Resurrection

by Tod Machover
Houston Grand Opera;
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Patrick Summers, conductor
Performers listed below.

Think of all the well-known people - creative artists, entertainers, writers - whose professional lives, work, and public images have been drastically altered by personal circumstances: Pop stars who give up their self-destructive lifestyles only to find that their music has suddenly turned from defiant, to “warm and fuzzy;” or a highly-original author who sells some movie rights to Hollywood, rakes in a bundle in royalties and, perhaps without meaning to, starts writing the same, formulaic, “movie-friendly” novel over and over again.

Something similar happened to the writer whose work inspired today’s opera. Leo Tolstoy was born into the Russian aristocracy in the 19th century. That is, he was born with great wealth and privilege - in a country where most people had neither. And for a time, Tolstoy enjoyed the privileges that he inherited, living the high life in Moscow. But it bothered him a little; Tolstoy felt conflicted about having a “big ol’ time” while so many others were suffering. Then, he experienced a personal, religious conversion - and with it, a spiritual awakening.

He became something of a rebel. Tolstoy’s newfound goal was, “to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth.” But he didn’t think this required an organized church to shepherd people’s lives. He said so in his writings, and was promptly excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church. Tolstoy also didn’t think that Russia’s people needed an opressive government to keep them in line, or a stratified social system to protect the privileged from the downtrodden. He grew to believe that people could achieve “the kingdom of heaven on earth” on their own, through faith in themselves and each other.

Now, you might wonder how a fellow with these somewhat radical beliefs managed to get his stuff published in a place like Tsarist Russia. Well, the fact is his most famous novels, WAR AND PEACE, and ANNA KARENINA, were written before Tolstoy’s personal, “spritual awakening.” But there was another book that came after it, and that one refelcts all of Tolstoy’s newfound social awareness.

That novel is called RESURRECTION. It tells the story of a wealthy aristocrat, Dmitri, who takes advantage of a peasant girl, Katusha. He leaves her pregnant and disgraced, and then dumps her. Katusha is forced into prostitution, and eventually is accused of being an accomplice to murder. Then, at her trial, Dmitri finds himself on the jury - and he’s still a scumbag. He’s pretty sure she’s innocent, but he lets the jury vote “guilty,” assuming that she’ll get off lightly. She doesn’t. And when Dmitri hears her sentence - confinement to a labor camp in Siberia - he suddenly sees the light. Her fate, he realizes, is his fault. The opera chronicles his efforts to free Katusha, and redeem himself.

And so does this week’s opera - a new work by the American composer Tod Machover, with librettist Laura Harrington. We’ll hear it on NPR WORLD OF OPERA, with Steve Curwood, in its World Premiere production from Houston Grand Opera. And before the curtain, join Lou Santacroce and AT THE OPERA, for more on Leo Tolstoy and a chat with the composer.



Performers:
Joyce DiDonato, Katerina Maslova (Katusha); Scott Hendricks, Prince Dmitry Nekhlyudov; Kerri Marcinko, Princess Missy Korchagin/Young Woman; Matthew A. Kreger, Simon Petrov Kartinkin/Train Conductor; James F. Love, First Judge; Clifford Derix, Second Judge/Lawyer; Darlene James, Euphemia Ivanova Bochkova/Women’s Warder; Katherine Ciesinski, Sofia Ivanova; James C. Holloway, Patinkin/Kriltsov; Dale Travis, President/Prince Korchagin/Officer; Judith Christin, Princess Sophia Korchagin/Old Woman; David L. Paxton, Kulashov


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