Sonenberg, who has
previously lived in New York City, said he never thought his opera
would premier in Maine. With an almost exclusively African-American
cast, and singers from around the world, the opera is the first major
production of this type for Portland Ovations.
“They
don't really do this, they're not a producing company,” Sonenberg
said. “This has been a real learning experience for both of us.”
Baritone Stephen Salters, who plays
Gibson, said he auditioned for the part in December and has been
practicing since January. Salters, who lives in Brussels, Belgium,
has performed major opera roles in Asia, Europe and the U.S.
Sonenberg said when auditions were held
in New York, Salters' name was thrown into the mix as a potential fit
for the part.
“He showed up, which surprised me
because he has pretty big gigs,” Sonenberg said. “He's clearly
the guy for the part. He really has, not just dramatic capability but
musical chops. He's a force of nature.”
Salters said both the honor of playing
Gibson as well as debuting “The Summer King” makes him feel that
he is a part of history.
“I
hope this piece will be taken across the world and become one of the
great new American operas,” Salters said. “I do feel it is one of
those great pieces. It's Dan's voice. He has mixed standards, really
contemporary idiomatic music, classical contemporary music, with
jazz, with swing … and with great emotional depth, but it doesn't
sound like another composer's music. He's pulled little snippets of a
feeling of jazz here, or a composer here or there. but it's his
voice. I even hear some gospel sometimes and I think, 'Where did that
come from?'--so skillfully put in there.”
Salters said a gratifying part of
working on a premier is seeing the composer's reaction when the piece
starts to come to life.
“For
(Sonenberg), this is a huge labor of love and it's very interesting
watching him in rehearsals,” said Salters. “He got teary-eyed,
was like a dumb-founded kid. 'Was that what I wrote?' For them to
hear their work is a special thing … And I negotiate with him,
change a note here and there. I love having those discussions because
everybody grows.”
The opening scene of “The Summer
King” takes place in 1957, ten years after Gibson’s death, as the
Dodgers move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Two barbers argue whether
Gibson or Jackie Robinson was the better player. Robinson broke the
color barrier by becoming the first African-American to play in the
Major League when he joined the Dodgers in 1947, months after
Gibson’s death.
From there, the opera explores Gibson's
life—his relationships with women, his baseball career and his
health struggles at the end of his life. A brain tumor is the
suspected cause of his death in 1947.
Known as the “black Babe Ruth,”
legend suggests that Gibson is the only player to ever hit a ball
completely out of Yankee Stadium. Considered to be one of the best
catchers and power hitters in baseball history, Gibson was elected
into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972—the second Negro League
player to be honored in the hall.
“I'm
very exciting about how Dan set the relationships with the women in
(Gibson's) life,” Salters said. “He has a very different
relationship with (wife) Helen than with (mistress) Grace … and the
other part we get to hear, and I think not enough of, is that he's
going crazy. We hear it musically. I think we'll feel it in a
visceral force in the portrayal and the music.”
Helen Mason was Gibson's wife early in
life; the 18-year old died while giving birth to twins. Grace
Fournier was a “headstrong, ambitious woman” who loved Gibson in
his later years, Sonenberg said.
Sean Gibson, a great-grandson of Josh
Gibson and Mason, said he met Sonenberg in 2007 at a game in
Pittsburgh, and has known that Sonenberg's opera was in the works.
“It's an honor, anytime you can have
an opera about a relative,” Sean Gibson said.
Sonenberg said he has kept in touch
with Sean Gibson over the years. Sonenberg even took a tour of Josh
Gibson's old stomping grounds in Pittsburgh, including the original
locations of Greenlee Field and Crawford Grill.
“Considering the history involved,
there were very few markers (to find them),” Sonenberg said.
Sean Gibson, who is attending the
debut, said he is excited “to see how Daniel is going to make this
work.”
“It's different in an opera, than in
a documentary or book,” Sean Gibson said. “Someone singing about
the life of Josh Gibson—to see how this all comes out will be
interesting."
Sean Gibson is the executive director
of the Josh Gibson Foundation; Sonenberg said he would like to form a
partnership with the foundation in the future.
As for the music, Sean Gibson said he
hasn't heard any of it because he wants to experience it for the
first time at the opera's debut.
“I'm glad I didn't (hear any). I want
to do the best I can to critique it,” said Sean Gibson. “I want
to be surprised and listen. I'm looking forward to it.”
Ben Meiklejohn can be contacted at
benjamin.meiklejohn@maine.edu
