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When the Metropolitan Opera commissions a new work, itcommits.
Its too bad that this deluxe production of a lavish opera rests on such a wispy score.
But thats not this composers way.
Instead, a seam of good-natured lightness runs through even the most brutal moments.
Muhlys music smooths the roller-coaster of Marnies life into a series of speed bumps.
Wright doesnt always earn that generosity.
Im sorry, Marnies husband Rutland says after he has tried to force himself on her.
Sorry isnt enough, she responds and neither is the whole exchange.
Its up to the mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard to find the human being beneath the trappings, if any.
Muhly gives her not arias, exactly, but links sleight-of-hand moments when the character reflects (quickly!)
while the plot pivots and the scene shifts.
The backbone of the opera is her icy relationship with Rutland, the man who blackmails her into marriage.
Other characters circle around the void at the center of the opera, persuasively sung but somehow superfluous.
There are glimmers of a great opera contained inMarnie.
In his other pieces, he gravitates to serene tintinnabulations, shimmering atmospheres, and decorous drama.
If only the title character in the opera were half as insightful or introspective.
His idol, Philip Glass, stretches out the dramatic pacing so far that it practically liquefies.
Muhly doesnt put up that kind of resistance, adapting instead to traditional theatrical structure without obvious enthusiasm.
Instead, it often felt like he was grudgingly supplying the soundtrack for someone elses show.
