Recently Vermont enjoyed two momentous music events, performances that will reverberate for a long time. On Sept. 30 at Burlington’s Flynn, Andrew Crust made a promising debut as music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, its first change in 20 years. And Opera Company of Middlebury produced one of its few forays into contemporary opera, “Glory Denied,” with undeniably brilliant results, Sept. 27-Oct. 1 at Middlebury Town Hall Theater.
Fortunately, I was able to attend Crust’s Oct. 30 debut and the final performance of “Glory Denied” on Oct. 1, however illness prevented me from writing reviews at the time. (I am on the road to recovery.) Thus, I take the time now to give brief synopses and evaluations of my experiences.
Crust, VSO’s fifth music director, seems to have a real rapport with the excellent players of the VSO, and it was audible and visible. The major work, selected before Crust became music director — and the crowd-pleaser — was Johannes Brahms’ magnificent Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 for violin and cello, popularly known as the “Double Concerto.” Crust achieved the work’s power and grandeur with the cohesive sound the orchestra that has been building for the past 20 years.
The soloists were fine but decidedly youthful. Violinist Simone Porter and cellist Joshua Roman played with lyrical beauty and easy virtuosity. Although they missed the gravitas, they had real rapport with each other — audible and quite visible to the audience.
My personal favorite was the mixed-race British composer Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s sumptuous 1898 Ballade in A minor, Op. 33. Crust and the VSO delivered its Late Romantic richness and sensuality.
Crust carefully engineers the structure, from delicacy to brilliance, building to the whole of the music. It was most noticeable in two movements from Czech composer Bedrich Smetana’s beloved 1874-79 “Má Vlast (My Country),” “The Moldau” and “From Bohemia’s Fields and Meadows.”
Although in the unenviable position of following Jaime Laredo, the VSO’s music director for 20 years and one of the world’s most renowned musicians, Crust proved quite able. Not always taking the music quite as deeply it would go, he nevertheless conducted beautiful and rewarding performances. I look forward to experiencing the remainder of the season with him as he and the VSO face some very diverse programming.
Crust’s next performances with the VSO will be conducting the VSO Holiday Pops Dec. 9-11 in Barre, Burlington and Rutland. (Tickets and information are available at www.vso.org).
Opera Company of Middlebury’s “Glory Denied” was a fiercely powerful experience — just what dramatic opera should be. With music and libretto by Tom Cipullo and based on the book by Tom Philpott, it tells the story of America’s longest-held prisoner-of-war during the Vietnam War. But it isn’t so much a story of military heroism as of personal loss and strength.
Col. Floyd James “Jim” Thompson was captured by the North Vietnamese in 1964 and released in 1973, coming home to a wife, who had moved on and a world he no longer recognized. Four singer-actors, younger and older versions of Jim and his wife Alyce, accompanied by a modest instrumental ensemble, formed a rich operatic experience — musically and theatrically — thanks much to conductor Filippo Ciabatti and stage director Alexandra Dietrich.
Peter Kendall Clark had yeoman’s duty as the older Jim, reflecting his broken heart, anger and confusion, all the time maintaining his military bearing. With his rich baritone, Clark created a character of real depth. Meredith Lustig successfully mixed Alyce’s mix of guilt and personal strength with her rich warm soprano.
Lighter-voiced Brandon Snook was the younger Jim, expressively optimistic and overly traditional. Megan Pachecano was Younger Alyce, actually older Jim’s memory of her, light voiced and brilliantly optimistic — despite being about to have her fourth child.
Cipullo’s music is a seamless mix of styles that expresses the inner voices of the characters in a language that is challenging and reassuring — reflecting the composer’s love of lyricism and jazz. Cibiatti led the singers and the excellent nine-member instrumental ensemble in a cohesive and beautiful performance.
Dietrich’s stage direction blended successfully with novel three-level stage design by Douglas Anderson, Opera Company of Middlebury’s artistic director, for a seamless story design. Creative lighting by Brooks Donnelly and appropriate costumes by Debby Anderson completed the dramatic picture.
Collectively, Opera Company of Middlebury created a truly compelling production of Cipullo’s “Glory Denied” that was filled with humanity, tragic and touching.
As a postscript, Opera Company of Middlebury just signed a three-year contract with Ciabatti, also music director of Upper Valley Baroque and the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, formally naming him music director. (During the run of the opera, he was interim music director.)
For its spring production, Opera Company of Middlebury will present Gaetano Donizetti’s comic opera, “The Daughter of the Regiment,” directed by Anderson and conducted by Ciabatti; go online to www.ocmvermont.org for information.
During this time of uncertainty, marred by a pandemic, a rocky government and global warming, it’s reassuring to know that two of Vermont’s most important arts organizations — the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Opera Company of Middlebury — are in good hands.
