Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia 2018 Review: The Gospel According To The Other Mary

John Adams Leads A Visceral & Gripping Performance Of HIs Masterful Opera-Oratorio

By Alan Neilson

“The Gospel according to the other Mary,” is defined by John Adams, and the complier of the libretto, Peter Sellars, as an opera-oratorio, and sitting in the concert hall of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, in Rome, watching a performance of the work, conducted by the composer, it is easy to see why.

For this is a work that bridges the divide between the two genres. It uses religious and secular texts, and is set in the eternal present as much as it is in the biblical past. It has a large role for the chorus, and the soloists sing their set texts directly to the audience, although with such emotional and dramatic intensity that they are clearly reacting to the passions of the other singers. It is a work as much at home on the opera stage as it is in the concert hall.

The “Other” Mary

Adams and Sellars’ work is an updated version of the biblical story of Mary Magdalene, a reformed prostitute who loves Jesus so much, and is particularly known for washing his feet, and the suffering she experienced over his death. She is the sister of Martha, and of Lazarus, whom Christ raised from the dead.

The work sticks very closely to the original narrative, except that Mary is a recovering drug addict, and that together with her brother and sister, she runs a home for the unemployed and homeless, in which Jesus arrives to help out. The biblical story is once more made flesh. Its eternal relevance laid bare for the audience to see.

Sellars complied the libretto using verses from both the Old and New Testaments, alongside a mediaeval text from Hildegard von Bingen (12th century abbess), and relatively modern and contemporary texts by Dorothy Day (a US social activist), Rosario Castellaños (a Mexican poet), June Jordan (an Caribbean-American writer), Ruben Dario (a Nicaraguan poet), Louise Erdrich (US writer) and Primo Levi (a holocaust survivor).

The biblical and secular texts are interwoven to create a narrative which is able to straddle 2000 years of history, mixing biblical language with the modern vernacular, connecting Christ’s Passion to the present day.

Of course, as with most of what Peter Sellars does, the libretto is heavily politicized, and social justice causes are never far form the surface, taking in homelessness, drug addiction, migrant issues and police violence.

Speaking the Word of the Lord

There are three principal roles: Mary, a mezzo-soprano, Martha, a contralto, and Lazarus, a tenor. Three countertenors perform a narrative role, and quote Jesus’ words, using only biblical texts. There is a mixed chorus, which also acts as narrator, but uses biblical as well as the secular texts.

The role of Mary was sung by Kelley O’Connor, the original creator of the role for the work’s premier in 2012. From the very outset, “The next day in the city jail,” in which Mary is stripped naked and is searched for drugs, O’Connor immersed herself in the character.

Against the background of the agitated and discordant sounds of the orchestra, her impassioned and accented singing, full of leaps and chromatic shadings, conjured up a picture of her troubled soul. Her voice pushed into its upper reaches made for an unsettling portrayal, in which her suffering was tangible.

Throughout the performance she was fully alive to the musical and textual nuances, not only capturing the depth of Mary’s mental suffering and pain, but also the character’s psychological complexities. When reflecting upon the fact that she had started to pray, she brought an unsettling tension to her voice that magnified the doubts and loneliness that still assailed her, which was wonderfully underlined by the orchestra’s light, ambiguous accompaniment.

Moreover, she was not content with simply producing a first class vocal performance, but engaged with the part on a physical level, every emotion was clearly visible on her face, which twisted and turned with her pain.

Rising From the Dead

A no less compelling performance was given by Jay Hunter Morris in the role of Lazarus. He, too, was physically immersed in the role, unable to contain himself from turning to watch the orchestra or other singers, connecting to them with a fervent intensity.

Vocally, he was outstanding. Having risen from the dead, he sits at the dinner table and addresses Jesus directly, “For the grave cannot praise thee;” in a powerful, unstable emotional outburst, in which his voice darted up and down the scale, took in jerky leaps, and heavily accented the vocal line as he repeated words, and retraced lines in an uncoordinated flow of thought.

In stark contrast, during the Passover, Morris sings the relatively tranquil aria “Tell me, how is this night,” which builds with increasing passion and tension in the middle section, before returning to the calm of its final bars, which Morris’ sweet lyrical singing captured beautifully. It was an entrancing and expressive vocal performance, his strong, agile tenor coping easily with the role’s vocal demands.

Calm Responsibility

In striking contrast, the role of Martha is one of calm responsibility. There are no histrionic outbursts, but she is determined and possesses a strong sense of social justice.

The role was essayed by Elisabeth DeShong. She brought the requisite balance and composure to the role. Her voice was never put under any extreme stress, sang easily, and moved freely between the registers.

Even when relating her confrontation with the police she displayed an almost detached sense of calm, enunciating her words clearly, with subtle inflections and a sensitive array of colors. Seated between O’Conner and Morris her emotional state was made notably distinct.

Three Countertenors & Beyond

The three countertenor, sometimes singing together, sometimes separately, and occasionally interweaving their voices with the other soloists or the choir, were played by Daniel Bubeck, Brian Cummings and Nathan Medley. The texture of their combined voices created a disembodied sound appropriate to the drama.

Bubeck had the most prominent role of the three, and made an excellent impression. His singing was characterized by his clear diction, the crystalline tone of his voice and the conviction he brought to the part. As a group, however, they were most effective when combining with the singers. Lazarus narrates the indignation of those who rage against Mary for wasting ointment on Jesus’ feet; Morris delivered his lines sternly, the countertenors echoed his words with an insistent ignorance, reiterating “Why? Why was this waste of ointment made?” dramatically elevating the scene.

The chorus performed somewhat inconsistently. In the first act they were underpowered and lacked the necessary attack to arrest attention and were too neutral in their presentation.

However, in the second act they noticeably improved, and engaged with greater energy and conviction. In the opening scene, the male and female voices sparked off each other in an upward spiraling whirlwind of hard emotion, the music driving the piece forward, in possibly one of the most captivating scenes of the evening.

The Sound of the Heavens

Adams, conducting the Orchestra Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, produced an intense and emotionally gripping performance. The members of the orchestra were fully engaged, the concentration on their faces visibly etched, as they concentrated on Adam’s detailed score, with its fast (and slow) changing rhythms and tempi, and dynamic variations, as well as the employment of an unusual variety of instruments, such as a Cimbalom and a large percussion section requiring four players. Adam’s orchestration and conducting created an array of interesting, beautiful and dramatically appropriate textures.

At times the music crawled quietly along, its deep textural quality adding real depth to the drama, before suddenly bursting into life. At other times, the music was full of energy, its momentum driving the drama forward. Adams also managed to capture the cameo performances of individual sections or groups of instruments within the orchestra, which would emerge from the orchestra’s overall sound, before the music moved into a completely different direction.

He maintained a pleasing balance between the orchestral sections, chorus and soloists. It was a splendidly well-managed performance and repaid in full members of the audience who focused their attention on their playing.

This may have been “The Gospel According to the Other Mary” as an oratorio, but it possessed an enormous dramatic momentum, and was engrossing piece of music-theatre, albeit in this presentation, as a concert work.

It was perhaps inevitable, however, that the hall was only about 75% full; modern works, especially on religious subjects, cannot be the easiest to sell. What was more disappointing, however, was that after the interval, some of the audience did not reappear.

Nevertheless, those who remained gave John Adams’ opera-oratorio a very warm and well-deserved reception.

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