Huge dark planks pointed out toward the audience every which way, vaguely suggesting a variety of locales, from battle fields to Christmas parties, marginally convincing as the latter and rather constricting as the former. Though problems were mostly peripheral, they mounted up, starting with the Robert Brill set. Also crucial: Everything was so singable that baritone Gunn (the deserter Inman), soprano Leonard (the woman waiting for him) and Morris (the unscrupulous villain) all did some of their best-ever work.īut the tepid audience response to Act I isn't to be taken lightly. The vocal lines also avoided the kind of leaden parlando that weighs down so many modern operas and moved fast enough to allow witty exchanges. From moment one, any given vocal line was injected with the atmosphere of the setting, the psychology behind the character, and naturalistic inflections of the words being sung, sometimes with Appalachian-style melodies. Underneath it all was one of the more solid operas to come from an American composer in recent years. It was as changeable as the Santa Fe day on which it premiered: This Odyssey-like Civil War tale about the Confederate deserter finding his way home to the woman he loves was alternately blazing hot, partly cloudy, charged with lightning, congested with traffic and a dreamy world unto itself. And who wouldn't want to hear singers such as Nathan Gunn, Isabel Leonard and Jay Hunter Morris in prime form?
Some were simply fascinated to know what Pulitzer-winning composer Higdon had wrought during the two years she was barricaded in her Spruce Street apartment writing the piece. "All of Philadelphia is here," exclaimed one Santa Fe Opera staff member, since Cold Mountain is co-commissioned by Opera Philadelphia. Years in the making with some of the best voices and creative minds in the business, the opera's five performances were sold out in advance, an extra one was added for August 24, the Dutch recording label PentaTone committed to releasing it, and close to 50 media representatives were on hand. SANTA FE, NM - The new Jennifer Higdon/Gene Scheer opera Cold Mountain could hardly have premiered amid more intense expectations on Saturday at the Santa Fe Opera.
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