Moby-Dick (opera)

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Moby-Dick
Opera by Jake Heggie
Moby Dick final chase.jpg
Illustration from Herman Melville's novel on which the opera is based
Librettist Gene Scheer
Based on Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
Premiere
April 30, 2010 (2010-04-30)
Winspear Opera House, Dallas
Website jakeheggie.com/moby-dick-2010

Moby-Dick is an American opera in two acts, with music by Jake Heggie and libretto by Gene Scheer, adapted from Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick . The opera received its premiere at Dallas Opera in Dallas, Texas, on 30 April 2010. [1] Heggie dedicated the opera to Stephen Sondheim. [2]

Contents

Composition history

In 2005, Dallas Opera commissioned an opera from Heggie, intended for the company's inaugural season in the Winspear Opera House in 2010. In consultation with Terrence McNally, Heggie suggested Moby-Dick as the subject. Subsequently, Dallas Opera shared this commission jointly with San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, State Opera of South Australia and Calgary Opera. McNally subsequently withdrew from work on the opera because of health issues. Heggie continued work on the opera in collaboration with Scheer and stage director Leonard Foglia. Scheer estimated that approximately 50% of his libretto used Melville's words directly. [3] Heggie specifically wrote the role of Ahab with Ben Heppner in mind. [4]

Performance history

The Dallas Opera performances occurred from late April to mid-May 2010. [5] The premiere production, directed by Foglia, featured lighting design by Donald Holder, set design by Robert Brill, costume design by Jane Greenwood and projection design by Elaine J. McCarthy. [1] As noted, the cast was headed by Ben Heppner as Ahab, with Morgan Smith as Starbuck, Stephen Costello as Greenhorn and Jonathan Lemalu as Queequeg. The conductor was Patrick Summers. Duncan Osborne, the great-great-grandson of Herman Melville, was in attendance. [3]

The production at the State Opera of South Australia in Adelaide followed in August–September 2011, with Jay Hunter Morris as Ahab. [6]

Calgary Opera staged the work in early 2012, with Heppner, Brett Polegato as Starbuck and Colin Ainsworth as Greenhorn. [7]

San Diego Opera staged its performances in January and February 2012, again with Heppner as Ahab, but he withdrew after the first performance and was replaced by Jay Hunter Morris. [8]

San Francisco Opera produced the opera in November 2012. [9] The San Francisco Opera production was filmed for later television relay, which occurred in late 2013, and was subsequently released on DVD. Jay Hunter Morris was Ahab, and many others in the cast recreated their roles of the Dallas premiere, including Morgan Smith, Stephen Costello and Jonathan Lemalu, as well as conductor Patrick Summers. [10]

Following the initial productions by the companies involved in the commission of the opera, Washington National Opera produced the work in February/March 2014. [11] Los Angeles Opera staged its production in November 2015. [12] Dallas Opera revived the original production in November 2016. [13]

For their January 2018 performance, Utah Opera built a set and created costumes to make the opera more accessible to regional opera companies with constrained budgets. [14] Unlike the earlier productions, the set is designed so that it can be adjusted to many different venues. [15]

The Metropolitan Opera will be performing Moby Dick during its 2024-2025 season. [16] Ahab will be sung by Brandon Jovanovich [17]

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 30 April 2010
Conductor: Patrick Summers
Captain Ahab tenor Ben Heppner
Greenhorn tenor Stephen Costello
Starbuck baritone Morgan Smith
Queequeg baritone Jonathan Lemalu
FlasktenorMatthew O'Neill
Stubbbaritone Robert Orth
Pip soprano (breeches role)Talise Trevigne
Captain GardinerbaritoneJonathan Beyer

Synopsis

Act 1

Scenes 1-4. Day One: The whaling ship Pequod has been at sea for one week.

Captain Ahab is alone on deck before dawn. Below deck, most of the crew is sleeping. The harpooneer Queequeg prays and wakes Greenhorn (the novel's Ishmael, renamed for the opera), who is a loner and newcomer to whaling. Dawn breaks and the call is made for "All Hands!" The crew raises the ship's sails. Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask talk about Ahab, whom no one has seen since the Pequod left Nantucket.

After the crew sings of whales, wealth and home, Captain Ahab suddenly appears. He tells them of Moby Dick, the white whale that took off one of his legs. He then nails a gold doubloon to the mast and promises it to the man who first sights Moby Dick. Ahab explains that the real reason for the voyage is to find and destroy this one whale, and calls "Death to Moby Dick!". The crew are excited at this call, except for the first mate, Starbuck. Starbuck confronts Ahab about what this mission, viewing it as futile and blasphemous.

Starbuck teaches Greenhorn about the dangers of whaling. Starbuck ponders that he'll never again seeing his wife and son. Subsequently, overcome with emotion, he orders Queequeg to complete the lesson. Stubb sights a pod of whales, but Ahab forbids the crew to hunt them, since Moby Dick has not yet been sighted. Starbuck orders the crew to sail on and sends Greenhorn up to the lookout on the masthead. Queequeg then joins Greenhorn.

At sunset, Ahab looks over the wake of the ship and reflects that his obsession deprives him of any enjoyment of beauty, leaving him only with anguish. Queequeg and Greenhorn remain at the masthead. On deck, Starbuck bemoans Ahab's obsession.

Scenes 5-7. Day Two: Three months later

Three months have passed without a single whale hunt for the crew of the Pequod. Stubb jokes with the young Black cabin boy Pip about the sharks that circle the ship. The full crew engages in a dance. However, rising tensions emerge and lead to a dangerous racial fight. Greenhorn suddenly sights a fresh pod of whales. Starbuck finally persuades Ahab to let the men hunt. Starbuck and Stubb harpoon whales, but Flask's boat capsizes and Pip is lost at sea.

On board the Pequod, the crew butcher an enormous whale and render the oil in the burning tryworks. Flask tells Ahab of the search for Pip, but Ahab thinks only of finding Moby Dick. The crew imagines Pip lost and struggling. Flask tells Starbuck that many oil barrels are leaking. Starbuck goes below deck to tell Ahab they must find a port for repairs.

Ahab, concerned only with Moby Dick, listens unmoved by Starbuck's report. Starbuck refuses to leave. Ahab grabs a musket and orders Starbuck to his knees. Greenhorn shouts that Pip has been sighted. Ahab orders Starbuck away.

On deck, the crew hears from Greenhorn of how Queequeg rescued Pip. The men return to work. Greenhorn pleads to Starbuck for assistance for Pip, who has become unhinged. Starbuck ignores the pleas. Seeing the realities of life at sea, Greenhorn decides to befriend Queequeg.

Starbuck returns to Ahab's cabin and finds him asleep. He takes Ahab's musket and contemplates killing Ahab, thinking that doing so may allow him to see his wife and child again. Ahab cries out in his sleep. Starbuck replaces the musket and leaves the cabin.

Act 2

Scenes 1-3: Day Three: One year later

As a great storm approaches, Stubb, Flask and the crew sing a jolly work song. At the masthead, Greenhorn and Queequeg talk of traveling together to his native island. Greenhorn wants to learn Queequeg's language and write down their adventures. Queequeg suddenly collapses, and the crew brings him down. Ahab says that he will take the masthead watch himself, as he wants to sight Moby Dick first.

Below deck, Queequeg tells Greenhorn that he is dying and asks that a coffin be built for him. Pip begins to sing a lament, in which Greenhorn joins in.

The storm now surrounds the Pequod. Ahab sings defiantly, whilst lightning bolts engulf the ship and the masts glow with St. Elmo's fire. Ahab demands that the men hold their posts, stating that the white flame is a sign from heaven to guide them to Moby Dick. This freshly inspires the crew, to Starbuck's dismay.

Scenes 4-7. Day Four: The next morning

The Pequod has weathered the storm. From afar, Gardiner, captain of the Rachel, another whaling vessel, pleads for help to search for his 12-year-old son who was lost in the storm. Ahab refuses. Pip replies to Gardiner of the Pequod's own lost boy, then cuts himself. Ahab's clothes are stained with Pip's blood. Ahab orders the ship to sail on, leaving Gardiner behind. Ahab ponders the heartless God who devastates so many lives and baptizes his new harpoon with Pip's blood.

Below deck, Greenhorn sees Queequeg's newly built coffin and contemplates the state of the ship and crew.

On deck, Ahab and Starbuck look over the horizon. Ahab describes his forty years at sea and all that he has left behind, and asks to what purpose, which he cannot answer. He sees in Starbuck's eyes human decency, which touches him. Seizing the moment, Starbuck attempts to persuade Ahab that the ship should return to Nantucket, and the crew return to their families. Ahab seems about to relent, but then he sights Moby Dick on the horizon. In the ensuing excitement, the whale boats are lowered. Ahab looks again in Starbuck's eyes and orders him to remain on board. The crew affirms its loyalty to Ahab.

During the chase, Moby Dick destroys two whale boats in succession, drowning their crews. The whale then rams the Pequod, which sinks. The whale next attacks Ahab's whale boat. All but Ahab jump or fall off. Finally alone with the white whale, Ahab cries out and stabs at Moby Dick, before he is dragged down into the sea.

Epilogue: Many days later

Greenhorn floats on Queequeg's coffin, barely alive, singing Queequeg's prayer. Gardiner calls out, thinking that he has found his missing son. Instead, he realises that Ahab and all but one of the crew of the Pequod have drowned. Gardiner asks Greenhorn his name. Greenhorn replies: "Call me Ishmael."

Related Research Articles

<i>Moby-Dick</i> 1851 novel by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for vengeance against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg on the ship's previous voyage. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891. Its reputation as a Great American Novel was established only in the 20th century, after the 1919 centennial of its author's birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book of the sea ever written". Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature's most famous.

Ishmael (<i>Moby-Dick</i>) Fictional character from the novel Moby-Dick

Ishmael is a character in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), which opens with the line "Call me Ishmael." He is the first-person narrator of much of the book. Because Ishmael plays a minor role in the plot, early critics of Moby-Dick assumed that Captain Ahab was the protagonist. Many either confused Ishmael with Melville or overlooked the role he played. Later critics distinguished Ishmael from Melville, and some saw his mystic and speculative consciousness as the novel's central force rather than Captain Ahab's monomaniacal force of will.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Heggie</span> American opera composer and pianist

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<i>Pequod</i> (<i>Moby-Dick</i>) Fictional ship from the novel Moby-Dick

Pequod is a fictional 19th-century Nantucket whaling ship that appears in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by American author Herman Melville. Pequod and her crew, commanded by Captain Ahab, are central to the story, which, after the initial chapters, takes place almost entirely aboard the ship during a three-year whaling expedition in the Atlantic, Indian and South Pacific oceans. Most of the characters in the novel are part of Pequod's crew.

<i>Moby Dick</i> (1956 film) 1956 film by John Huston

Moby Dick is a 1956 period adventure drama film directed and produced by John Huston, adapted by Huston and Ray Bradbury from Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. It stars Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, Richard Basehart as Ishmael, and Leo Genn as Starbuck, with supporting performances by James Robertson Justice, Harry Andrews, Friedrich von Ledebur, Bernard Miles, Noel Purcell and Orson Welles. The film was a co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States.

<i>Moby Dick</i> (musical)

Moby Dick is a musical with a book by Robert Longden, and music and lyrics by Longden and Hereward Kaye, first staged in 1990. The plot follows the anarchic and nubile girls of St. Godley's Academy for Young Ladies who, determined to save the institution from bankruptcy, decide to stage Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel in the school's swimming pool. The musical is a mixture of high camp, music hall-style smut, and wild anachronism overflowing with double entendres; the lead role of headmistress/Captain Ahab is portrayed by a man in drag.

Moby-Dick is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville that describes the voyage of the whaleship Pequod, led by Captain Ahab, who leads his crew on a hunt for the whale Moby Dick. There have been a number of adaptations of Moby-Dick in various media.

<i>The Sea Beast</i> (1926 film) 1926 American silent drama film

The Sea Beast is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Millard Webb, starring John Barrymore, Dolores Costello and George O'Hara. The film was a major commercial success and one of the biggest pictures of 1926 becoming Warner Brothers' highest grossing film. The Sea Beast is the first adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale. However, the film alters the novel's plotline by establishing prequel and sequel elements that are not in the original story—such as the romancing of Esther and Ahab's safe return, respectively—and substitutes a happy ending for Melville's original tragic one. Some of the characters in the film do not appear in Melville's original novel. The film was so successful that in 1930 Warner Bros redid it in English and German, under the title Moby Dick, with Joan Bennett taking the role of Ahab's love because Dolores Costello was pregnant at the time.

<i>Moby Dick</i> (1930 film) 1930 film

Moby Dick is a 1930 American pre-Code film from Warner Bros., directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starring John Barrymore, Joan Bennett and Walter Lang. The film is a sound remake of the 1926 silent movie, The Sea Beast, which also starred Barrymore. It is the first film adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby Dick that includes a soundtrack.

Stephen John Costello is an American operatic tenor and a recipient of the 2009 Richard Tucker Award. Costello has performed in noted opera houses around the world including Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 2010, Costello originated the role of Greenhorn (Ishmael) in the world premiere of Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick at the Dallas Opera.

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Moby Dick is a 2010 film adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. The film is an Asylum production, and stars Barry Bostwick as Captain Ahab. It also stars Renee O'Connor, Michael B. Teh, and Adam Grimes and is directed by Trey Stokes.

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Moby Dick is a Canadian-German television miniseries based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel of the same name, produced by Tele München Gruppe, with Gate Film, In association with RTH/ORF. Starring William Hurt as Captain Ahab, it was directed by Mike Barker with a screenplay by Nigel Williams. The cast also includes Ethan Hawke as Starbuck, Charlie Cox as Ishmael, Eddie Marsan as Stubb, Gillian Anderson as Ahab's wife, Elizabeth and Donald Sutherland as Father Mapple.

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Moby Dick is a 1998 American television miniseries directed by Franc Roddam, written by Roddam, Anton Diether, and Benedict Fitzgerald, and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel of the same name. It was filmed in Australia in 1997 and first released in the United States in 1998. The miniseries consisted of two episodes, each running two hours with commercials on March 15 and 16 of 1998 on the USA Network. This is Gregory Peck's final on-screen role.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Ahab</span> Fictional character from the novel Moby-Dick

Captain Ahab is a fictional character and one of the protagonists in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851). He is the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship Pequod. On a previous voyage, the white whale Moby Dick bit off Ahab's leg, and he now wears a prosthetic leg made out of whalebone. The whaling voyage of the Pequod ends up as a hunt for revenge on the whale, as Ahab forces the crew members to support his fanatical mission. When Moby Dick is finally sighted, Ahab's hatred robs him of all caution, and the whale drags him to his death beneath the sea and sinks the Pequod.

Bulkington is a character in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. Bulkington is referred to only by his last name and appears only twice, briefly in Chapter 3, "The Spouter Inn", and then in Chapter 23, "The Lee Shore", a short chapter of several hundred words devoted entirely to him.

Pip, short for Pippin, is the African-American cabin-boy on the whaling-ship Pequod in Herman Melville's 1851 novel, Moby-Dick. When Pip falls overboard he is left stranded in the sea, and rescued only by chance and becomes "mad." The book's narrator, Ishmael, however, thinks that this "madness" gives Pip the power to see the world as it is. Pip is first described as "insignificant," but is the only member of the crew to awaken feelings of humanity in Ahab, the ship's monomaniacal captain.

Moby Dick was a 1954 American television movie. Adapted from the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville it aired as an episode of Hallmark Hall of Fame.

References

  1. 1 2 Steve Smith (2010-05-02). "A Role for the Roiling Sea as Ahab Hunts His Whale". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  2. ↑ Joshua Kosman (2012-10-07). "Moby-Dick puts wind in Heggie's sails". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  3. 1 2 Matthew Gurewitsch (2010-04-23). ""Ahab Sings! (The Whale Does Not)"". New York Times. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  4. ↑ James Chute (2012-02-19). "Bringing a new opera to life takes talent, teamwork, trust and lots of money". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  5. ↑ Joshua Kosman (2010-05-24). "Heggie's 'Moby-Dick' in Dallas". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  6. ↑ Matthew Westwood (2011-08-25). "Moby-Dick is a leviathan to take the breath away". The Australian. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  7. ↑ Shelley Youngblut (2012-01-27). "Moby-Dick: Big doesn't begin to describe it". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  8. ↑ James Chute (2012-02-19). "San Diego Opera's Moby-Dick a revelation". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  9. ↑ Joshua Kosman (2012-10-11). "Moby-Dick review: A stirring triumph". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  10. ↑ Joshua Kosman (2013-10-29). "Moby-Dick review: Opera as big on TV as on stage". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  11. ↑ Anne Midgette (2014-02-23). "WNO offers Heggie and Scheer's Moby-Dick in visually arresting Dallas production". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  12. ↑ Mark Swed (2015-11-02). "With L.A. Opera's Moby-Dick, call it a success". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  13. ↑ Olin Chism (2016-11-05). "Dallas Opera's Moby-Dick still has its original power". Dallas Star-Telegram. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  14. ↑ Jeff Counts (2017-04-06). "Ep. 25–Leslie and Michelle Peterson, daughters of Utah Opera founder Glade Peterson". Utah Symphony's Ghost Light (Podcast). Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  15. ↑ Jeff Counts (2017-02-05). "Ep. 20–Artistic Director Christopher McBeth shares with us Utah Opera's 40th Anniversary Season announcement". Utah Symphony's Ghost Light (Podcast). Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  16. ↑ Francisco Salazar (6 November 2023). "Metropolitan Opera to Present 'Moby Dick' in 2024-25". OperaWire. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  17. ↑ "Moby Dick". Metropolitan Opera. Metropolitan Opera. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
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