I attended the world premiere production of Hugo Weisgall's opera, Esther, written for the New York City Opera, back in 1993. They didn't have much faith in new operas back then. Esther was one of a handful of new operas commissioned by City Opera and put on during that season, receiving only two performances each. Esther received rave reviews, and I bet they wish they had scheduled more performances. Surprisingly, given the excited reception from the audiences and the critics, they did not reprise the production in subsequent seasons, and only now, a decade and a half later, has the City Opera remounted Esther.
I was really excited by that 1993 performance. I found the opera involving, even though the musical idiom was rather forbidding - atonal and lacking in contrast as the music unfolded. This time around, I found it less involving. Saturday's performance actually marked the return of City Opera after a year's hiatus. They did a concert a few nights ago to show off the hall, but this first performance of four that will be offered of Esther was the first fully-staged opera they have mounted since the end of the 2007-2008 season. It was unclear to me whether this was a totally new production, or whether they reused sets and costumes from that long-ago premiere. In any event, the production was comprised of projections and scrims, not actual built-up sets, with colorful costumes meant to invoke ancient Persia where the story of Esther (from the Megilla, a Jewish sacred text) supposedly took place. The opera's libretto is relatively faithful to the ancient scripture, fleshing out characters a bit but following the old story line.
The problem for me, I guess, is that the music remains mostly forbidding and grey, due to a lack of melody and a lack of contrast. It seems to be continuously shouting at one, with little in the way of tenderness. I did find that the second and third acts, especially the third, seemed more listener-friendly, and perhaps it was the spectacle of the final movements, with semi-clad exotic dancers and the colorful garb of the courtiers, that softened the music a bit. Or perhaps one becomes more accepting of the idiom as the evening wears on. In any event, I found the opera a bit static and, lacking memorable themes, a bit difficult to maintain focus upon. I found my mind wandering.... It may also be that George Manahan, City Opera's music director, had more difficulty finding the "music" in the "notes" than his predecessor from that long ago season. Lauren Flanigan reprised her role as Queen Esther, and made the most of it. James Maddalena is Mordecai was excellent. Stephen Kechulius as Xerxes, King of Persia (Ahasueras in the ancient Hebrew text), was OK without being really commanding - one never really understood his professed love for Esther. Most effective for me were Roy Cornelius Smith as Haman, the evil prime minister who plots the murder of the Jews, and Margaret Thompson as Zeresh, Haman's wife and co-conspirator. Maybe it's just that the folks who sing the roles of villians can be more easily memorable.
The audience gave a great ovation at the end, but it's hard to judge anything by that. Certainly this was an honorable effort by all involved, and given the great reception the opera had on its first performance it should have been revived before now, but I would count this revival as only moderately successful, for which more blame accrues to Weisgall, since deceased, than anybody connected with the current production.
As to the theater - this was my first time back since the renovations that largely closed down the company last year. I was in the third ring center, front row, from where the sound was pretty good. The new seats are firm but comfortable -- the old seats REALLY needed replacing, as you could feel the springs in the seats, the covers were worn so thin over time -- but their design precludes stuffing one's coat under the seat, due to the presence of a large metal bar. The lobby has been brightened up with better lighting and an illuminated wall for the ticket windows, but the fat ladies still dominate the orchestra-level lobby! It will take more listening to judge whether the renovation was an accoustical success. There are new aisles in the orchestra to ease getting to and from seats, but since I wasn't sitting down there I have little basis to judge that experiment. The opera pit is bigger, so they are less crowded and can expand the orchestra for the big romantic operas. That will be interesting to hear.
Welcome back, NYC Opera!