I don’t usually review operas, but this one caught my eye since Howard Hanson’s classic recording of his Merry Mount Suite on Mercury Living Presence was always one of my favorites, and I was interested in knowing more about the opera from which the music came. The Seattle Opera mounted a complete performance of it in 1996 celebrating the 100th anniversary of Hanson’s birth, and this is the live recording of same. Coming from a Scandinavian background, Hanson’s style was equal parts Sibelius and Americana, and it is full of gorgeous modern, tonal, lyrical lines. Musical elements of his first two symphonies are heard in the opera, which accents the lyrical approach.
The plot of the opera, which was written in 1933, is based on a Nathaniel Hawthorne story concerning a 1625 conflict between the strict, Bible-thumping Puritans in New England and the Cavaliers, who were religious but also enjoyed some of the pleasures of life. The opera is in English, of course, but there is no libretto. However, a very detailed scenario is included for each scene and act. The stern religious leader of the Puritans is Wrestling Bradford, who wrestles with many things: the blasphemy of some of his congregation, the skullduggery of Satan, the lightheartedness and pleasure-seeking of the Cavaliers settlement nearby, and his lust for one of their women, Lady Marigold.
Things come to a head when the Cavaliers mount a decorated maypole to celebrate the marriage of Lady Marigold and Sir Gower. Bradford and the Puritans break it up and in the process Gower is killed and Marigold taken prisoner. Bradford has a hellish dream in which he signs the Devil’s book and takes his mark on his brow. The Indians attack and burn down the church. The Puritans ask Bradford to guide them but he explains that Satan is his new master. He summons fire to destroy the other village buildings, picks up Marigold and walks into the flames. Quite an original operatic conclusion.
There are several extended instrumental-only sections in the score, such as the music depicting Bradford’s dream. Hanson’s orchestrations are brilliant and the music is very colorful. Baritone Richard Zeller is superb as the troubled Bradford. The recording is good enough; I used headphones to pick up a bit more of the lyrics than I could via speakers. We should be very thankful that this gem of an American opera has finally received a complete recording after 74 years.
– John Sunier
