music to come more to the forefront is
the wonderful musical interlude that plays while the pilot and the prince
watch a sunset. The connection to Scene 10 with the lamplighter later in
the act is wonderfully accomplished as well.
The chief audience pleasers in Act One come from the baobab tree's chorus.
This will likely be a classic opera moment as the four trees sing a delightful
work performing in a kind of vegetative version of Dahl's Oompa Loompas
from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The Vain Man's aria,
with his punctuated kazoo, is also an opportunity for audience participation
by vain demand. The Crane chorus, as with many of the children's choruses,
is delightful to hear and see. Portman also provides an opportunity for
a humorous little basso profundo aria for the King. Those familiar with
Saint-Exupery's life will appreciate the care given to the symbolism of
the rose (a reference to his wife, some believe). The Prince's song about
his precious flower has some of the best literary writing in the opera
that really allows for the deeper implications of the story to come across.
One of the things that struck me about the first act was the kind of
circular route we travel in the opera. This is made in a kind of turning
motif heard at the start of the whole work and reappears in different musical
ways throughout. There are parallel characters that illustrate important
themes for the opera and are lessons for our own age. We have the Vain
man who is dependent on others to drive his living offset by the alcoholic
who is driven by his addiction. His life is a circle that mirrors that
of the businessman. The lamplighter has a life that seems more to mirror
our own age. His life is culturally driven in a way that has much to say
to our own busy world. As the act comes to a close, we meet the geographer
who mirrors the dependence on others for information, but is self-absorbed
in a way that cuts close to the lamplighter's focus. The first act moves
very fast as it builds to a finale whose melodic contours are cousins to
the main thematic idea from The Cider House Rules.
Act Two opens like the prologue with a Chocolat kind of sound
that becomes identified with the character of the Snake. The Snake's aria
slithers chromatically about in a great unsettling sequence that leaves
us questioning if he is evil or good. The music that moves us between scenes
two and three has a kind of impressionistic feel á la Debussy's
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. The tension is offset by the humorously
choreographed, and audience pleasing, Hunter's chorus. The scene with the
Fox and the Prince has an interlude for stage action that goes too long
for the cat-and-mouse chase on stage. But the payoff is a great closing
section that pulls in the children's chorus to emphasize, "There's just
one place where beauty grows." The following scenes move quickly toward
the finale, stopping off at a well for one of the finest choruses of the
work, a tour-de-force that hammers home the theme of looking, or following
one's heart.
There are great musical touches that allow The Little Prince
to be an accessible fairy tale opera that deserves further performances
beyond Houston. It was apparent by following the score that there were
some cuts made, perhaps for length, and that the pure orchestral sections
may have been the first to go. That makes some sense given the smaller
stage setting and the static set changes made possible by a wonderfully
designed multi-functional set that draws you in to the story from the outset.
There were several empty seats noticeable in sections of the first floor,
perhaps the domain of opera patrons too blue-blooded to attend a crossover
opera. They missed a wonderful evening of amazing music, a childhood classic
come to life, and unbelievably creative costume design. I asked a couple
of younger people if they enjoyed the opera and they were enthusiastic
in their praise of seeing one of their favorite books brought to life.
It would seem that all concerned have managed to hit their target audience.
My impression is that the second act, while shorter, seems to drag. Perhaps
it has more to do with the more serious character of the second act's focus
and the fact that there are fewer scenes with new characters. But I was
still caught up in the exciting build to the finale.
The Houston Grand Opera's production is directed by Francesca Zambello
and includes costuming designed by the late Maria Bjornson. The Little
Prince will run in 12 performances through June 22, and tickets are
selling fast. Hurry!!!!
For the complete story, check out FSM Vol. 8, No. 6, on sale eventually...
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