Jake Heggie, Three Decembers (2008)

The biggest loss to me from the Met's cancelled Live in HD series this year was Heggie's Dead Man Walking.  His Moby-Dick was very good, and Dead Man is universally acclaimed, so I was really looking forward to it.  And just as a matter of general principle, I think they should put on more contemporary operas.  Well, at least I have THIS, available this weekend (so...probably not anymore by the time this goes up) from Florida Grand Opera.  It was actually supposed to be a few weeks ago, and I was irked that I hadn't gotten a link, so I sent them an email asking, and in response, I received an actual factual telephone call from a really friendly dude from FGO explaining that there was a delay, which he thought had to do with the need to prepare subtitles.  That was a new one on me.  But it is neither here nor there.

It's based on an unperformed play by Terrence McNally, and it definitely has the feel of a certain sort of play.  The Decembers in question are at ten year intervals, starting in 1986.  The characters are a brother and sister, Charlie, and Bea, and their stage-actor mother Madeline.  The siblings want to learn more about their father, who died when they were small.  The main source of friction concerns Charlie's partner, Burt, who has AIDS, and while Madeline isn't exactly overtly homophobic, she's not all she could be either.  The 1996 section starts soon after Burt's death, as the kids are expected to go to an awards show with their mother, and the 2006 one at a memorial for her following her sudden passing.  There's drama, high emotion, secrets revealed--you know the story.  Still, even if it's a familiar type, I really got into it, to the extent that I sorta wanted the instrumental parts to go faster so I could see what would happen next. 

Is that a good thing for an opera?  Well, maybe not, but I really enjoyed this in any event.  As indicated, I have to admit that I paid less attention to the music than appropriate, but that's neither here nor there.  The three singers--Amanda Sheriff, Efrain Solís, and Emily Pulley--act the hell out of their parts, and a good time was had by all.  Although "all" may be much: it was made available as an unlisted video, which, as of this writing, has all of...seven views.  Is that normal?  Was this really only purchased by seven people?  That ain't right.  It should be seen far and wide!