Bradyworks and Tim Brady presented Saturday and Sunday, in co-broadcast with Chants Libres and Le Vivier, the second part of a lyrical tetralogy entitled Hope (and the Dark Matter of History). The framework of chamber opera Information is Montreal in October 1970 and the result is much more convincing than for the first part, Backstage at Carnegie Hall.
To understand to what extent Information, by Tim Brady, works well, it is interesting to start from previous experience, Backstage at Carnegie Halland to make some comparisons.
Firstly, the location where the project is staged is fundamental for a chamber opera. Instead of being enshrined and confined to the Centaur Theater, Information was offered in an open space at the Espace orange in the Wilder building — Espace danse. Consequently, the device was strongly reminiscent of a great success of Ballet-Opéra-Pantomime, Nero and the Fall of Lehmann Brothersopera by Jonathan Dawe (2016) on the debacle on Wall Street presented at the Guillet room of the Notre-Dame-du-Saint-Rosaire church in 2018. The work carried out on Information by Anne-Marie Donovan and Nalo Soyini Bruce’s ability to move seamlessly from one scene to the next is truly impeccable, creating a “real playground” to let the stories unfold.
Vocal luxury
Another lesson is that the scope of any creation is dependent on musical quality. The problem with the first part of Tim Brady’s tetralogy, on racism, was that the role of guitarist Charlie Christian could only be played by a black tenor. However, the organizers of the show had only found one singer promoted to a leading role in a creation. We noted his “so frail voice”, which made us believe it was “an undergraduate student performance”. On the contrary, in the cast put together this time by Marie-Annick Béliveau, artistic director of Chants Libres, we were spoiled. When the major role of the French-speaking journalist is magnified by the projection and vocal range of Pierre Rancourt, the whole acquires a foundation and takes on a particular aura. Everyone was excellent, even if we had the impression that Marie-Annick Béliveau was recovering from a cold or was developing one (how did she end the third performance?).
On the other hand, even in French and English, surtitles are not a luxury but a necessity. We cannot trust singers to make us understand all the mechanisms of a new text. Certainly, Rancourt and Béliveau seek to pronounce as best as possible, but Jacqueline Woodley, as a timeless traveler, is more understandable in French (where she seeks to be understood) than in English (where she seeks to bring out the best in her voice). It’s awkward for precisely following a plot that relies on premonitions.
The three stories in one – The October Crisis, abortion, the defection of a Russian ballerina – are not a source of chaos but of variety and breathing in a work of which an important subject is: “What would we do if we had the power to change the course of things? » This question will inevitably become existential in the last two operas which are set in the future.
Last important point: the additional refinement of Tim Brady’s instrumental framework. The sounds of the electric guitar and keyboard are often very cleverly and finely used in Information to create tense or mysterious atmospheres, and the cello, too, has an important role. Perhaps in performances 2 and 3 the amplification of the voices will have been slightly lowered to better appreciate the subtleties.
Magnificently relaunched cycle with a well-brushed and well-treated period and subjects.