SEATTLE — “Amelia,” Seattle Opera’s world premiere, is an emotional journey of grief, memory, flight and the risks of love.
The production ultimately is an American tale of hope, beautifully sung with sets that are both cinematic and intimate.
In the opera’s final moments, American composer Daron Aric Hagen silences the orchestra and allows the assembled singers on stage to deliver a symphony of voice, a crescendo that leaves the audience with the belief that, as the lead characters sings, “Anything is possible.”
“Amelia” is the local company’s first commissioned production and was eight years in the making. The complex production, complete with nearly full-scale planes, was worth the wait.
The story tracks Amelia, pregnant with her first child, as she struggles with her nearly lifelong grief over the disappearance of her father, a pilot who was shot down during a bombing mission over Vietnam. She’s portrayed by mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey who is making her Seattle debut.
Woven into the plot is the Flier, a stylized character based on Amelia Earhart, the lead character’s namesake. The Flier, sung by soprano Jennifer Zetlan, swoops in from the rafters of McCaw Hall at the controls in a plane cockpit.
The drama throughout the 2½ -hour opera often is underscored by characters who appear in dreams: Amelia’s father, proud in his crisp white uniform; The Flier; Icarus and Daedulus, the Greek gods whose foray into flight is foiled; and the recurring appearance of the young Amelia.
Most of the scenes take place in settings that are familiar: a modern hospital waiting room, a suburban home, a business office.
The most exotic scene takes place in a Vietnamese village as Amelia goes searching to learn her father’s fate. Here the local characters sing in Vietnamese and their dialogue is translated into English. It’s a wonderful dramatic feat and the score for the Vietnamese is among the saddest of the production.
A dozen singers learned to speak Vietnamese, producers said. Nearly three dozens singers studied roles for “Amelia.”
Emotions heighten in the second act after the pregnant Amelia suffers a breakdown.
Unconscious in a hospital bed, she is visited by her aunt, played by the soprano Jane Eaglen. The prayer Eaglen sings is the most memorable aria of the production and builds to the heart-wrenching drama that occurs in the hospital room.
Risks abound in “Amelia,” and we’re reminded that by reaching greats heights — whether of the heart, or literally in the air — there’s potential that gravity will return us perilously to the ground.
The music is as dramatic as the action, with hints of Leonard Bernstein. It isn’t exactly melodic, but it is rich, and was well played under the direction of Gerard Schwarz. Although modern, the score is approachable and because the book is in English, it’s easy enough to follow the plot.
“Amelia” suffered a bit under its own seriousness, and the audience on opening night sometimes laughed at moments that seemed more tragic than comic.
Still, the story is relevant, especially as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drag on, leaving children at home missing their parents.
“Amelia” takes flight five more times in Seattle before it lands in another city. There’s already funding for “Amelia” to touch down on at least two more American stages.
As with so much in American aviation, though, it is Seattle that proudly launched this grand new opera.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437; jholtz@heraldnet.com.
“Amelia”
7:30 p.m. May 15, 19, 21 and 22 and 2 p.m. May 16, McCaw Hall, Seattle.
Tickets range from $25 to $168; go to www.seattleopera.org for more information or to buy tickets.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
