Another New Opera: Frobisher
Last Thursday I listened to the CBC broadcast of Frobisher, the new opera by composer John Estacio and librettist John Murrell. The opera is a co-production between Calgary Opera and the Banff Centre and is being used as the piece for the Banff Centre’s summer opera training program. I wonder a bit about that last fact, as Murrell has been working at the Banff Centre in various capabilities for a number of years. Mind you, there are not a lot of new Canadian operas out there, or at least not many that I, who goes looking for that sort of stuff, manage to hear about!
Estacio and Murrell collaborated together on Filomena (2003) which apparently did very well and, like Frobisher, played to sold-out crowds. Before I go on to my critque of Frobisher I’d like to point out that many if not most new operas sell out. This is perhaps because they are 1. given shorter runs than the repertory operas and 2. are new so people who are bored of the old stuff attend them, and that segment is growing. It would be interesting to see if a new Canadian opera given a run longer than 3 days would sell out all performances and even more interesting to see if a re-launching of a new opera, say in the same city 5 years later, would do well. Of course, it would depend on the opera, and if it were Frobisher, I wouldn’t go see it a second time. Well, I didn’t see it, persay, but I heard it, and what I heard did not impress me.
Estacio is a fairly well-known Canadian composer. His work has been Juno-nominated in the past. However, he is a composer who is working hard not to break new ground. What I have heard of his music in the past has been rather bland and bombastic. The music for Frobisher was no exception. It sounded like rehashed movie action scenes stuck together with operatic and awkward vocal lines schlepped over top if it. Yes, the main characters are involved in making a film about Frobisher, so the motif of film-related music can perhaps be partially forgiven. The orchestration is another story all together. In the first scene the only reason I knew there was a chorus was because I had downloaded the libretto and was following along—they were almost entirely masked by the orchestration. The vocal lines of the soloists seemed to have no relation to what was going on in the orchestra pit aside from being in the same key. Perhaps this disjointed aspect is the new ground that Estacio decided ease into (I have not heard Filomena), and as much as I love chaos and disjoined motifs (I listen to John Zorn!) there was little artistry to this juxtaposition.
To add to the awkwardness of the vocal lines was Murrell’s libretto. Murrell is a well-respected playwright who has won a number of awards. He is also an opera aficionado. However, his libretto was awkward and full of bits of mundane conversation which did nothing to create an emotional response in the listener. There were some rhyming couplets here and there but overall there was a lack of poetics through what I heard and read.
I say what I heard and read because I did not make it through the entire opera. I was listening to the streaming audio online and and hour into the performance our internet went down. In most situations I would have tried to fix the problem and start listening again as soon as possible. In this situation I was glad the internet went down, and once it went back up I did not listen to more of the opera. I figured that if the first hour sounded like a glossed-over movie soundtrack with someone singing an unrelated opera piece in the same room with awkward mundane libretto, that the rest of the opera was likely to sound the same.
I admit that I am being quite cutting with this opera, but it bothered me that much. I know that even in English, which is an awkward language to sing in, it is possible to create a poetic, singable libretto with emotional clout and to carry the story without resorting to mundane conversational elements. Heck, one can carry a story without libretto, as Meredith Monk so often does. The music, perhaps, is just not to my taste. I’m willing to admit that. But it scares me somewhat that if this is what new Canadian opera sounds like, it’s not going into the history books.
I looked online for reviews of the opera and found one in the Globe and Mail from January 29, 2007. It seems that Robert Everett-Green didn’t think much of Frobisher either. My favourite quotes are:
It’s certainly operatic, in the go-for-broke sense of the word, but in style and feeling it seems more like a cinematic musical written for opera singers.
and,
Frobisher wants very badly to be liked, and shows no interest in making people work for their pleasure. No one on stage expresses anything that hasn’t been expressed in similar terms in a Disney musical. Musically and dramatically, it’s a big banquet of leftovers, warmed up in sauces whose flavours we know before we’ve tasted them.
and finally,
By the end, I felt flattened by the low-bridge ambitions of this work, and depressed by the thought that new opera in this country can’t seem to reach a large stage without a lot of help from Broadway. But Frobisher is a natural, predictable reaction to the vacuum that exists where our contemporary opera ought to be.
With sold-out houses becoming the norm for new opera, even before the reviews go out, I don’t think it is necessary to kowtow to Broadway in order for an audience to enjoy a piece. People are coming to new work because they are coming to see new work, not re-hashed “leftovers.”
February 7th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Hey Lia, After reading this and checking out your site, I reallized there is someone you should definately meet - Anna Friz. Im going to send the link to her, she is doing her PhD in Toronto. She is a sound artist…great friend. Hope you manage to meet up. love to you and keep it up…its inspiring. Will you consider coming to Voices Summer University this summer? im presenting Cassandra and the Cassandra Project ( a canada-wide project you would also be interested in…maybe even want to get involved with). It would also be great to see you again soon. Cheers Sharon
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:13 am
Wow… harsh … obviously your musical tastes are not the same as Estacio’s … which is of course perfectly valid. But perhaps you should have heard the whole opera before condemning it so … or better yet relying on critic’s review to justify your own position. I have seen both ‘Filumena’ and ‘Frobisher’ and enjoyed them both immensely.
As for the ’sold out’ comments … please check your facts … Filumena has now had 4 subsequent productions (a historical first for Canadian opera) and has done well box office in all those cities (Banff, Ottawa, Edmonton) as well as two television broadcasts (also a first for canadian opera).
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:47 am
Thanks for your comment, Chuck. Yes, I admit that I was quite harsh in my review and perhaps it was not fair to comment on the opera before hearing the whole thing. However, I have spoken to at least two other people who left during intermission at Frobisher because they were not interested in hearing more, and Robert Everett-Green’s review in the Globe and Mail, while perhaps keyed-down a bit in harshness (it is a national paper!) said much the same as what I did. I’m glad that you enjoyed both Filumena and Frobisher, but I am quite sure that I won’t go looking for more work by Murrell and Estacio because what they are doing is not to my taste.
Thanks also for letting me know about the subsequent productions. It is good to know that there is at least one Canadian Opera that is getting more productions, including CBC broadcasts. I would, however, like to see some new Canadian Opera that pushed some musical (and theatrical) boundaries and am still on the lookout for such works. There is, of course, R. Murray Schafer’s Patria Cycle, which I would love to see but have not yet had the chance to. I know that they are currently being re-shown in Ontario, one Opera per year. Maybe next year I’ll get a chance to see one.
August 13th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
It would appear Chuck has done his homework as his information is quite accurate (unlike yours). I would have to agree with Chuck. You were brutally harsh, but indeed entitled to your opinion. It’s a shame you didn’t have an opportunity to absorb the true essence of both ‘Filumena’ and ‘Frobisher’, Which brings to mind an old cliche…something about judging a book by its cover.
As for the two people who left during intermission, I’m sure they weren’t missed by the two thousand plus in attendance (myself included).
In short, Estacio and Murrell are once again to be congratulated for a job well done! Filumena and Frobisher are two very fine operas! I certainly hope the two Johns team up again to continue to deliver great work of this nature/calibre which is much appreciated by Canadians.
Bravo to Estacio and Murrell!
August 13th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
I saw Frobisher at the Banff Centre last night. Disappointing.
The staging was great (which you would have missed by listening online). The cast was good. I found Estacio’s music pleasant, but certainly not groundbreaking.
What I found odd was the ending. From the very beginning in Act 1, Scene 1, Michael and Anna are trying to find an ending for their movie, and the obsession for an ending continues through the whole first act. So at intermission, we’re anticipating the ending. The last act was wishy-washy and confusing, and the ending was a real disappointment. I have heard that after its premère in Calgary that Murrell and Estacio re-wrote the ending and that’s what we heard last night. I can’t imagine what the original might have been, or how this could have been an improvement.
If it is to be re-staged somewhere, I would definitely recommend leaving at intermission and imagining your own ending, which would probably be superior.
October 12th, 2007 at 4:19 am
[...] in a talk about opera given by John Estacio I attended in the mid-90s. Read my thoughts on Frobisher if you are wondering more about my opinion of Estacio & his current [...]
November 12th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
A review by someone who didn’t actually see the opera live or hear it in its entirety. Her opinions on the orchestrations are based on an audio mix prepared by CBC audio engineers as heard on computer speakers over the internet. I’m not sure what else your review said as I stopped reading it after the first half — some friends I know told me all about it though.
September 28th, 2008 at 8:53 am
I have seen Frobisher once and Filomena twice. I adored Filomena and I would make any effort to see the opera again. It is melodic, richly complex, lush, well constructed and wonderful. It also works well in story line and is delightful as well as powerful visually and musically.
I agree that Frobisher needs work. In storyline, it is is lacking - perhaps for being too complex. One needs to care about the characters and one is not given enough to do that. Perhaps an end to a movie is not high enough stakes. At any rate, the episodic nature of the play needs another look. It is not well developed. It seems too long. It is difficult to comment on the music, having heard it only once, but perhaps that too needs to move to a concluson. Check back with the greats to see what works for opera, old or new. There is a reason that the dusty greats are heard again and again.
Having said that, how wonderful it is that Murrell and Estacio are taking risks, are being supported for their creative efforts and are pushing the envelope and creating Canadian Opera. I hope they refine Frobisher and continue to write. Art is often not appreciated in its own time, so we all might be wrong about Frobisher, but Filomena is fabulous.