Classical Monday--Trouble in Tahiti

Leonard Bernstein is the ultimate cross-over artist, it seems to me: both in terms of his personal popularity as a conductor and performer, but also in his composing life. The line between his classical compositions and his popular compositions is blurred in his one-act chamber opera Trouble in Tahiti.

As this production created in 2001 for BBC television clearly shows, this is a theater work for opera singers. The range and lyric singing required needs performers with that level of training. But the acting challenges are not without their own demands, particularly for Dinah the primary female character stuck in a loveless marriage. Fortunately, soprano Stephanie Novacek is up to the task on all levels. Baritone Karl Daymond is asked significantly less in the acting department as husband Sam, but delivers on the challenging, rangy music. He looks a bit like a cast member of Madmen, without being as totally hot as John Hamm. The other three singers in the piece are a bit like a Greek chorus popping up and commenting on the action.

The production values of this filming are very good, and the house set is particularly fun to see, with all its 1950s kitchen gadgetry.

The tour de force from the score is the title song "Trouble in Tahiti" sung by Dinah after she storms out of a movie of that name. I have heard this song before, but didn't know how it fit into the story of the opera. Well, I'm still not sure--I think on one level it is supposed to show how Dinah's want of adventure has been squelched by a repressive home life. Regardless if or how it comments on Dinah's predicament, it's a wonderful song, giving its singer opportunity for much vocal game-playing and send-ups.

Trouble in Tahiti
Music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein
Composed in 1952
Produced for BBC Wales in 2001
Released on Opus Arte
Cast: Stephanie Novacek, Karl Daymond, Tom Randle, Toby Stafford-Allen, Mary Hegarty