Synopsis

On today’s date in 1999, the Lyric Opera of Chicago premiered a new opera by American composer William Bolcom, based on A View from the Bridge, a powerful play by Arthur Miller.

Now, not all stage plays “translate” well into opera, as Bolcom was well aware.

“In theater, you have the text and then below it you have the subtext,” Bolcom said. “In opera it is pretty much the opposite, the subtext is what you are really dealing with first and foremost: big, raw emotions, which are supported by the text.”

In fact, Miller’s play, although set in Brooklyn in the 1950s, has often been likened to a Greek tragedy, a theatrical form in which the chorus plays an important role.

Bolcom saw that as a real opportunity: “If you are going to do an opera from a play, it better have a dimension that the play doesn’t. In a play, you can’t have your chorus speak because it is financially prohibitive: as soon as the chorus opens up its mouth the price goes up because of actors’ equity. So, naturally one of the great resources of opera houses is an opera chorus, a resource you can use much more easily.”

Music Played in Today's Program

William Bolcom (b. 1938): A View from the Bridge; Lyric Opera of Chicago; Dennis Russell Davies, conductor; New World 80558