Opera Philadelphia's 'Yardbird' (second review)

Award-winning poet and playwright Bridgette A.Wimberly, who wrote the libretto, clearly did her homework. She fashioned an exceptional fictional tale that is perfectly suited for opera. In 1955, a seriously ill Parker sought refuge in the home of jazz patroness and Rothschild family member Baroness Pannonica “Nica” de Koenigswarter, beautifully performed by Tamara Mumford. He died there on March 12. Fearing a scandal (the baroness was white and Bird was black), she tried to contact Parker’s wife, Chan, before the news leaked to the papers. Sadly, Bird’s body ended up unclaimed and mislabeled in the morgue for two days.

Wimberly’s libretto places Bird in limbo, struggling to write one final masterpiece. Set in the club named for him, Birdland, Bird interacts with his mother, his three wives, the baroness, his dope dealer, and one John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie.

An eerie resemblance

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee, a nominee for the 2015 Opera Male Singer of the Year award for his way with the bel canto style, is remarkable as Charlie Parker. Made up to eerily resemble Bird, he somehow manages to channel Parker physically and musically. Certainly, his range and operatic technique are formidable, but it is clear that Brownlee feels this music, has a real feeling for jazz, and feels the story of Charlie Parker.

Likewise for baritone Will Liverman, who plays “the other side of Bird’s heartbeat,” trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. And when these two start scat singing — written out though it may be — Bird and Diz are astonishingly brought back to life. Soprano Angela Brown, who plays the role of Parker’s mother, Addie, also gets her scat licks in. Due credit must also be given to director Ron Daniels, who has the opera’s characters emoting and moving in and out of scenes in a manner befitting a jazz choreographer.

Daniel Schnyder’s score, kind of a Stravinsky-meets-Gil-Evans blend, is not an easy piece of music. The time signatures alone would tie Dave Brubeck in knots, but like everything else in Yardbird, it works, especially when songs associated with Bird — “A Night in Tunisia,” “'Round Midnight,” and “Ornithology” among them — are referenced.

Charlie Parker often spoke of his desire to compose serious classical works — Stravinsky’s Firebird was a personal favorite. No doubt he would have just loved Yardbird.

For Victor L. Schermer’s review, click here.

For Steve Cohen’s review, click here.