“Bob Aldridge and Ihope that our opera has particular relevance for our times, when the divisionbetween the haves and the have-nots of the country has come to seemparticularly stark, and when American mores governing the meanings and thepurposes of wealth have largely eroded.” So writes Herschel Garfein, librettistof the new American opera, Sister Carrie—awork receiving its world premiere as the Florentine Opera Company’s firstproduction of its 83rd season.
Aldridge andGarfein’s opera is set in the U.S. of the 1890s, when the burgeoning IndustrialRevolution was bringing unprecedented wealth to a few men—while millions toiledaway in filthy factories in filthy cities for paltry pay. Then as now, the gapbetween rich and poor was enormous and, for the vast majority, unbridgeable.For a woman of the era, life offered little beyond marriage and motherhood;those are fine life choices to be sure, but they ought to be just that—choices. They weren’t really viewed asmerely optional back then, however. Only about 19% of women over 16 wereemployed in 1900; of these, fully half were in domestic or farm work. “Thereality was that women could only achieve status-stability orstatus-advancement through the agency of men,” Garfein explains. “This is theworld that Dreiser unflinchingly depicts in SisterCarrie.”
Herschel Garfein’sreference in that quote is to Theodore Dreiser, author of the original 1900novel in which we find our main character, 18-year-old Caroline Meeber, leavingher rural Wisconsin home for the big city and, presumably, greater things. Shefully understands the “man’s world” she inhabits and thus is no babe in thewoods upon arrival in Chicago. But, as an aspiring actress, she’s certainlyoutside the societal norm. Her story today—that of a young, attractive womanstriving to achieve her dreams without dependence on anyone else—is a familiarone. In Caroline’s world, however, it’s fairly well scandalous.
“Much of thenotoriety of the book stemmed from Dreiser’s refusal to criticize or judge herfor this,” Garfein observes. The “notoriety” he mentions refers to the factthat Dreiser’s novel, described in its day variously as “sordid” and “vulgar,”was not well received by the public, unaccustomed as they would have been totales of “wayward women” not receiving just punishment for their “sinful”behavior. “She begins as a lowly factory worker in Chicago and eventually shecarves out a place for herself as a singing star on Broadway,” Garfeinexplains, and “in rising up the social ladder, Carrie fights battles that allwomen still fight.”
If the names Aldridgeand Garfein sound somewhat familiar, there’s good reason. RobertAldridge is an American composer of not only opera, but also orchestral,chamber, musical theater and dance works. He’s currently director of music atRutgers University, but higher education began for him with a bachelor’s degreein English literature from UW-Madison. Herschel Garfein is a composer,librettist and stage director who’s a faculty member at New York University’sSteinhardt School of Music. Sister Carrieis not Aldridge and Garfein’s first collaborative effort—not at all. In 2007,they completed the fine opera ElmerGantry. Based upon Sinclair Lewis’ Nobel Prize-winning novel of 1927, Gantry went on to win Grammy Awards forBest Engineered Classical Album and Best Contemporary Classical Composition.They have also co-written the oratorio Parables(2010), a commission of the Topeka Symphony.
The Florentine Operawill give Sister Carrie a lavishlaunch. Mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala will create the title role, and lyricbaritone Keith Phares will portray Carrie’s paramour George Hurstwood—acharacter who certainly has the potential to become one of the greatest tragiclovers of all opera. A large supporting cast is headed by tenor Matt Morgan andsoprano Alissa Jordheim. William Boggs conducts the orchestra, and periodcostumes are designed by Rachel Laritz (in her company debut).
“We are grateful forthe community support that has driven this company to create and present ‘newopera’ as a part of ‘popular’ repertory,” Florentine General Director (andstage director for this production) William Florescu states, and to be able todo so “on a level that supports the production of this world premiere and therecording and worldwide release of this new work.”
Sister Carrie will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Friday,Oct. 7 and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9 in of the Marcus Center for thePerforming Arts’ Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Ninth St. For tickets and moreinformation, visit sister-carrie.com or call414-291-5700 ext. 224.
