All that glimmers
John Adams’ new Gold Rush opera is a triumph
At the start of “Girls of the Golden West,” the stunning new opera by John Adams, optimism radiates off the stage like the warmth of a California sun.
It’s the start of the Gold Rush, and fortune hunters are arriving in droves to strike it rich. The sound of pickaxes hitting rock propels the scene forward in urgent, percussive bursts.
The rugged terrain of 1850s Northern California — and the dreams it evoked — are richly depicted in this gripping new work, which received its world premiere in a San Francisco Opera production Tuesday evening at the War Memorial Opera House. By the end of the evening, those gilt-edged dreams give way to darkness, devastation and incidents of shocking brutality.
Adams and his librettist, Peter Sellars, who directed the new production, have drawn from a rich vein of source material, including Chinese and Latin American poetry, miners’ songs, writings by Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass.
But the opera’s primary source was “The Shirley Letters,” written by Louise Clappe, aka Dame Shirley, a real-life doctor’s wife who documented life among the miners in several Gold Rush camps. As the opera’s central character, she’s both a witness and a participant in a story far more concerned with the corrosive effects of greed and bigotry than the get-richquick mythos surrounding the era.
The opera, like Clappe’s letters, begins in a sunny tone. Act I introduces Clarence, a white miner, who extols the vigor and exuberance of the young men arriving in droves. Dame Shirley, after falling off a mule, makes her own offbeat entrance in a covered wagon driven by fugitive slave Ned Peters.
Miner Joe Cannon, who left a girl back home, falls for the Chinese prostitute Ah Sing. Saloon workers Ramón and Josefa sing an achingly beautiful duet recalling the day they first fell in love.
By Act II, the atmosphere acquires somber hues. It’s the Fourth of July, and atop the massive stump of a giant sequoia — the central symbol of environmental destruction in Sellars’ and scenic designer David Gropman’s production — Clarence and Shirley play a dark scene from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” It’s a premonition of the violence to come: A few men have prospered, but most are broke, and the camp’s immigrant workers become easy targets. In the ensuing backlash, the community is shattered.
Adams’ score, enhanced by sound designer Mark Grey and conducted with admirable precision by Grant Gershon, is an engrossing mix of lyrical tunes and propulsive drive. From that first scene — with cowbells replicating the pickaxes — the instrumentation is intricately layered and beguiling. The composer’s writing for solo voice yields several arresting episodes — yearning ballads for Ah Sing and Josefa; a show-stopping aria for Ned that sets Douglass’ historic “What to a Slave Is the Fourth of July?” As the opera nears its conclusion, the music grows denser, anguished. In its most dramatic moments, it’s hard not to grip the armrests.
“Girls of the Golden West” gives three women the central roles. Julia Bullock imparts warmth, humor and a lithe soprano voice to Dame Shirley. Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges makes an indelible impression as the regal, plush-voiced Josefa. Hye Jung Lee, who sang Madame Mao in Adams’ “Nixon in China” a few seasons back, dazzles in Ah Sing’s high-flying music.
The men’s roles are also wellcast. Bass-baritone Davóne Tines gives a knockout performance as Ned. Tenor Paul Appleby’s manic Joe, bass-baritone Ryan McKinny’s edgy Clarence, and baritone Elliot Madore’s handsomely sung Ramón make excellent contributions. In John Heginbotham’s choreography, dancer Larena Feijóo takes a brilliant turn as the shape-shifting Lola Montez.
In the final scene, Dame Shirley prepares to leave the camp. The Gold Country has been plundered, and many of its seekers are left empty-handed. Bullock sings a soaring aria that seems to reach to the heavens. Lives have been destroyed by the quest for gold, but the region’s natural beauties endure. After Tuesday’s performance, company General Director Matthew Shilvock presented Adams with the San Francisco Opera Medal.
It’s the highest honor the company bestows, and this was the first time the award had been given to a composer. Adams, who said it was half due to Sellars, noted that while “Girls” depicts 19th century events, it’s “very much about right now.”