Jane Eyre

Opera Theatre of St. Louis

British composer Michael Berkeley's opera Jane Eyre, which is being given its American premiere by Opera Theatre this month, might more accurately be titled “Scenes from Jane Eyre”. At just under 90 minutes with no intermission, this Jane Eyre eliminates back-story and sub-plots in favor of a tight focus on the relationship between the title character and the brooding hero Edward Rochester, as well as on Rochester's relationship with his lunatic wife. Like traditional Beijing opera, this Jane Eyre assumes that the audience already knows the story so well that it can be counted on to provide the narrative and emotional continuity that is otherwise lacking in novelist David Malouf's occasionally cryptic libretto.

It's a decision not without risks.

On the positive side, concentrating on the central emotional conflict allows both composer and librettist to more fully explore the inner life of the principal characters. The heroine's turmoil over her love for Rochester and her sympathy for his deranged wife is especially vivid in this treatment, as is the anguish of the first Mrs. Rochester. Unlike the standard Gothic madwoman of most dramatic adaptations, this Mrs. Rochester is as much victim as villain - as much a prisoner of her own mind as of Thornfield's tower. That makes for greater dramatic interest, in my view, even if it does have the effect of making Rochester less sympathetic.

On the negative side, the need to accommodate key plot points that are also critical for character development - the disastrous marriage ceremony, for example, or the final conflagration that destroys Thornfield and blinds Rochester - results in great leaps forward that can be a bit disconcerting. It can also mean that large amounts of exposition are crammed into such small amounts of time that the projected English text simply can't keep up.

On the whole, however, this adaptation of Jane Eyre is a success. If I have a complaint, it's that Berkeley's music is, at times, so aggressively unsentimental that it can create an unwelcome emotional distance from the events on stage. That's not to say that there aren't scenes that pack a considerable punch. The rapturous duet between Jane and Rochester that concludes the opera comes immediately to mind, as does the confrontation with the first Mrs. Rochester. The score also makes ingenious use of a well-known melody from the Mad Scene of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, treating it as a kind of leitmotif representing lunacy and disorder. Overall, though, the emotional range struck me as a bit restricted. Your mileage may vary.

Quibbles about the work itself aside, however, there's no denying that the performances and production are outstanding. Kelly Kaduce, who was so effective in the title role of Sister Angelica two seasons ago, is a stunning Jane Eyre. It's an incredibly demanding role - Jane is on stage and singing for nearly the entire opera - but Kaduce pulls it off with great conviction. Baritone Scott Hendricks, making his OTSL debut, is equally impressive as the tormented Rochester. He and Kaduce make their characters' passionate attraction believable, and do it without sacrificing vocal technique.

Mezzo Elizabeth Batton is also very strong as the deranged Mrs. Rochester, striking just the right balance between madness and tragic self-awareness. Mezzo Robynne Redmon is a warm and sympathetic Mrs. Fairfax and Gerdine Young Artist Elizabeth Reiter rounds out this fine cast as a convincingly girlish Adele, Rochester's ward.

Andreas Mitisek conducts the orchestra with great authority and appears to be very supportive of the singers - no easy task, given the ways in which Berkeley mixes traditional orchestral colors with special effects and amplified sound.

Director Colin Graham and designer Erhard Rom have done a splendid job of bringing this dark and unabashedly Gothic piece to life. The former's staging is, as usual, clean and character driven, while the latter's use of a simple set (scrims with just enough dark wood to suggest trim, doorways and a fireplace) and projections allow the action to shift rapidly while suggesting the chaotic nature of life at Thornfield.

The bottom line is that Michael Berkeley and David Malouf, in collaboration with Opera Theatre, have produced a somewhat revisionist and provocative take on Jane Eyre that's well worth your time. If it makes you think that (to quote the Firesign Theatre), “everything you know is wrong” when it comes to Brontë's novel, that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's a lot to be said for decanting old wine into new bottles, after all, and even more for encouraging that endangered species known as contemporary opera.

Jane Eyre continues through June 16th [2006] at the Loretto Hilton Center; call 314-961-0644 for ticket information or visit the Opera Theatre web site.

Back to the index