Lesbian love duet

Tonight I went to see a new opera. How new? It was premiered in 2014. The opera is 27 by Ricky Ian Gordon, a composer I hadn’t heard of before. The number refers to the street address of the home/salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in Paris during the first half of the 20th Century.

Stein is a pivotal figure in the arts during this time. Some of the greatest artists of the time gathered at her weekly salons. She purchased paintings by Matisse and Picasso before they were famous. Picasso painted her portrait. She offered guidance and encouragement to Fitzgerald and Hemingway. She did a lot of writing, producing many books and articles and a couple opera librettos (Virgil Thompson wrote the music). Gertrude and Alice were a lesbian couple at a time when there was a great deal of disapproval for such unions. I’ll let you read more elsewhere.

There are five singers in the opera – Gertrude, Alice, and three men. The men play the painters and writers who visit the salon, all the other roles, and provide the chorus.

The prologue is set in the late 1940s and features Alice remembering Gertrude. Then there are five acts played with brief pauses between them (the whole thing is 100 minutes).

Act 1 is set around 1905. Gertrude invites people to her salon. Alice reminds the guests she is not the secretary, not the companion, she is the wife. Matisse is grumbling because it seems Gertrude has found a new favorite in Picasso. But Picasso is having trouble finishing off his painting of Gertrude. Leo Stein, Gertrude’s brother, helped her get the salon started. But he doesn’t like her relationship to Alice and storms out. The siblings never meet again.

It is Alice who sees to the needs of the guests while Gertrude works to spot the next genius. It is Alice who entertains the wives while Gertrude meets with the genius husbands. The three men have a fun time portraying the wives.

At the end of the act Alice says she heard bells in her head when she first meets a genius. She heard them three times, one of them when she met Gertrude. Alice and Gertrude sing a wonderful love duet referring to these bells.

Act 2 is set during World War 1. A big concern is keeping a supply of coal to keep the place warm.

Act 3 is during the Roaring 20s. Hemingway and Fitzgerald vie for Gertrude’s attention.

Act 4 is during World War 2. One wonders how a lesbian couple, both Jewish, manage to stay alive while France was occupied by the Nazis. They manage it because Gertrude serves as a translator for the Vichy government. But what about the Jews and lesbians sent off to concentration camps? Gertrude feels her portrait is a jury accusing her of staying safe and turning her back on those in need. She dies at the end of the act in Alice’s arms (in life she died after the war from stomach cancer).

After Gertrude’s death Alice had a hard time. Gertrude’s family came in and took most of the paintings. Act 5 is on the day the Metropolitan Museum of Art is to come and take Gertrude’s portrait. The portrait comes to life and the lovers repeat a bit of their duet.

At times I thought the libretto was a bit simplistic, though overall it was good. The music was also good, though no memorable tunes. The singers were backed up by a small, 15 member ensemble of members of the Michigan Opera orchestra. There were many touching moments during the opera, particularly the love duet and the death scene.

All the singers are a part of the Michigan Opera Theater Studio Program, which serves as a training ground for young singers. This weekend the opera was hosted by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance in Ann Arbor. Next weekend it will be at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts.

Between the Lines, Michigan’s LGBTQ weekly newspaper, did an interview with Monica Dewey, who sang the role of Alice. A lesbian singer is delighted to play a lesbian character, especially the part where she insists she’s the wife, not the secretary.