I’m absurdly excited that the Washington National Opera will be putting on a production of Jake Heggie’s “Moby-Dick” next year at the Kennedy Center! By no means am I any kind of opera expert or super-fan, but I’ve always been enthralled by every opera I’ve ever seen; it’s perhaps the only art form where I become so utterly immersed that the irritating armrest-fighter next to me and the germy cougher across the aisle both melt away, leaving only me and the performance.
“Moby-Dick” is a natural for an operatic production, of course: a epic story with larger than life characters, life and death, man vs. nature, tragedy, whales thrashing about, and a peg-leg! The only thing missing as far as I can tell is, um, a soprano! The cast photo shows one woman…not sure who she’ll turn out to be, but I’m looking forward to finding out. (Research shows that she plays the cabin boy.)
Here’s the link for more info, though individual tickets aren’t available yet (go ahead…subscribe to the whole season!).
Here’s a Washington Post review of the original production in Dallas. Anne Midgette writes:
“Moby-Dick,” though not perfect, turned out to be one of the most satisfying new operas I’ve seen premiered. And while new work is often seen by audiences as more a duty than a pleasure, the opening-night crowd in Dallas broke into spontaneous applause three times during the first half, and screamed and yelled its approval at the curtain calls. It was a wonderful and rare reminder that new opera truly can excite people if it’s done right.
While I don’t usually read paragraphs marked “spoiler alert”—I did in this Post article, assuming I know the end of the book so what could be spoiled?—but…I didn’t know the end of this opera; and when I read the ending, I got chills down my spine immediately. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPERA!!!
