Productions Offer a Refresher in the Forces of Opera

Opera, some might say, is patently ridiculous. It’s expensive to put on, appeals to those outside the cultural mainstream, is aligned with elitism and wannabe elitism and makes no sense. In this irrational world of musical theater, singers never break out of song, and their stage blocking is minimal, at best. Realism takes a back seat.

So why is it so compelling to those who have caught on?

Ventura County is in the midst of an operatic convergence this month. First, the New West Symphony put on its opera of the season, visiting Puccini’s “Tosca” in an impressive performance. On a smaller scale, but with a grander sense of programming adventure, the Ventura College Opera Theater, in conjunction with the Ventura County Master Chorale, performed “The Tender Land.” It was the only opera penned by Aaron Copland and too rarely heard anywhere. The production premiered last weekend and continues this weekend.

Copland wrote “The Tender Land” deep in his composing career on a commission from Rodgers and Hammerstein, and it premiered in its finished form in 1955. Its gentle strength makes one wonder about the lost potential of other Copland opera ventures. But he may have come into the genre too late and with too little interest.

“The Tender Land” is a tale of angst and longing in the American heartland, etched in the kind of classic Copland vocabulary heard in “Appalachian Spring.” Both sweet and wistful, the music evokes a fragile idealism and perfectly echoes the narrative premise of the libretto by Erik Johns under the pseudonym Horace Everett.

A young woman, Laurie, is torn between family ties in her rural town and the promise of life out in the world, triggered by an encounter with a nomadic stranger. Xenophobia rears its head as the locals fear that the drifter, Martin, and his more garrulous partner, Top, might be a pair of molesters who had recently passed through the area. This basic premise, a meditation on the bridge between innocence and experience, between provincial comfort and wanderlust, between fear and trust, lays the opera’s foundation.

The Opera Workshop production is simple and effective, with Roger Meyer’s sets and lighting nicely establishing its rustic setting. The modest orchestral forces, under Burns Taft’s direction, do admirable work, although they were not always neat or cohesive opening night.

The Master Chorale raised a joyful collective noise in the boisterous party scene of the second act, before the sadder, wiser final act. There was good singing all around, especially from Nona Watson as Laurie, Marcus Arbizu as Martin and David Curtis as Grandpa Moss. All in all, it’s a grand effort worth catching, for operaphiles and others.

DETAILS

Aaron Copland’s “The Tender Land” at the Ventura College Theater Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $18 for general admission, $15 for students and seniors; 654-6459.

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PUCCINI DEPARTMENT: “Tosca” represents a step up in the New West’s annual foray into almost-grand opera, with the able help of visiting director Daniel Helfgot. It wasn’t the organization’s first “fully staged” production, as originally promised, but was downgraded to a “semi-staged” one. That meant dim projections suggesting regal Italianate backdrops and a few props. At least the costumes were lavish. But no matter.

The real trick in opera, of whatever production values in the staging, is the successful suspension of disbelief--mainly through musical means. To that end, Allison Charney conveyed a commanding presence as Tosca, the soprano caught in a trap laid by the evil chief-of-police Scarpia, sung with assured power by Nmon Ford-Livene. Between them is the aggrieved artist Cavaradossi, sung with wavering precision but solid tone by Benjamin Bongers. The cast also included notable local talent in the Thousand Oaks-based father-son team of Ron and Michael Li-Paz.

Basically, “Tosca” is a story based on abuse of power, sexual harassment and tyranny. So much for the idea that the world of opera is an elitist escape from concrete reality. Rather, opera, through its concentrated, multifaceted expressive resources, can render an experience all the more real and moving. Bring it on.