Garwood's "Scarlet Letter,' by AVA (2nd review)

Margaret Garwood has found in The Scarlet Letter a strong piece of musical theater. Writing both the libretto and the music, Garwood cleverly edited the Hawthorne novel. She has also created vivid stage moments from events referred to only elliptically by Hawthorne. In some places she has actually improved Hawthorne's story telling.

You'll recall that The Scarlet Letter concerns Hester Prynne, who becomes pregnant after her husband is presumed lost at sea on his way from England to Puritan New England. She refuses to reveal her lover's identity, and for the crime of adultery Hester is condemned to wear the scarlet letter "A." The man who impregnated her is later discovered to be the town's minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. The themes of the story are intolerance, rigidity and guilt.

The minister's guilt is three-fold: First, he impregnated Hester; second, he's too cowardly to admit it; and third, he failed to acknowledge his daughter.

Unnecessary prologue

This is a long three-act opera— a bit too long. It seems even longer because it lacks the diversion of recognizable hit tunes that punctuate lengthier operas like Die Walkure or Don Carlo. Garwood decided to introduce her opera with a prologue that showed Hester on her deathbed and set up the story as a flashback, but this extra length doesn't strengthen the narrative. After all, most Americans don't need an introduction to this story. We want to see the drama of Hester's life. So let's get on with it.

The prologue is problematical for another reason as well: It's misleading. When asked what happened to her daughter, the dying Hester says that Pearl has gone to a better place. We assume that she means heaven and that her daughter has pre-deceased her. Or, maybe, that Pearl was adopted by another family. Neither was the case. Perhaps Garwood was intentionally teasing us, so that we'll worry about whether the daughter will be removed from her mother's home.

(According to the novel, Hester returned to the town many years later. She received occasional letters from Pearl, who had married a European aristocrat and established a family of her own. When Hester died, she was buried next to Dimmesdale. The two share a single tombstone which bears a scarlet "A.")

In either case, this prologue could be cut.

At least one scene in this opera is more powerful than anything in Hawthorne's novel. Hawthorne writes that the minister, wracked with guilt, took a "bloody scourge" and "plied it on his own shoulders." The opera shows us Dimmesdale flagellating himself with a steel-tipped whip, causing his back to bleed.

Back to the 1890s

Garwood's music eschews almost all the new sounds written for operas in the 20th Century by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Berg and Britten, not to mention the Americans Bernstein and Copland, whose easily assimilated music was innovative and challenging. Copland, in particular, would be a perfect influence because he, although born in Brooklyn, absorbed and passed along a musical distillation of New England life. A hint of Charles Ives would have been nice, too, for the same reason.

Garwood, however, chose a palette that drew on none of these sources. Most of the opera could have been written in the 1890s. Nevertheless, her achievement shouldn't be dismissed. For one thing, large numbers of opera attendees prefer this type of composition. For another, it will take more than one hearing to establish the music's endurance.

I'm reminded of the critical reaction to Giordano's 1896 opera, Andrea Chenier, when it was revived by La Scala and the Met in the early 1950s. Musicologists wrote that it favored orchestra over singers and that it flowed through without pause for arias, with parlando (declaimed) recitation taking the place of melody. How strange that judgment sounds now. When Chenier became a hit, audiences discovered its tunes, and several arias from Chenier became popular staples.

Not hummable

Maybe the public will get to know Hester's aria, "I Will Not Betray Him" or Dimmesdale's "I Have Wished For Death" or "How Long Must This Suffering Go On?" But I suspect it will take time.

A friend of mine loved The Scarlet Letter and yet, a few minutes after the curtain fell, she could not hum any phrase from it. I wouldn't judge an opera solely by this criterion, but The Scarlet Letter seems to want to have things both ways: opting for familiarity over innovation but not achieving it.

Garwood writes superbly for a large orchestra, giving special weight to the lower brass and woodwinds. Orchestral interludes sum up some of the story's most emotional moments. The vocal writing for solo singers and chorus alike is easy on the ears.

Depth of talent

I saw Olivia Vote as Hester, at the work's second performance. She looked just right, acted well and sang eloquently. Tenor Zach Borichevsky repeated his portrayal of the minister from the first night, singing plangently and appealingly. Alex Lawrence was convincing as the bitter husband, Chillingworth, who arrives in Boston and embarks on a mission to find and destroy Hester's lover.

The depth of talent at the Academy of Vocal Arts meant that many small roles were taken by first-class singers like Michelle Johnson, Margaret Mezzacappa and others. Dorothy Danner directed with the broad sweep that this melodrama calls for, and she had cast members quickly slide into place the large sets designed by Peter Harrison. Richard Raub conducted the excellent professional orchestra.

Upon seeing this venerable story on stage for the first time, some questions arise. Hester is praised for her charitable contributions to the poor. But she's an indigent single mother, shunned by the community. So where does she get money to give to the poor? Later she purchases ship passage to Europe for three people. This unexplainable flaw is Hawthorne's, not Garwood's.♦


To read another review by Tom Purdom, click here.