Sunday Afternoon at the Opera - Still: Troubled Island; Highway One, USA

Sunday Afternoon at the Opera host, Keith Brown, writes:

This Sunday we observe February as Black History Month with the broadcast of two world premiere recordings of the operas of William Grant Still (1895-1978). This African-American composer wrote nine (!) operas. One of them, Troubled Island, written in 1938, became the first opera by a Black American to be produced by a major American opera company. The libretto of Troubled Island was prepared by Harlem Renaissance literary great Langston Hughes. The "troubled island" in question is the Caribbean isle of Hispaniola, more specifically that part of it known as Haiti. Set in the year 1791, the opera deals with the political career of Jean Jacques Dessalines (1758-1806) and the corruption of his leadership in the Haitian revolution. He declared himself emperor of an independent Haiti, but was assassinated by opponents.

The Met repeatedly turned down Still's score. Troubled Island was finally produced by the New York City Opera and was recorded live in performance on March 31, 1949. Julius Rudel conducted the NYC Opera orchestra and chorus. The old recording is in pre-hifi 1940's monaural sound. It has been transferred into compact disc format as an audio download from the House of Opera website. The music of Troubled Island might remind you of Still's contemporary Giancarlo Menotti--unabashedly late Romantic, with Still's own infusions of "negro" melody and rhythm. (I'm reminded of Frederick Delius' impressionistic Voodoo opera Koanga (1897)). The general public may remember hearing Still's original music and orchestrated arrangements for movies and television, notably the hit TV shows Gunsmoke and Perry Mason.

Keep listening for Highway One, USA (1963), a domestic tragedy with libretto by the composer's wife Verna Arvey. The action of this one-act/two-scene opera is placed in the 1940's in a cottage adjacent to a mom-and-pop operated gas station. The station lies along the main drag in a small Southern town. This world premiere recording was released on a single CD in 2005 through Visionary Records of Greenville, NC. The recorded sound is state-of-the-art digital stereo. Philip Brunelle directs the St. Olaf Orchestra of Minneapolis, with the Vocal Essence chorus. The four cast members of Highway One, USA are African Americans. (The cast of Troubled Island had in its leading roles white singers in blackface.)