|
Dello Joio’s opera The Trial at Rouen, setting the composer’s own libretto, originated as a television opera for NBC (those were the days) and aired in April 1956. The NBC Television Opera Theatre program ran from 1950 through 1964. In addition to performances of such traditional works as Tales of Hoffmann and Tosca, the program commissioned and produced a number of new works, including The Trial at Rouen, Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Lukas Foss’s Griffelkin. Following its TV premiere, Dello Joio revised the opera for the stage and renamed it (confusingly) The Triumph of St. Joan. It was given its stage premiere by New York City Opera in 1959. Designed to be succinct, the two-act work runs only about an hour and a quarter in performance (about the length of one act of The Magic Flute). Dello Joio made it clear that The Trial at Rouen was not a revision or rewrite of the original Triumph of St. Joan, but a brand-new work. In a New York Times article at the time of the broadcast, he wrote, “The Trial at Rouen is not a version of my first opera, but is a completely new statement, both musically and dramatically; though the temptation to use the old material was great…. Needless to say, for a contemporary American to have his work done so shortly after completion is gratifying. Yet when one thinks in terms of an audience of millions, it is also frightening.” In the live broadcast performance, soprano Elaine Malbin sang the role of Joan; baritone Hugh Thompson was Cauchon, and bass Chester Watson was Father Julien. Although there is room for arias, The Trial at Rouen is not a “number opera,” (recitatives, arias, ensembles, choruses) but is essentially through-composed and fluid, one episode moving seamlessly to the next within a scene, as in Verdi’s Falstaff. Dello Joio’s prosody—the matching of sung rhythms to the words—is organic and natural-sounding for each voice. The orchestra is a full and nearly constant presence, frequently doubling voices and generally adding a rich, plush atmosphere for the voices. There is distinct characterization within the vocal lines for the principal characters; Father Julien, in particular, is given a restrained, major key-based melodic contour for all of his music. The orchestration, for both practical and expressive purposes, follows suit.
|