Review: It's THREE DECEMBERS in July at Berkshire Opera Festival in New York

I've heard much praise about the quality of the vocal writing of Jake Heggie from singers who adore the way his music caresses their voices. But THREE DECEMBERS, performed this past weekend at the Berkshire Opera Festival at Pavilion Theatre, PS21 in Chatham, New York, was the first time I heard a complete dramatic work by the composer. As characters from FOLLIES by Sondheim--a composer whose music echoes in Heggie's score--said about showing up at the reunion that frames that musical, "I'm so glad I came."

DECEMBERS is not a major work; in fact, it's quite slight and has just three roles. Some might even call Gene Scheer's libretto cliched, focusing on the absent show-biz mother (here, a glamourous Broadway star, a role originated by Frederika von Stade) whose children have suffered from a lack of attention most of their lives. Nonetheless the opera works well. It's based on a short script by the late playwright-librettist Terrence McNally, who collaborated with the composer on the more significant DEAD MAN WALKING, which is still waiting for its Met premiere. Scheer also worked with Heggie on a successful operatic treatment of Melville's MOBY DICK.

Shakespeare may have said "The play's the thing," but here, it was the simple and pungent production that made every action and reaction count in Heggie's music and Scheer's libretto. Under Beth Greenberg's taut direction and Christopher James Ray's careful baton, with scenic design by Janie E. Howland, lighting by Alex Jainchill and costumes by Brooke Stanton, DECEMBERS came to vivid life. It was the performances (including the 11-piece chamber orchestra) in the three-scene story, which takes place at Christmas 10 years apart, that helped make this piece worth noting.

Mother, Madeline Mitchell, portrayed marvelously by mezzo Adriana Zabala, makes us almost forgive her egotism (even when her children can't), as she flounces her way through the role like the diva she's supposed to be.

Yes, she's supposed to be a legend and comes first in her life, even though she would never admit it. Yes, she may say she adores her children, but only to the extent that they support her ego. Yes, she picked up the slack when their father died suddenly when the children were young, but she was successful enough to have help in raising them and doesn't seem to have sacrificed much.

Madeline has one of the best arias (songs?) in the work, beautifully and thoughtfully conceived. "Daybreak" is supposed to be the finale from her current show, but for me the echoes of Sondheim's "Children Will Listen" were too strong, in what is the most Broadway-ish of the music in the piece and was performed lovingly by mezzo Zabala.

Her children, now in their twenties, are supposed to have endless patience for her shenanigans, but they are running out of the ability to put up with them, which includes her forgetting the name of her son's long-time partner who is dying. Charlie, sung beautifully by baritone Theo Hoffman and Bea (a sumptuous performance by soprano Monica Dewey) are paired wonderfully by the composer. (It's interesting to note that they play second fiddle to their mother, down to the fact that their characters don't have surnames, while she does.)

Otherwise, Heggie's score suggests Broadway without actually settling there and has depth and vigor in it, aided and abetted by conductor Ray and the chamber ensemble, particularly in his writing for the winds. The most touching of the music, for me, included the echoes of the lullaby the father sang to the children so many years before and the duet for mother and daughter that asks, "Why are things so hard?" in their relationship.

It was gratifying to find such a highly professional performance far from the madding crowd. The Berkshire Opera Festival still has one more opera on its schedule this summer: Mozart's DON GIOVANNI, August 20 at 1pm, August 23 at 7:30 and August 26 at 7:30, performed at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA. In addition, there's a concert on August 10 at 7:30, "High on the Ramparts: A Spotlight on Black Composers," at the Ellen Crane Memorial Room, Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA.

For more information, see the Festival's website, berkshireoperafestival.org.

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