By Suzanne Sprague
DALLAS – Suzanne Sprague, KERA 90.1 Reporter: When the French novel Therese Raquin was first published in 1867, it was labeled "putrid literature" by a prominent critic for its near-obsession with lust and death. But the book sold out in just four months. Its story of an adulterous couple that murders the woman's husband and is later haunted by his ghost was as shocking as today's "Jerry Springer Show." And, according to Dallas Opera General Director Antony Whitworth-Jones, it makes for great opera.
Antony Whitworth-Jones, General Director, Dallas Opera: It's a story of passion. It's a story of unhappiness at the beginning. It's a story of falling desperately in love. And the actions that lead from that - which include murder and, in the end, as in so many operas, suicide. The ingredients sound gloomy, but of course we all know that they are transformed by the power of music, and a sort of purging element of music, into an extraordinary experience for the listener.
[Music from Therese Raquin]
Sprague: Artists have been trying to bring "Therese Raquin" to the stage for more than 100 years. A Broadway musical based on the story recently opened in New York to mixed reviews, and an upcoming film starring Judi Dench and Kate Winslet is stalled in pre-production. So all eyes are on Dallas for the opera premiere.
Bill Madison, Associate Editor, Opera News Magazine: I think the buzz about Therese Raquin has been extremely positive.
Sprague: Bill Madison is the associate editor at Opera News magazine. He gives credit for the enthusiastic anticipation to composer Tobias Picker.
Madison: Tobias Picker is a very interesting composer whose previous opera Emmeline was a tremendous success. It was seen on television. It premiered in Santa Fe. It had an extremely successful run at the New York City Opera. He's quite a popular composer, and I think people are really looking forward to this as an important next step from Tobias Picker.
Sprague: Picker was jointly commissioned by the Dallas, San Diego and Montreal operas to compose a new work. He chose Therese Raquin as his source material after his sister found an old, dusty copy of the book in her house.
Tobias Picker, Composer: As soon as I read it, I knew this was it.
Sprague: Picker describes the two years he spent composing Therese Raquin as a labor of obsession and passion. Although the story is often bleak, a strong sexuality burns in the characters, and in the opera.
[Music from Therese Raquin]
Picker: The music actually in many respects is very romantic, very romantic. I've made these characters even more romantic then they were in the book.
Sprague: Therese and her husband's friend, the poor Parisian artist Laurent, fall in love to a rapturous score. It's very melodic and, some say, reminiscent of operas by the Italian composer Puccini. But that changes after Therese and Laurent murder Therese's husband, Camille, by throwing him off a boat suspended in mid-air above the stage.
Picker: When they're racked with guilt and they can't touch each other, I've given them kind of anti-love music, which is ridden with angst and conflict and tension and frustration.
Graeme Jenkins, Music Director, The Dallas Opera and Conductor, Therese Raquin: Now it's not to put the audience off, but what the composer does is take themes, invert them and intensify their melodic shape to heighten Terese's guilt.
Sprague: Graeme Jenkins is the music director of the Dallas Opera and conductor of Therese Raquin.
Jenkins: And the end is truly heart-wrenching. And if there's a dry eye in the house, we will have failed.
[Sound from the end of the opera in which Laurent wails, "Therese! Therese!"]
Sprague: Jenkins says the second act of Therese Raquin is as difficult as any other opera he's conducted. It's a very physical hour on stage as well, as Therese and Laurent struggle with their guilt. Whenever Camille's ghost appears, the bedroom wall bearing his portrait cries a river of tears, and Therese nearly throws herself from her bed as she fights off her agony. British soprano Sarah Fulgoni plays Therese.
Sarah Fulgoni, "Therese": It's very taxing vocally, the role. There's a lot in it. Lots of different styles of singing.
Sprague: Tobias Picker wrote Therese Raquin with the six-foot tall, raven-haired Fulgoni in mind. The role demands strength and sensuality to convey Therese's internal struggle as a sexually-repressed woman forced to marry her sickly cousin.
Fulgoni: I feel that it's partly my duty to portray her in a sympathetic way. And I don't want to say that she's a victim, but her circumstances are certainly such that she's unable to escape and she sees her chance; and I think it is possible to understand her dilemma and appreciate where she's coming from.
Gene Scheer, Librettist: A strong powerful force comes into her world and she can't resist.
Sprague: Gene Scheerr wrote the libretto, or text, of Therese Raquin.
Scheer: It doesn't justify what she does, but it does help to explain it and ultimately does give the audience some sympathy for what happens.
Sprague: This is the first large-scale opera for which Scheer has written the libretto, and it has been a daunting task since the Therese Raquin is mostly narration, with only some dialog. Although the opera's world premiere will be sung in English, a French translation will be preformed later in Montreal. The Dallas Opera has commissioned another opera for a future season, but its premiere may be delayed as the opera, like many other non-profits, faces funding challenges. So, Therese Raquin marks an important step for the Dallas Opera as it works to build public support for the company and a new performance hall in downtown Dallas. Again, Music Director Graeme Jenkins.
Jenkins: And what is crucial, crucial for this company is that we don't keep hauling out the old war horses, the ones, of course, that everybody loves, the Bohemes, the Carmens, the Toscas, and what is crucial is that we do new work.
Sprague: As with any opera world premiere, changes are being made up until the last minute. Jenkins didn't even receive the full score until ten days before rehearsals started. At dress rehearsal Wednesday night, the stress and excitement of the premiere appeared on everyone's face, including composer Tobias Picker's.
Picker: I need to see it alive. And I need to hear it in its entirety alive and in the air and not just in my head.
Sprague: Picker says he may be too sensitive to audience reaction to watch the first production of Therese Raquin on stage. But the public can see his dream come alive tonight at the Music Hall in Fair Park. Performances by the Dallas Opera continue through December 8th. For KERA 90.1, I'm Suzanne Sprague.