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American Nocturne
Opera News, January 2008, vol 72, no. 7
Baritone Gerald Finley, who this month reprises the role of Robert Oppenheimer in Lyric Opera of Chicago performances of John Adams's Doctor Atomic, talks about his new recording of Samuel Barber songs.
OPERA NEWS: Your excellent new recording of Samuel Barber songs follows a previous disc of songs by Charles Ives. The both of them are absolutely excellent. How did this recording come about?
GERALD FINLEY: Well, it's the result of an ongoing relationship with Hyperion Recordings. When we embarked on the Ives project, it was seen that there was a wealth of American song repertoire not in the catalogue. We immediately decided that we would do the Ives and the Barber in fairly quick succession. We've in fact also now done a second disc of Ives, which will come out next spring. So it was really sort of perceived as an opportunity to use my interest in the repertoire, and also continue my good relationship with the label.
ON: Listening to the disc, I was really struck anew by how grateful the writing is for the voice.
GF: Oh, it's marvelous — really marvelous. I mean, of course they are wonderful melodies — Barber is obviously a wonderful melodist — but also there is a density and sensitivity to how he treats the poetry. There are complicated, delicate nuances really, which a composer like Barber can point out through a sensitive approach. He also uses his abilities as a pianist as well. Of course, having been a singer, he was obviously very sensitive to how things should be set for the voice — it's very natural. I think that the songs respond very quickly to the poetry and to the listener too. I think that is one of the joys of listening to them.
click photos for details of the recordings
ON: Barber draws from an incredible variety of poetry across these songs — from James Joyce's "In the dark pinewood," to Celtic poets like Seán Ó Faoláin, to Rainer Maria Rilke to James Agee. I'm curious as to how you would go about digesting the words prior to looking at the music.
GF: I think, as far as text is concerned, Barber chose really well. The poetry is wonderfully accessible. Being good poetry already, I think they invite a musical alignment. My own preparation was simply to get a feeling for the flow of the poetry — very much like from the German lied point of view — and to make sure that each word that might have a complex meaning gets its full weight. As soon as you turn to the music, of course, Barber has already done it. So it's really wonderful. There are the huge, flowing lines — I'm thinking particularly of the "Nocturne," where you're given this huge surge of passion already evident in the poetry. That is a gift.
Click here to hear a music sample "Nocturne"
ON: The Hermit Songs, in particular, were written without time signatures specified. I would imagine that is, to someone interpreting them, at once, quite freeing and also a little bit terrifying.
GF: I've actually just recorded some Dichterliebe as well, and those types of things in song repertoire can be restricting. You wonder sometimes, Well, if it's 2/4, is it two beats in a bar? Or is it a quick one? And if it's four — as a slow four — is it actually a fast eight? In some ways, that can be quite restricting. You have to almost unpick it. As you suggest, it can also be useful to simply create it the way the line allows itself to fall, for the singer to respond accordingly. For me, I try to see how long the breath can go — it can be almost determined how fast something goes by how long you can sustain a phrase in a breath. That can be easy if the lines are long, because then you just have to go faster. But, by the same token, you can slow things down if you have an extra puff available.
ON: In keeping with the breadth of literary influences that Barber channeled, the compositions highlighted here also really show an incredible range of his compositional. Is there a track or cycle that you particularly enjoyed recording?
GF: Well, I can't single anything out. I'm a sucker for everything really — I really loved engaging with every song. In many ways, that's the sheer joy of learning a repertoire. Of course, the real favorites, like "Sure on this shining night" or the opening track, "There's nae lark" — the straightforwardness of those, when I've sung them in concert, produces a lovely direct response from the audience. But I love the dense settings of the Opus 10 songs, for instance — "I hear an army" is a hugely impassioned piece. But I also love the easy lyricism of "The Monk and his Cat" in Hermit Songs, or even the final track of that, "The Desire for Hermitage." The ability to have reflective moments, contemplative moments, as well as full passion — what I love about the song output of Barber is that there is that variety. I always have a different favorite every ten minutes.
Click below to hear music samples
ON: I was quite struck by your recording of
Dover Beach and in revisiting Matthew Arnold's poetry. The description of a comprehensive knowledge of the world as being painfully irrevocable seems in keeping with the kind of existential crises that Robert Oppenheimer goes through in Doctor Atomic. What has that been like preparing and presenting this role again, following the world premiere in San Francisco.
click photo for performance details
GF: Well, I have to say that it initially took me some while to decide to accept the role. The weight of history on that character's shoulders is massive. I was hesitant simply because I wondered about whether I had the wherewithal to deal with as complex a man as I think he was. Of course, in an operatic setting, it becomes more condensed and one gets a chance to focus on the particular facets that the librettist and composer have decided are important. That more or less convinced me, because I trust Peter and John implicitly.
The first step was to find out exactly who this guy was. I did a lot of reading, I visited Los Alamos, I went to his ranch in New Mexico, Los Pinos. I talked to locals around there and I really tried to walk a little bit in his steps. I wouldn't pretend that there is any intellectual comparison to my character, but I wanted to get the feeling of where he was — where he found refreshment and what his emotional state would be — because that is essentially what one is dealing with in the opera. There was a great guidance from Peter and John about how tortured the character was in terms of his own emotional state, and I was able then to put that into the context of a man overseeing a top secret project for which he has no security clearance. So it's a pretty complex character. In the end, every time I sing it and every time I review the historical context and any of the biographical information, there is always a new thing to discover — layer upon layer upon layer — which makes performing someone like him incredibly exciting.
ON: What has changed for you in creating this characterization following the first performances of the opera? How has the role of Oppenheimer developed?
GF: Well, there is always that kind of energetic application to actually make the first performances of a new opera even happen and to get through the piece. One really never knows whether it is going to be successful or even tie from the beginning to the end. But we did that, and once you feel that you can get from the beginning to the end, then there is a certain clarity of mind to say, 'Now where can we start to investigate?' For me, it was more making sure that I had a sense of authority onstage amongst all these workers and men, and yet to be very open to his emotional vulnerability — as portrayed with Kitty, in the second scene of the first act, where they are in their home and bedroom together — to show that actually these two things, his personal life and his public life, are really in conflict. That he does have a sensitive side, that he does have a spiritual side, that he does have an intellectual command of what the moral dilemma is — as well as being able to say with determination that this project needs to go forward. I think with that confusion within himself, that makes Act II, his breakdown, much more vigorous. That is perhaps something that in the Amsterdam performances we were able to examine much more closely.
ON: In 2008-09, you reprise the role at the Met in a new production by Penny Woolcock. Do you have any ideas about what that will entail?
GF: Well, the recent meeting that I had with Penny, I asked if she wanted me to be thinking about anything. She said, "You know, you really need to do the version that you are doing, and then once that's over, clear the slate and we'll look at some new ideas." I thought that that was wonderful actually — huge respect for the production that is happening, huge respect for John's music. Well, I'm certainly looking forward to offering it in a new situation. It will be thrilling there, because I know that the music will easily handle a new production. It is a very, very rich score.