GROUNDED A PERSONAL REVIEW by Paul Padillo

I’m in a minority amongst my opera friends. I like and love a lot of works, especially newer operas, that routinely get bad press in the opera groups, criticized by the press. I often call my own t aste into question, but the older I get the more I realize, I really don’t care what anybody else thinks. It’s fun to read their opinions, their criticisms, and (less frequently) their praise, but the bottom line always has to be: what did the piece do for me? Did it touch and move me? I never – well hardly ever – approach anything with any expectation. Of course I WANT it to be a successful evening, but other than that hope, I go in blind. It’s why I’m rarely disappointed and probably why I have more fun at the opera than anyone I know, even if, owing to my present circumstances, the bulk of that enjoyment comes from experiencing those things online, a practice many find abhorrent, but you take what you can get.

SO, after that preamble, I spent World Opera Day doing something I love best of all: experiencing a new opera: Jeanine Tesori and George Brant’s GROUNDED. I listened on radio to the prima, but there were distractions (lots of them) and while I very much liked what I heard and praised the broadcast, I had no idea of the full impact the work would make by seeing it and listening to the score with a dedicated pair of ears. I was simply blown away by the thing. Dramatically, musically, theatrically, from the opening moment to the final, chilling silence (destroyed, as usual, by an over enthusiastic Met audience who can’t wait to break a half second of silence with their screaming), I was riveted.

The staging, which I’d read was “bland” . . . “safe” . . . “uninspired,” etc. I found to be none of those things. Kind of electrifying and cinematic actually. The flow of scenes from one to the next, the use of a multi-tiered set, the projections, the lighting, the excellent choreographed chorus . . . all of it worked for me.

None of that, however, guarantees a good show, so Tesori’s and Brant’s work, while given an excellent production – had to show it was worthy of it. It was. Tesori’s theatrical background shows, and while “too Broadway” was leveled at it by more than one critic, I found very little “Broadway” about it – in the same sense Menotti, Gershwin or Weill wrote music dramas for the non-traditional operatic venues. Tesori is a gifted composer and her melodies worm their way into the heart, perhaps none so much as the character of Eric’s little wordless hum that repeats itself through the opera. Brant’s powerful text in the word settings given them by Tesori were better than one often encounters in English language operas. Everything was weighted properly, naturally generally, yet she is unafraid (fearless really) in also allowing words to be elongated for dramatic effect.

As the title character, Jess – we were treated to a never less than stunning achievement from a voice I was mostly unfamiliar with, but who turned me into an instant fanboy: mezzo soprano, Emily D’Angelo. D’Angelo combines a lean almost muscular sound with a gorgeous warmth and refulgence that is unusual. At times I felt the ghosts of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Tatiana Troyanos – and I can’t pay a higher compliment than that to any young singer. D’Angelo, as it happens to turn out, is a formidable, strong actor as well, which the role of Jess not only requires – it demands. The beauty of HD is that we see the faces so well, and every emotion, even the thoughts of Jess, registered on the mezzo’s face in a performance that, was Tony Award calibre.

As husband and father of Sam, Ben Bliss turned in one of his best performances to date . Quite simply Bliss went from being the greatest Don Ottavio I’ve heard or seen into a loving practical cowboy card dealer, and one of the sweetest, nicest characters to be written into an opera in . . . . I can’t remember when. His aforementioned “tune” and his aria, as well as his scenes with Jess and Sam, the lovely Lucy LoBue, were a tonic, and the perfect counterpoint to the intensity of the war games at hand.

Another discovery for me was the young baritone, Kyle Miller, who, as the Sensor quite frankly, startled the life out of me. A gorgeous baritone sound and terrific comedic timing and acting chops poured out of what Jess described as a “12 year old,” added punch to their scenes together.

I’ve always loved Greer Grimsley, and 30 years since his Met debut (what?) the voice seems to get growlier by the season, and sometimes I must admit I wish I could be hearing someone else in some of his roles, but his Commander here seemed tailor made for his current voice and, while not a large role, it’s an important one and it worked. Perfectly.

Ellie Dehn as Jess’ conscience, Also Jess, worked, brilliantly, even if at first I thought it was just a device to give notes to the central character that were too high for a mezzo. My bad. This was not overused and actually intensified the “real” Jess’ emotions, freeing her up even for other dramatic purposes.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (who I thought, for a moment was Roberto Alagna when he entered the pit) really did marvelous things with Tesori’s score, keeping everything flowing and tightly reigned in, never letting a moment sag. Tesori’s orchestration is a huge, gleaming, lyrical thing of beauty, and her sense of groupings for effect was as masterful as any of the greats.

I loved the dramatic structure of GROUNDED . . . it felt real at every turn, and it was,a beautiful thing to see something as ugly as war, drone attacks measured out with reason and emotion. Some of the criticisms I read had to do with making it a “gender” thing, how if the role were written for a man it would’ve been a different and probably less sensitive opera. Why? Stereotype much?

Throughout the FB Opera groups I’ve read: “It was horrible” . . . “An atrocity” “.Death of opera” . . . “what a disgrace” . . . “All the talents of singers, directors, staging crew, lighting. . .wasted on dreary, ugly, silly stuff . . . tragic. . . . laughable . . . Somebody needs to take a giant step back and consider what opera is supposed to do and be” . . . “they opened the season with this crap?” ” How the mighty have fallen” . . .

I didn’t mean to end negatively – but wanted to relate my entire experience with this new work, so that included the bad with the good.

I disagree with all of the naysayers, and while new works don’t often get revived – or even second performances – I hope with some of the operas we’ve seen lately, and particularly GROUNDED – that trend comes to an end. If not, there’s always La Boheme.