In the novel Great Expectations, Miss Aurelia Havisham is one of Dickens’ most unforgettable supporting characters. Abandoned by her fiancée on her wedding night, Miss Havisham becomes a recluse, forever wearing her wedding gown and preserving the wedding feast in a sealed room. As the years wear on, the gown and the table settings rot away, a manifestation of the withering of her soul as she inflicts misery on all those whose lives touch her.
In Dominick Argento’s opera Miss Havisham’s Fire, a newly revised version of which is getting its world premiere by Opera Theatre of St. Louis this month, Aurelia Havisham becomes the central character. The principals from the novel are reduced to supporting status, and the entire story is told in flashback during an inquest into Miss Havisham’s death. This “wrong end of the telescope” approach can produce witty and profound insights – witness Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead – but Argento’s librettist John Olon-Scrymgeour is no Tom Stoppard. The characters, including Miss Havisham, never display any real depth and Miss Havisham’s Fire never quite comes together as drama.
That’s not because the cast doesn’t give it their best, though. In the title role, originally written as a valedictory showpiece for the great coloratura Beverly Sills, Erie Mills turns in a spectacular performance. From the highly ornamented lyricism of the young Miss Havisham awaiting her groom to the distracted lunacy of the final and rather over-written mad scene, Mills almost never strikes a false dramatic or musical note. She’s matched by strong performances from baritone Keith Phares as the adult Pip and mezzo Patricia Risley as Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter, Estella. Raised by Havisham to be an instrument of revenge upon the male sex, Estella is the one truly tragic character in the opera, and Risley captures her flirtatiousness and eventual despair beautifully.
Bass-baritone Michael Devlin is suitably imposing as the solicitor Mr. Jaggers, who has the goods on everyone. And while one often has to make allowances for very young performers, no such adjustment is necessary for Jacob Ashworth and Sarah Tannehill as the young Pip and Estella. Tannehill is especially convincing as a young girl trying very hard to be a callous adult.
Conductor Beatrice Jona Affron does a respectable job with Argento’s inventive and always fascinating score, but the composer’s somewhat opaque orchestration and fondness for the wind section often drown out the singers. Combine this with poor elocution in the chorus and some of the principals and director James Robinson’s tendency to block singers to that they’re often facing to one side or even upstage, and the result is that some scenes are so incomprehensible that they might as well be sung in Urdu.
Still, it’s a striking production and if you’re interested in something new and different on the operatic stage you might find Miss Havisham’s Fire worth your time. Performances continue through June 21st at the Loretto-Hilton center; call 314-961-0644 for ticket information.