Over the course of his illustrious career, Gian Carlo Menotti composed more than 25 operas, earning a pair of Pulitzer Prizes along the way. He also wrote the music for several ballets, along with various chamber and choral works, and even established the famed Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, as well as its counterparts in the U.S. and Australia.
As Nashville Opera CEO and artistic director John Hoomes points out, Menotti wrote compelling stories and stunning melodies. He may be best known for his family-friendly Yuletide work Amahl and the Night Visitors, but he earned one of his Pulitzers for The Consul, a politically oriented piece. So how can it be that Menotti’s work has been largely dismissed and even forgotten by so many in the world of classical music?
“Menotti was unapologetic in his efforts to bring the verismo tradition into the mid-20th century, drawing inspiration from composers like Puccini,” says Hoomes. “And it won him great acclaim with audiences. But it also brought great derision within the classical establishment, which favored the spiky dissonance that was so trendy during that period. I think there also was just a sense that because Menotti’s work was so popular, it must not be very good. It’s really unfortunate, because his operas are so beautiful and accessible.”
Hoomes describes The Medium, which Nashville Opera will stage Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the intimate Noah Liff Opera Center, as something of a dramatic thriller — and perfectly suited to the Halloween season. The story centers on Madame Flora, a phony clairvoyant who is confronted by what she believes to be a supernatural spirit during one of her bogus séances.
“It’s highly theatrical, in the tone of the great melodramas like Dial M for Murder or Sorry, Wrong Number. It’s beautifully melodic, but with some really creepy moments.”
In keeping with that aesthetic, Hoomes says the production will feature naturalistic scenery. Lighting designer Barry Steele is aiming for a candlelit quality by forgoing contemporary LED and strobe gear for lighting equipment similar to what would have been used when the opera was first staged in 1946. The Liff Center’s customary banked seating will be rearranged in a cabaret format that Hoomes hopes will draw audiences in.
“One of the things I love about this piece is that the audience is in on everything from the beginning,” he says. “We show them what a fake Madame Flora is and how all the gags work. So everything about this fake séance goes according to plan — until it doesn’t. And then we’re left wondering what’s really going on. Are there supernatural elements at play here? Or has Flora been driven crazy by her own guilt? Or maybe there are other forces conspiring to drive her mad? I love the ambiguity of it all, and the fact that Menotti doesn’t really offer any answers.”
The Medium was one of the first operas that Hoomes saw, back when he was an undergrad at Samford University, and it has remained a favorite. Even more than that initial performance, the way the piece crossed boundaries between different kinds of artistic expression struck a chord with Hoomes.
“It had everything that I loved about theater, but with the sound of a classical piece. So I’ve always loved it, and I’m excited to be directing it for the first time — I can’t wait for the audience to see it.”
