Pittsburgh Opera pits man against nature in ‘Moby-Dick’
An epic that pits a crew of richly outsized personalities against nature and the unknown, “Moby-Dick” provides ample mystic and drama for an operatic setting.
The human relationships between the Pequod’s main quartet — Captain Ahab and Starbuck, Greenhorn (”Call me Ishmael”) and Queequeg — were backlit by the captain’s feral need for revenge, for dominance, a juxtaposition wondrous to behold at Saturday’s Pittsburgh Opera performance at the Benedum Center, Downtown.
In 2005, Dallas Opera cocommissioned “Moby-Dick” from composer Jake Heggie, who delivered a tonal, cozy score tinged with nods to Britten, Puccini and even Korngold, unique but familiar. Gene Scheer, a New York-based librettist and songwriter, condensed Melville’s mammoth text into a libretto that runs just under three hours, eschewing the author’s fascination with the whaling industry, and concentrating on the four aforementioned miscreants’ interpersonal relationships.
While the original production received wholly positive feedback, Pittsburgh Opera’s staging is a smallerscale, pared down version of the opera, co-produced with several other smaller companies. This production features stage direction from Kristine McIntyre, with conductor Antony Walker leading from the pit. Erhard Rom’s sets were stunning, economical but effective in implying the shifts in locale. The curves and circles were a nice homage to Melville’s symbolism.
Baritone Michael Mayes, no stranger to Mr. Heggie’s music, delivered an intense, stalwart Starbuck, first mate on the Pequod and moral foil to his captain’s dark malaise. Mr. Mayes sang with a strident, ringing voice — his presence was masterful, if a bit unvaried. (I could have used a bit more pathos and a bit less ring when he sang of his family.) Tension cranked particularly high when Starbuck held a musket to his sleeping captain, before reclaiming his ground as the ship’s moral force and setting aside his weapon and his passion. An excellent debut.
Captain Ahab was portrayed by actor-turned-tenor Roger Honeywell (who also played the character with one leg tied behind his back in Utah Opera’s recent production of “Moby-Dick”), who grippingly captured the anguish of the peg-legged seaman if not always his ferocity. His voice was flexible and firm, though it sounded forced at times, not quite penetrating through Mr. Heggie’s orchestral swells and squalls.
Former Pittsburgh Opera resident artist Sean Panikkar and South-African bass baritone Musa Ngqungwana performed as Greenhorn and Queequeg, respectively, both providing touching, poignant performances. Other standouts included Malcom MacKenzie (baritone), delivering the cheery character of Stubb with infectious charm and enthusiasm, and Jacqueline Echols (soprano), the solitary female voice in the cast in the pants role of Pip, who goes mad after a stint of being lost at sea.
The opera is in two acts with intermission. Act I moves at a good pace — scenes aboard the Pequod flow into each other one after the other. Mr. Heggie’s music was most convincing in the ensemble scenes (”Death to Moby-Dick” was chilling), with the buildup to a brief, scuffling “fight scene” especially well-choreographed by Natalie Desch. Four dancers from the Attack Theatre augmented the cast’s physical acting, which was strong despite a couple of openingnight synchronization flubs.
The second act drags in the middle, with a few too many reflective solo arias pondering the nature of man, fate and religion stalling the narrative momentum built in the first act. The arrival of the white whale was built up well in the score if a touch underwhelming onstage, but fans of Melville’s text will enjoy Mr. Scheer’s final nod to the book.