I'd been wanting to see this for a long time, though that may have been mainly because I wanted an "X" opera for my list. Actually, recently I accomplished that one with Cavalli's Xerse, and yes, unlike Handel's version, this one was Latinized with an X. Why didn't I write about it? It's actually really good, as you'd expect from Cavalli; it uses the same libretto that Handel later did with revisions. Of course I don't have the Handel libretto memorized or anything, but you may be interested to know that "Ombra mai fu" actually includes a lot of lyrics that Handel eliminated. I suppose I can see the "more is less" argument, but it's still really interesting to hear them.
Anyway, as for this particular X opera, which was a Met Live in HD broadcast back in the fall. The first thing I do have to note is that that subtitle is a big ol' fail. So clunky. Why not just a minimalistic "X?" I suppose it wouldn't be considered descriptive enough; not good for marketing. But even if you HAD to use a subtitle, I feel like you could come up with something better than that. Probably.
Well, it's sort of what you'd expect. It covers X's life in a slightly impressionistic way, from his dissipated younger life, doing jail time, meeting Elijah Muhammed and joining the Nation of Islam, preaching to the people, falling out with Muhammed, doing the Haj and changing his name to El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, and of course being assassinated. It's really good, I have to say. The music is highly varied, drawing on classical and jazz and...you know, an AI could write this sentence. But trust me, it's good. I enjoyed the first act the most; it somehow seemed to lost a little momentum after that.
Seriously, this is super-good. People complain about affirmative action, but to that I say: yes, the Met is clearly looking to diversify, and that's why they did this and Fire Shut Up in My Bones and Champion. So...affirmative action resulted in productions of three great operas. Tell me how this is a problem (okay, calling Champion "great" would be overstating it, but you know). This is nice and colorful, and I think I might have independently hit on the word "Afrofuturism" to describe the production even if the Met on Demand description didn't use it, BUT WE'LL NEVER KNOW NOW, WILL WE? Some real set-pieces, and a great cast, particularly Will Liverman in the title role and Victor Ryan Robertson in a dual role as a pimp called "Street" and Elijah Muhammed (I assume this is in the libretto, but even if not, it's appropriate, as the two characters represent two opposing forces vying for X's soul). If you look up Muhummed, you'll see that he DOES look uncannily similar to Robertson. Also, I want to highlight a small role that nonetheless blew me away, and that's Raehann Bryce-Davis as X's sister Ella. She only gets one significant scene, but man, what a huge, awesome voice. I initially thought she was a contralto; actually a mezzo, but definitely a low one. I'd love to see her in classical repertoire.
You'd think an opera about Malcolm X would be subversive, but I don't know, can something be subversive while accruing the cultural cachet of being performed at the Met? We're talking some postmodern simulacra shit here. I suppose the closest an opera may come is The Death of Klinghoffer, inasmuch as the Live in HD transmission was canceled due to protests by idiots, but they still performed it, so I dunno. Hey Met, how 'bout doing a live in HD of that NOW, in the current political context? That, even I have to admit, would be genuinely subversive.
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