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If gays can marry, why not…..?
Muhly's "Dark Sisters' by the Opera Company
Steve Cohen
Is there a similarity between polygamy and same-sex marriage? Do advocates of these controversial lifestyles share a common cause?
Nico Muhly's Dark Sisters raises that possibility, then drops the subject. It's a missed opportunity.
Dark Sisters is a new opera based on the 1953 raid on polygamous compounds of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Arizona. In the opera, one of the wives of the cult's prophet/father defends polygamy by observing that some states allow marriages of gay couples. If consenting same-sex adults can legally marry, she implies, shouldn't the same protection be extended to polygamous or under-age marriages?
Gay marriages, of course, were unheard of in 1953. Nevertheless, that question would have added contemporary relevance to the opera. It's one of several avenues upon which Dark Sisters embarks but fails to adequately explore.
At the start, we learn that the government raided the camp and removed all the children. In such circumstances, most parents would think of nothing else but the fate of their children. Yet for the next hour we hear the women discuss sewing and cooking, their jealousies and rivalries, and whom will their husband sleep with next.
Robotic responses
Despite this cognitive dissonance, the first act generated some empathy for these polygamous wives. Then Act II shows us a telecast in which a news reporter describes their "big hair" and grills them about their under-age marriages. The women's robotic responses confirm the host's worst accusations. Now they talk about their children, but their talk is obviously pre-coached propaganda to win the support of TV viewers. Whatever sympathy we had for the wives dissipates here.
At the opera's perfunctory conclusion, we learn that a state court ordered the children to be returned, but we don't see that emotional reunion.
Dark Sisters briefly raises a curtain on a community, but when that curtain drops we don't know much more about the people than we did going in.
Tantalizing music
As a composer, Muhly knows how to write effectively for women's voices. He has composed upward phrases that allow sopranos to bloom gratefully on the top notes.
He's skillful in his instrumental writing for a chamber orchestra comprised of only two violins and one each of viola, cello, bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, French horn, harp, keyboard and percussion. Sometimes he produces a full rich sound that you wouldn't expect from such a small group. Elsewhere, the instruments support and embellish the vocal lines with some nice shimmering effects.
The sound is astringent, and the score lacks the kind of developed melodies that build to emotional climaxes. Like the story, the music is tantalizing but not quite fulfilling.
The women's singing is spectacular. Strongest is Jennifer Check, a 2000 graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts who possesses a big voice with beautiful high notes.
The other soloists— Caitlin Lynch, Eve Giglotti, Margaret Lattimore, Kristina Bachrach and Jennifer Zetlan— were accomplished as well. The one man in the cast was the rather stolid (intentionally so, I assume) bass Kevin Burdette as the prophet/father/ husband and also as the TV host.
Neal Goren conducted with authority. Rebecca Taichman's direction included evocations of the American Southwest but also could have used some symbolic reminder of the women's psychological and physical confinement.♦
To read a response, click here.
Nico Muhly's Dark Sisters raises that possibility, then drops the subject. It's a missed opportunity.
Dark Sisters is a new opera based on the 1953 raid on polygamous compounds of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Arizona. In the opera, one of the wives of the cult's prophet/father defends polygamy by observing that some states allow marriages of gay couples. If consenting same-sex adults can legally marry, she implies, shouldn't the same protection be extended to polygamous or under-age marriages?
Gay marriages, of course, were unheard of in 1953. Nevertheless, that question would have added contemporary relevance to the opera. It's one of several avenues upon which Dark Sisters embarks but fails to adequately explore.
At the start, we learn that the government raided the camp and removed all the children. In such circumstances, most parents would think of nothing else but the fate of their children. Yet for the next hour we hear the women discuss sewing and cooking, their jealousies and rivalries, and whom will their husband sleep with next.
Robotic responses
Despite this cognitive dissonance, the first act generated some empathy for these polygamous wives. Then Act II shows us a telecast in which a news reporter describes their "big hair" and grills them about their under-age marriages. The women's robotic responses confirm the host's worst accusations. Now they talk about their children, but their talk is obviously pre-coached propaganda to win the support of TV viewers. Whatever sympathy we had for the wives dissipates here.
At the opera's perfunctory conclusion, we learn that a state court ordered the children to be returned, but we don't see that emotional reunion.
Dark Sisters briefly raises a curtain on a community, but when that curtain drops we don't know much more about the people than we did going in.
Tantalizing music
As a composer, Muhly knows how to write effectively for women's voices. He has composed upward phrases that allow sopranos to bloom gratefully on the top notes.
He's skillful in his instrumental writing for a chamber orchestra comprised of only two violins and one each of viola, cello, bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, French horn, harp, keyboard and percussion. Sometimes he produces a full rich sound that you wouldn't expect from such a small group. Elsewhere, the instruments support and embellish the vocal lines with some nice shimmering effects.
The sound is astringent, and the score lacks the kind of developed melodies that build to emotional climaxes. Like the story, the music is tantalizing but not quite fulfilling.
The women's singing is spectacular. Strongest is Jennifer Check, a 2000 graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts who possesses a big voice with beautiful high notes.
The other soloists— Caitlin Lynch, Eve Giglotti, Margaret Lattimore, Kristina Bachrach and Jennifer Zetlan— were accomplished as well. The one man in the cast was the rather stolid (intentionally so, I assume) bass Kevin Burdette as the prophet/father/ husband and also as the TV host.
Neal Goren conducted with authority. Rebecca Taichman's direction included evocations of the American Southwest but also could have used some symbolic reminder of the women's psychological and physical confinement.♦
To read a response, click here.
What, When, Where
Dark Sisters. Music by Nico Muhly; libretto by Stephen Karam; Neal Goren conducted; Rebecca Taichman directed. Co-production of Opera Company of Philadelphia, Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group closed June 17, 2012 at Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Sts. (215) 732-8400 or www.operaphila.org.
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