The Opera: Blanche DuBois arrives at the New Orleans apartment of her younger, married sister Stella and Stella's husband Stanley Kowalski. A simple two room apartment in the French Quarter, it isn't really conducive to hosting a long stay but it becomes clear very early that Blanche has nowhere to go. The family's ancestral estate was lost to creditors. It also becomes clear that Blanche has some psychological issues and not everything she says is the truth. She and her brother-in-law do not get along (to say the least) but Blanche is hopeful of a new relationship with one of Stanley's friends named Mitch. This opera was first performed in 1988 and this production is a co-production between OTSL and Boston Lyric Opera.
Composer: Andre Previn
Libretto: Phillip Littel, based on the play by Tennessee Williams
Principal Cast:
Sara Gartland (Blanche DuBois), soprano. Sarah made an impressive OTSL debut last year as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus and this role couldn't be more different than that role. When this opera premiered, Renee Fleming sang Blanche and those are hard shoes to fill. But fill them Gartland does. Her performance of this very difficult part is exceptional, her voice powerful when needed and small when needed. Her performance makes attending the performance well worth the time.
David Adam Moore (Stanley Kowalski), baritone. If you are expecting a Marlon Brando performance of Stanley you will be disappointed, Moore's Stanley is a thug without the sex appeal and I think this is intentional. Moore sings wonderfully though and his performance is powerful. Originally it was announced that Thomas Glass would sing this role and I admit to disappointment because I would have liked to see what he would have done with it.
Lauren Snouffer (Stella), soprano. It would have been easy for Snouffer's performance as Stella to be lost beside the tour-de-force performance of Gartland as Blanche, but Snouffer holds her own. She has a lovely voice with a more bell-like quality than Gartland which is appropriate for singing the role of the younger sister. It is difficult to see why Stella would stay with Stanley given how he is played in this production but Snouffer manages to convey Stella's sexual attraction to Stanley.
Bill Bruley (Harold "Mitch" Mitchell), Tenor. Bruley had a pleasing tone that mixed well with Gartland.
Director: Patricia Racette (Racette was appointed OTSL's new Artistic Director last year).
Running Time: 3 hours with one 25 minute intermission. Beware: the first act is 90 minutes so use the rest room before the performance.
One good thing: Sara Gartland is the reason to see this opera. Her acting combined with her powerful yet emotional voice is what made me stick it out to the end.
One not-so-great thing: I'm sure many people love the Previn score but it seemed to me to be similar to much of the mid-to-late 20th century opera in that the notes being sung didn't convey (to me, at least) a range of emotions and I found it musically boring. Interestingly the incidental music between scene changes and the accompaniment to the singing was very beautiful but the actual notes to be sung by the characters sounded like the same old "modern" music that bears no relation to the words being sung. If you don't like modern you will tire of the music in this one fairly quickly. I did. (Full disclosure, I like very little opera from the mid-late 20th century but I have enjoyed very many of the operas I've seen written in the 21st century.)
