Archive for May, 2010

Back when I was 13 and in 7th grade, my friend and I loved to ride horses. I had owned a couple of them and had worked at a stable for a while, so I considered myself a pretty decent hand, though I’d never won any show ring awards or attended any fancy riding school. My friend suggested one afternoon during spring break that we go riding. She knew of an old cowboy with a pack string wintering his horses outside town. He rented mounts for people to take out, an hour at a time.

We didn’t have any money, but then, we told ourselves, we were good riders, we could offer to school the horses a bit.

So we got on our bikes and rode six miles out of town to the little stable . The cowboy seemed rather doubtful about our proposition at first. “I don’t know,” he said. “You’re supposed to pay.” We repeated that we thought we could teach the horses something for him. He thought about it a bit. ”Well, I’ll tell you what.” he said to me. “If you can get this horse out of the saddling paddock, I’ll let you take her for a ride.”

The horse was what we’d call a dun, a light brown with a flaxen mane and tail, not big, with thin legs and one white sock on a hind foot. I remember she had a pretty head with a slightly dished face like an Arabian. She was already saddled, so I stepped right up and put my foot in the stirrup. “Her name is Cricket,” he said as I got up. The horse stood stock still. I kicked her. She tensed up. I kicked her again. And that’s when she went straight up into the air and came down stiff legged, then leapt forward in another huge buck.

I almost fell off right there, but instead I clamped my legs around her and yanked at the reins. The horse leapt forward into the air  and came down, and when she landed I yanked on the reins again. Cricket tried to pull her head free but she was wearing a long-shanked curb bit, the kind of thing which uses lever action to pinch the horse at poll and chin, impossible for a living horse to ignore. When she felt that her head finally came up. I picked up the reins, which had a long, California romal on them — a short braided leather whip with a popper on the end — and whacked her on the rump. One, two smacks, and she leapt out the gate and headed down the trail.

I looked behind me and the cowboy was nodding with surprise and approval. And at tthat second, I realized he hadn’t expected to see me leave the paddock.

I patted Cricket on the shoulder. She turned into a very nice horse after that first little rodeo. “That’s right,” I thought as I guided her down the trail, “I wouldn’t have told you I would school your horse if I didn’t mean I could school your horse.”  It was one of those moments, like hitting a home run, that you never want to let go of.

Well, the semester has ended. We made it through the perfect storm: Cell Bio, OChem Lab, and OChem Lecture finals on three consecutive days at the end of finals week. I realize that I have not been around much lately. I attribute it entirely to the aforementioned phenomenon.

So now, it’s summer. I have several weeks to recover from this full body and mind exhaustion before I return to class. I literally feel like I will never be not tired again (forgive my use of the double negative).

Anyways, I would love to stay and chat but, honestly, I don’t have enough working neurons to punch out anymore than these few sentences. I would like to close with a song, as I often do. I dedicate it to some people…you know who you are.

By the way, for any of my compatriots that may be reading this: that overwhelming feeling of accomplishment that you should be feeling right now, after finishing this year? Yeah. It’s awesome. And you so deserve it.

Moby-Dick by Jake Heggie

Dallas Opera, April 30, May 2, 5, 8, 13, and 16

Winspear Opera House, Dallas, Texas

Review by Dean Cassella

Those who liked Fort Worth Opera’s production of Dean Man Walking last year are in for a treat. Jake Heggie’s latest magnum opus, an adaption of Herman Melville’s classic novel, Moby-Dick, reveals a composer who’s depth and sophistication is growing with time, and the music world is the better for it. Heggie’s musical imagination is beginning to approach the sublime, and one can only hope that it will continue on this trajectory.

As I have said elsewhere, Heggie was already a supreme orchestrator with Dead Man Walking. The prelude and finale to Moby-Dick have a magical character that is highly reminiscent of Wagner’s Prelude to Parsifal, and I think it’s fair to say that the orchestration resides in a late Wagnerian frame of reference with, naturally enough, touches of Der Fliegende Holländer put in for good measure. The score successfully generates the atmosphere of the sea, but without resorting to a musical vocabulary that would come across as quaint or hackneyed in a modern context. Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer manage to keep the pacing and action very high; this is all the more remarkable, given the prolixity of its source.

Tenor Ben Heppner and Captain Ahab

The cast is headed by superstar heldentenor Ben Heppner as Captain Ahab. Heppner is perhaps best known to opera audiences for his interpretation of the lead role in the Met’s DVD of Tristan.

This is Heppner’s debut in TDO, and his performance was a knockout, made all the more impressive that he did so while limping around on a stilt for the entire performance. As one could expect, he successfully weds a refined articulation and sensitivity to sheer power; it would, no doubt, be a treat to see him perform Tristan in the flesh.

Foremost among the supporting cast was tenor Stephen Costello as Greenhorn/Ishmael. It is perhaps fair to describe Costello as a regular singer at TDO, who has recently been heard in Dallas in The Merry Widow and Roberto Devereux. His voice still retains the youthful sweetness that can make young maidens’ hearts melt.

Like Verdi’s Otello (another tale of the sea), Moby-Dick depicts a decidedly masculine world. In the case of Moby, though, there is no real love interest, as the work takes place entirely on ship board. Consequently, the only female voice to be heard is in the “trouser” role of Pip, the cabin boy, which places a heavy burden on the singer of the role. Soprano Talise Trevigne meets it square on with a beautiful, yet powerful voice that never falters.

Soprano Talise Trevigne as Pip

As one could expect with a world premiere, the sets and staging were absolutely fabulous. The set consisted of the opera world’s most highly raked stage, constructed of white boards which doubled as a projection screen for some very effective animated projections.

An Animated Sequence of Ahab's Ship, The Pequod

It was also outfitted wit climbing apparatus, which allowed members of the chorus to climb partially up it and become part of the animated sequences.

Veteran conductor Patrick Summers, who has conducted all of Heggie’s premieres, did a fine job at the podium, and can be said to have some unique insights into the latter’s music. Finally, the chorus, headed as always by TDO’s Alexander Rom, really shined in Moby, whose maritime theme lends itself so well to choral flourishes.

All in all, this production is living proof that opera is no longer a “dead” art form, but may actually be heading into a genuine revival. Let us hope that Heggie continues to employ tonality in his new works and positively influences other composers to follow his lead.

Next up: Puccini’s Madame Butterfly< >< ><–>