Portland’s newest chamber opera ensemble, New Wave Opera, was back at Raven’s Manor for a quartet of macabre operas (macaberas?) on the 21st and 23rd of October. Among the four were two by NWO composers Lisa Neher and Kimberly Osberg: she conjures (with libretto by Bea Goodwin) and THUMP. The other two were The Oval Portrait by Felix Jarrar and Serial Killers and the City by Del’Shawn Taylor and Joanie Brittingham.
The atmosphere inside Raven’s Manor was much the same as their last performance there (which you can read about here), with a minor change in ornamentation appropriate for Halloween. Plastic jack-o-lanterns hung from the ceiling, and the wait staff were dressed in Halloween costumes. I asked one of them about it, and she said they have to -try- and dress with a new theme each day (sounds exhausting). That Monday the theme was Mario, and I was apparently the only one to get that she was dressed as Princess Peach.
New Wave Opera thoughtfully performed each of the four operettas at least twice per evening. This gave a great opportunity for those who arrived at nearly any time a chance to catch the whole thing. Additionally, they played roughly the same program across two nights, Monday and Wednesday. There’s no fear of missing out.
I also have to applaud the costumes through the night. Each operetta demanded different dresses, and they were just detailed enough to communicate the setting. Whether it was the old colonial fabrics and obscured figures from she conjures, a red satin cloak from The Oval Portrait, or the ladies’ weekend dresses in Serial Killers and the City.
The first performance I saw in full was Lisa Neher’s she conjures. The mini-opera consists of four arias broken up by scenes of a witch hunt, performed by the remainder of the New Wave Opera in mostly non-singing roles. The main character Grissall, performed by Allison Kim-Yok Knotts, laments the recent hunt for her mother, accused of keeping a poppet (a doll used for casting spells) of her father. Her incantations over steady drum hits and a D minor pedal harmony were haunting, while some other sections were more lilting and melancholy. The Wagner-like rising chromatic seventh chords were a nice touch as well.
Up next was The Oval Portrait. The opera is adapted from two different Edgar Allen Poe short stories: “Life in Death” and “The Oval Portrait.” Deac Guidi filled the room with his strong bass voice, and his crazed eyes effectively portrayed the lone character, simply known at “The Artist,” as an addict. He is addicted to many things: love, making art, huffing paint from the brush before each stroke, drinking liquor straight from the bottle.
Each of the operas throughout the night were effectively character pieces, establishing a uniform tone throughout. All were a bit creepy but in different ways, moving between the tragic and comic, or the austere and boisterous. The pianist Sequoia played well while tucked in the back corner, laying the foundation for the emphatic vocal performances.
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Serial Killers and the City was the most fun of the four. Neher, Carolyn Quick, Kim-Yok Knotts and Lindsey Rae Johnson put on a show as the four eponymous killers, discussing their latest conquests over brunch. Things get tense as they learn that an FBI agent suspects that a woman (!) is to blame for a string of unexplained murders.
Serial Killers relished the little details. The four ladies brought their own flair to their characters. Neher was emphatic and flirtatious, letting her dress strap fall when the cute waiter comes by (whom they contemplate killing). Quick was demure and prideful, flicking her hair about and crossing her legs as she describes her recent kills. Knotts was careful and a bit exasperated at all the corny jokes flying around. Finally, Johnson was the most cunning, preferring more subtle methods to get what she wants. The libretto was also soaked in easy-to-miss puns, especially as the waiter brings the foursome a cheese board.
The biggest piece on the program, clocking in at nearly forty minutes, was Kim Osberg’s THUMP, adapted from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” You can read about the origins of THUMP in editor Matt Andrews’ recent interview with the composer here.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” seems to be one of those classic stories that is more often parodied and referenced than actually read. It’s quite short, and dense enough to be apt for vocal setting. At the beginning Poe’s prose is careful and precise. Near the end when the eponymous heart begins beating beneath the floorboards, the narrator’s monologue gets hurried and percussive. I was curious to see how Osberg chose to set such a famous story.
Osberg chose to divide the opening paragraph between three voices, which worked well as the phrases cascaded contrapuntally over each other. For the remainder of the piece, THUMP opts for a more general adaptation than a direct setting of the original text, while retaining the character and emotional flow of the short story. The single narrator of the original is split into three roles, representing three perspectives within the same character. The piano accompaniment was haunting, vaguely tonal but filled with pensive chords and pungent dissonances.
The structure is quite clear: ensemble, one aria for each character, then one final ensemble. The staging and direction was simple but effective. Each character made use of the extensive props onstage: Neher handled and curiously eyed various do-dads and relics of old technology; Brandon Michael held distant stares and dragged an empty wine bottle about; Johnson wandered around the stage, admiring the scenery. The ending ensemble section was the emotional climax, as all three voices build feverishly to an intense a cappella finale, breaking apart into a spacious section held down by a high G in the piano before ending with a giant tone cluster.
It was a fantastic performance, and I would love to hear each piece again. All four performances established a creepy atmosphere appropriate for Raven’s Manor. THUMP especially deserves a more intimate and attentive audience for future performances.
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Charles Rose is a composer, writer and sound engineer born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In 2023 he received a masters degree in music from Portland State University. During his tenure there he served as the school's theory and musicology graduate teaching assistant and the lead editor of the student-run journal Subito. His piano trio Contradanza was the 2018 winner of the Chamber Music Northwest’s Young Composers Competition. He also releases music on BandCamp under various aliases. You can find his writing at CharlesRoseMusic.com.
