Reviews

COMPOSITION

OPERAS

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Moses

Review: L.A. Opera’s ‘Moses’ finds its sonic power with the voice of the community

By RICHARD S. GINELL

In 2007, Los Angeles Opera launched an outreach project that has turned into an annual tradition: The company took over the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and staged Britten’s “Noah’s Flood,” which was designed by the composer to involve an entire community.

In one of his earliest acts as L.A. Opera music director, James Conlon took on the conducting himself rather than delegate it to an assistant, as he could have. Admission was free.

Lo, the show was a hit, and it has been repeated in every odd-numbered year since, with other religion-themed pieces performed during the even-numbered years. But in this odd-numbered year, L.A. Opera tried something new and different — or mostly different.

The company commissioned an Old Testament opera titled “Moses” from San Jose composer Henry Mollicone and librettist Shishir Kurup from the Cornerstone Theater Company, rounded up a cast of hundreds from a sprawling roster of community collaborators too numerous to list here, and threw it all together at the cathedral Friday night. It made an appealingly big noise in a big space, a lively biblical community shout.

Community members participate in Los Angeles Opera’s “Moses” at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. (Taso Papadakis)

The plot picks up the story of the baby Moses being plucked out of the Nile by an Egyptian princess who raises him as her own son. In this telling, his half brother Ramses becomes Pharoah (Moses’ older brother Aaron is nowhere to be found) and banishes Moses to the desert after he kills a cruel bully. Eventually, Moses confronts Ramses and leads the Israelites out of Egypt, parts the Red Sea and endures his people’s worship of a golden calf before delivering the Ten Commandments to restore their faith

When you think of Moses operas, the ones that come to mind most frequently are Rossini’s “Mosè in Egitto” and Schoenberg’s “Moses und Aron.” Yet as Conlon said to the audience before the music started, the “Noah” production was indeed the model for this “Moses” in several ways.

Mollicone inserted three Bach-inspired chorales into the score for the congregation (a.k.a. the audience) to sing — as did Britten — and before the performance, Conlon again enthusiastically rehearsed us with a glockenspiel bonging out the melody line as a guide track. Eli Villanueva, the resident stage director for L.A. Opera’s Education and Community Engagement wing, returned to direct.

As vigorously led by Conlon, the cast, orchestra and chorus were again a mix of a few L.A. Opera pros with amateurs from Southern California. The littlest ones among them were again turned loose to run somewhat amok, dressed in costumes representing some of the 10 plagues that descended upon ancient Egypt.

As before, some waved turquoise streamers signifying a body of water — the Red Sea. The earth-toned desert sets were minimal; their angular features seemed to sprout from those of the cathedral itself. Those who were seated along the central aisle were inches away from some of the action.

Granted, Mollicone’s score was leagues apart in sound and feeling from Britten’s. This was a mostly grandiose thing of Middle Eastern scales and irregular meter dances for the Israelites, some cinematic bombast, lots of attractive tunes, highly descriptive orchestration for the plague scene and even a wisp of Sprechstimme (spoken song) for the Egyptians at one point. (Was this an inside-joke reference to Schoenberg’s opera?)

The score had to fight its way to be heard through the cathedral’s notoriously long reverberation decay, with overbearing amplification doing little to clarify the ingredients of the sonic soup. Yet precisely because of its grandiosity, this 64-minute opera seemed a better fit for this acoustically cavernous room than the subtleties of Britten.

The Moses of baritone Michael J. Hawk had a commanding presence whether as a young hothead or an older, crustier figure laying down the law. Baritone Juan Carlos Heredia also boomed imposingly as Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, and as the Voice of God in tandem with soprano Sarah Vautour (also Zipporah). Tenor Alok Kumar was an effective vocal foil as Ramses. Try as everyone did to make their English words clear in this difficult space, the supertitles were definitely needed.

“Noah” should be returning to its odd-numbered-year slot in 2021, while “Moses” is tentatively scheduled to repeat in 2022.

 

Lady Bird: First Lady of the Land (opera in one act)

“On Nov. 22, 1963, just 99 minutes after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, an emergency swearing-in ceremony was held on Air Force One. The iconic photograph shows Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath, flanked by Lady Bird Johnson and Jacqueline Kennedy.
“That scene is brought to life as it unveils Lady Bird: First Lady of the Land, a one-act opera by composer Henry Mollicone and librettist Sheldon Harnick, which received its premiered in the new Patti Strickel Harrison Theatre of Texas State University (LBJ’s alma mater, then called Southwest Texas State Teacher’s College) April 28-May 1.
“President of the United States. That’s what he always wanted,” Lady Bird muses in a graceful aria, “but not this way. Dear God, not this way!” At that point, there is a flashback to 1934 and her first meeting with boastful young congressional aide LBJ at the Driskill Hotel in Austin. We hear their conversation, but we also hear the 1963 Lady Bird’s interjections as she “observes” the couple in her mind’s eye. A lilting waltz underscores her telling him the origin of her nickname — she was born Claudia Taylor, but a nursemaid declared her as “purdy as a lady bird” — while a march-like theme accompanies his insistence that politics is in his blood and he will be a congressman someday, and even President.
“It’s an ideal means of introducing Mollicone’s delightfully variegated score, a mélange of styles that blur boundaries among classical, jazz, and musical theater. The vocal writing is tuneful, the orchestrations vivid, often harmonically piquant. Another of his scores, Children of the Sun, about the Virgin of Guadalupe, had its premiere in 2013 by Texas State Opera at Austin’s McCallum Fine Arts Academy.
“Harnick’s libretto is equally expressive, filled with wit and provocative imagery. This was the second collaboration between the pair, the first being Coyote Tales in 1998 for Kansas City Lyric Opera. Mollicone is best known for The Face on the Barroom Floor, which was written in 1978 for Central City Opera and continues to run each summer. Harnick is, of course, the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning lyricist of such Broadway musicals as Fiorello!, She Loves Me, and Fiddler on the Roof, the last two of which have been nominated for 2016 Tony awards in the Best Revival of a Musical category.

“In a phone interview, the pair revealed that they were captivated by Lady Bird’s biography, but budgetary constraints limited the opera’s length. So, they chose to focus on Lady Bird’s whistle-stop campaign tour — evoked through motoric rhythms and woodwind shrieks — through the South a few weeks prior to LBJ’s election in November 1964. About 40 percent of the piece involves that fateful four-day journey, when the rather shy First Lady faced throngs of angry Southerners who could not accept the just-passed Civil Rights Act.
“At one point, an FBI agent tried to convince her to stop because of a bomb threat, but she insisted on continuing. It was a triumphant exercise in gentle persuasion as a fellow Southerner shared stories of loving grits or crawfish pie, interspersed with quotes about equality from the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance.
“In the opera, the latter is set to an especially rich, moving choral ensemble that deserves to be published separately for school choirs.
“The characters include young and older Johnsons, daughters Lynda Bird and Luci Baines, and various politicians, picketers, rednecks, etc. Most were double-cast, and all the roles were sung by students. The young singers seen opening night were well trained and promising, both musically and dramatically.
“The set consisted of simple, easy-to-move furnishings (plus the back of a bigoted redneck’s pickup truck) and a series of floor-to ceiling drops on either side of a rear screen. Projections, including newspaper headlines and a still from the Zapruder film showing Jackie crawling atop the fated limo, advanced the action or provided time references. An onstage gospel chorus sang in front of images from the 1963 march on Birmingham and rallies led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Throughout, there was impressive choral work, courtesy of coach and chorus master Kristin Roach, which did justice to Mollicone’s vibrant scoring. The finale is an eloquent, multi-voice anthem with Lady Bird’s soaring solo mirrored by choristers singing about how they will wage a war on poverty, create a great society, and beautify the land. Politics aside, it was irresistible, especially with the final drop depicting the real Lady Bird in a vast field of bluebonnets.
“The opera was efficiently staged by Samuel Mungo, the university’s director of opera studies, who kept a taut pace with swift scene changes, logical blocking, and effective lighting. The responsive, nicely balanced 29-piece Texas State Symphony Orchestra was led by Australian Carolyn Watson, who became the ensemble’s director last fall.
“There is talk of additional performances next season. It appears that Lady Bird has legs. May they find many venues.”
CLASSICAL VOICE NORTH AMERICA 5/5/16 – Diane Windeler

“Among the most inspiring events this semester was last week’s premiere of Lady Bird: First Lady of the Land, an opera directed by Texas State’s Dr. Samuel Mungo featuring our own exceptionally talented theatre students. The one-act opera, written by Henry Mollicone and Sheldon Harnick, focused on a train tour through the Deep South by Lady Bird Johnson in 1964, who campaigned on behalf of her husband, President Lyndon Johnson. The 49-city rail trip occurred just three months after the Civil Rights Act was signed, and racial tensions remained high. Lady Bird knew that she would encounter harsh resistance at many stops and, opting against advisors’ recommendations that she reconsider, she chose to go anyway. Her daughters, Lynda and Luci, accompanied her.
“Lady Bird courageously reached out to those who disagreed, knowing she had a role in helping set a tone of acceptance and tolerance in the country. Luci Johnson, who attended the premiere with husband Ian Turpin, clearly was moved by the production and met with cast members afterward to offer her gracious appreciation. Besides being a magnificent production, it was a fitting tribute to a family who has meant so much to this university, our state, and the country.”
NEWS FROM THE HILL 5/4/16 — Denise M. Trauth, President, Texas State University

Gabriel’s Daughter (opera in 2 acts)

“Adding to the historic weight of the evening was the fact this is also the 25th season that Mollicone’s Face on the Barroom Floor is being performed on site in the city’s Teller House bar. It is today second only to Menotti’s Amahl as the most-performed one-act American opera of the 20th century. In Gabriel’s Daughter Mollicone…reveals a voice uniquely his own. He has woven bits of Americana —honky-tonk, gospel and a hint of Battle Hymn of the Republic—seamlessly into his score. His compelling music moves the story forward at a rapid pace, but never hurries it. To capture the bite of the story Mollicone pushes tonality to its edge, and an undercurrent of darkness focuses attention on the haunting love at the core of the work. His richly colored music is engaging—but never relentless…. Mollicone is a master of massive scenes that portray the historical milieu—the slave market, the gold-rush craze, a mob stirred by racial hatred, and John Baril has the CCO chorus singing at the height of its powers in them. For overall beauty and effectiveness of staging Gabriel’s Daughter sets a new standard at the CCO.” THE DAILY CAMERA, 7-14-03 – Wes Blomster

“Mollicone mixes operatic grandness, Broadway-musical energy and movie-soundtrack sweep to create a likable score that brims with memorable tunes (try to purge the toe-tapping Colorado !’ chorus from your head). Clara’s ‘Lullaby’ and the gospel-tinged ‘Glory Day’ also impress. Luce has crafted an elegant libretto, featuring unforced rhyming couplets and hard-hitting lines (‘Slavery and God going hand in hand’).”
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS 7/15/03 – Marc Shulgold

“Given Mollicone’s extensive experience in the operatic realm, it is not surprising that he has put together a solid score, skillfully evoking moods and shaping characters… There are moments when the opera sounds like a movie score and many other times when it comes off more as a Broadway musical…”
THE DENVER POST 7/15/03 – Kyle MacMillan

“Mollicone has composed a work that will stand solidly in the opera repertoire – and do the American Opera proud…. Henry Mollicone’s score incorporates Ragtime, military marches and Gospel with nods to Bernstein and Copland. His work is, by turns, tender, passionate and stirring…. The masterful libretto by William Luce is full of heart-piercing poetry…. Not to be missed!” OUT FRONT COLORADO 8/1/03 – David Marlowe

Coyote Tales (opera in 2 acts)

“Opera is not only alive and well at the Oberlin Conservatory, it’s also adventurous. At least that’s the case this week, when the conservatory’s Opera Theater is presenting the Ohio premiere of Henry Mollicone and Sheldon Harnick’s enchanting “Coyote Tales”… a piece that should have a long, healthy performance life. … Harnick has drawn each of the five myths in “Coyote Tales” from a different American Indian Tribe … depicting universal truths about ambition, greed, pride, and love … And not since he wrote lyrics to Jerry Bock’s music for such beloved Broadway shows as “She Loves Me” and “Fiddler on the Roof” has Harnick collaborated with the composer of such freshness and substance.

Mollicone’s score for “Coyote Tales” runs the gamut of sonic delights, basking in American folk idiom and affectionate references to Strauss, Britten, Copland and Bernstein … In “Coyote Tales”, he lets loose streams of lyrical lines that caress the ears and draw the listener into the characters’ expressive worlds … His vocal lines sing and his orchestrations add colorful commentary to the opera’s dramatic twists.

The Oberlin production benefits enormously from the composer’s presence as a conductor. Under Mollicone’s baton, the score dances with rhythmic glee and exudes poetic urgency. The Oberlin Opera Orchestra responds to Mollicone with playing of utmost point, sheen, and spirit.

Here is an opera with a conscience, and remarkable music to match its noble aspirations.
Donald Rosenberg – THE PLAIN DEALER

“…tonal, tuneful and vigorously rhythmic—an interesting blend of Broadway and Britten. …a worthy new opera then, in a production which represented ensemble opera at its best, and a real feather in the cap for the Kansas City company.” OPERA ( London, 1998)

“Harnick’s dramatically sure-footed libretto was an excellent base for Mollicone’s musical style, which may owe something to both Britten and Bernstein but made an effect all its own. …a very strong new opera.” OPERA CANADA (1998)

“Mollicone’s score favors a streetwise eclecticism, much influenced by jazzy musical-theater idioms. ….sassy syncopation and brightly lit orchestration. Moments of high emotion bring forth harmonically charged surges. …there are moments of orchestral magic…it is entertaining music theater.” OPERA NEWS (1998)

“Coyote Tales is very much a child of Bernstein’s Candide. We’re given creation and destruction, love and loss, but in a light-hearted spirit. …Harnick and Mollicone are thoroughgoing professionals, and Coyote Tales is an entertaining way to spend two hours.”
KANSAS CITY STAR (1998)

“There was a variety of fascinating characters – animal, human and ethereal – and compelling stories gathered from Native American sources. … Cleverly re-told by Harnick, the stories relate Coyote’s history. …All this was dressed in Mollicone’s richly rhythmic and strongly melodic music (think Bernstein) and performed by a deeply engaged ensemble…”
OPERA NOW (1998)

“Coyote Tales provides an opportunity for a general audience to share the wisdom and joy of some of our traditional Native American stories. …In every way, Coyote Tales is deeply respectful of the continuing tradition it seeks to illuminate.”
SIMON ORTIZ, NATIVE AMERICAN AUTHOR (1998)

The original cast recording of Coyote Tales is available on Newport Classic

Hotel Eden (opera in 3 acts)

Mr. Mollicone writes music that crisscrosses the line between opera and musical theater. “Hotel Eden,” Which received its premiere in 1989 at Opera San Jose, has both opulently operatic ensembels and fractured vaudeville numbers. Mr. Mollicone’s music seems to draw from Ravel’s modalisms, Weill’s pungencies, and Sondheim’s melancholia, with some razzmatazz mixed in. – The New York Times

“Not so much an opera as a glitzy, hip, sometimes tender, often tuneful piece of musical theater, the new work Hotel Eden is a feminist reading of three stories from the Old Testament….Scoring for the small chamber ensemble was outstanding.”
–OPERA NEWS – William Ratliff

“Opera San Jose has continued its imaginative way with an ambitious two-day national conference…and the premiere on November 25 of Hotel Eden, a lark of an opera by Henry Mollicone to a libretto by Judith Fein….The treatment…recalls such romps as Angelique by Jacques Ibert and Les Mamelles De Tiresias by Francis Poulenc, but a thoughtful note at the end…reminds us poignantly that today’s implacable Middle Eastern antagonists spring from common progenitors.” –MUSICAL AMERICA – Paul Moor

“Mr. Mollicone’s credentials are the finest and what strikes one immediately about the music to Hotel Eden is its professionalism. Although it is in a lighter style closer to the musical there is nothing tentative about its idiom, its writing for voices or for the aptness or inventiveness of the instrumental writing.” –OPERA, London – James Helme Sutcliffe

“Well, well–at last we’ve found a bona fide composer of comedy. Henry Mollicone ‘s new music-theater piece, Hotel Eden is a hit at Opera San Jose these days. Unorthodox. Sexy. Sassy. Jazzy. Exuberant.” –SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS – Paul Hertelendy

The Face on the Barroom Floor (opera in one act)

“The Face on the Barroom Floor recently celebrated its twentieth birthday, and in the two decades since its premiere at the Central City Opera (where it’s still performed annually), it has never waned in popularity. …With a clever libretto by John S. Bowman and an ‘Old West’ score by Henry Mollicone that’s equal parts honky-tonk piano (played here by the composer himself, who doubles as conductor) and nostalgic lyricism, The Face has long been regarded as a showcase for rising young talent. …it’s a laudable framework for those who wish to study this ‘Little Opera That Could.'” OPERA NEWS (1999) On re-release of the C.R.I. recording

“…there was Henry Mollicone ‘s The Face on the Barroom Floor, revived this year with something like a cult success… The drama is predictable but strangely powerful; the audience is gripped. I found it even more gripping a second time round. It is a very skillful score… It’s a good piece.” –THE NEW YORKER – Andrew Porter

Emperor Norton (opera in one act)

“While the plot device is complicated for such a short work, Mollicone manages, by his expert, assured craftsmanship, to produce coherence and several touching scenes…the two big set pieces…are powerfully worked out in a Straussian vein of soaring lyricism.”
–OPERA NEWS

“It…offers up a genuine testimonial to qualities all too painfully lacking among opera composers of the younger generation–craftsmanship, fluency and accessibility. Little things like that. …It is expressively and even beautifully written for the voice, and the ensembles are cohesive, soaring affairs.” –THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER – Allan Ulrich

“Henry Mollicone’s operas–at least those that have been produced in the Washington area–have the virtues of succinctness, distinctive melody and a strongly developed sense of style that matches the composer’s eclectic tastes. His most popular work so far…seems to be The Face on the Barroom Floor, produced a few years ago by Opera Southwest, but Emperor Norton, as performed by the same company, is an even more effective work of art.”
–THE WASHINGTON POST – Joseph McLellan

Starbird (opera in one act)

“Mollicone should go far; he can’t seem to write a note that doesn’t sing.”
–NEWSWEEK – Annalyn Swan

“Mollicone’s musical language is an irrepressible stylistic grab-bag. He knows how to write for voices and how to entertain… Mollicone’s personality and his eupeptic wit are already more important than his various stylistic debts which include the Broadway of Bernstein and Sondheim, a bit of disco and figures like Prokofiev, Satie and Copland… Mollicone is without question an operatic talent to watch, with an infallible sense of dramatic pace and tension.”
–THE GUARDIAN, London – Tom Sutcliffe

The Mask of Evil (opera in one act)

“…compact, fast-paced work…musically appealing… scenes involving Magdalena are as ominous and filled with foreboding as any I’ve seen on the lyric stage.”
— ST. PAUL SUNDAY PIONEER PRESS – Roy M. Close

ORCHESTRAL WORKS

Celestial Dance
“…A glittering array of orchestral colors were present in “Celestial Dance,” and local composer, Henry Mollicone, was on hand for both the rehearsal on Friday evening and the performance. Chattering woodwinds interlaced with contributions from glockenspiel and xylophone gave way to soaring strings in a lyrical melody underscored by horns. The celesta and harps added cosmic sounds and the constantly changing meter was handled with ease.” — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL, Heather J. Morris (2016)

“As stated in the program, this performance of Henry Mollicone’s Celestial Dance is a celebration of his 70^th birthday. Celestial Dance was first performed in 1995, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, a former Santa Cruz Symphony conductor. The work began with a compelling balance between the strings, brass and percussion that as the work developed were all nicely coordinated with gentle, repetitive, ascending harp figures. The orchestral attacks, especially in the impressive melodic string writing were clean and crisp. The overall phrasing was finely polished and thoroughly unified with evident care given to proportion and textural color. The slow, accelerated dynamic intensity Mollicone designed into the last moments of the work were perfectly realized and as pointed out in the program notes, in a musical sense, sang of the ongoing miracle of creation and change. The audience showed its appreciation with a standing ovation.” –PENINSULA REVIEW, Joe Sekon (2016)

Mollicone’s Celestial Dance revealed yet another facet to the Bay Area composer’s protean imagination and often-astonishing craft. Its exoticism took me by surprise. The dance was really two contrasting dances, representing Shiva and Brahma from the Hindu pantheon, respectively destruction and creation. Western classical music that takes such inspiration is fairly rare. (One may turn to Gustav Holst, Alan Hovhaness and Lou Harrison for some fine examples.) This piece, in its contrasting delicacy and brawn sounded good enough to eat. –PERFORMING ARTS MONTEREY BAY, Scott MacClelland (2016)

Inner Light
“… its three movements concern the need to view unfortunate personal occurrences in a larger, spiritual context, according to the program notes. It is a work of considerable beauty. The part writing is so delicately considered–but conveys such potent emotion–that the listener can follow each line…as clearly as if the composer had written a string quartet. There is little that is predictable in the way the separate voices state, respond and merge their ideas into a collective. A good deal of imagination has gone into the choice of harmonic and chromatic coloration in ‘Quiet Light,’ which opens. ‘Blinding Light’ as the title suggests, contains music of terrific intensity; during the concluding section, ‘Final Light,’ tubular chimes make a discreet appearance.” — SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, Lesley Valdes (2001)

IN TIME OF WAR: Prayers and Meditations
“...In Time of War: Prayers and Meditations, commissioned by SJCO, a response to September 11 and war in Iraq. It casts shafts of ominous melody over quiet curtains of sound, growing agitated for an episode titled “Meditation: Pre-emptive Strike.” Interspersed prayers to the Virgin Mary, sung by soprano Erie Mills, contrast a mother’s love with humanity’s cruelty.”
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, Richard Scheinin (2004)

“…It is typical of American sensitivity, ingenuity, and teamwork, that a work of art be conceived and performed so soon after the disaster. Moved by last month’s tragedy, gifted local composer Henry Mollicone composed 9-11-01 for this, the opening of San Jose Chamber Orchestra’s 11th season. …All the music needed was there: superbly crafted slow, ‘mournful’ melodies in the opening supported by dissonant harmonies and counterpoint, followed by a rush of activity resolving to a quiet sustained snare drum roll….”
SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE, Brent Heisinger (2001)

“…The falling phrases and flowing layers of 9-11-01 focused attention in the small hall to the emotional wallop strings-alone can make…”
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, Lesley Valdes (2001)

NOTE: 9-11-01 was composed and premiered in 2001; the short work was later incorporated into a larger work, IN TIME OF WAR, premiered in October, 2004.

A Rat’s Tale (written for Charles Nelson Reilly)
“…A Rat’s Tale is an utterly delightful revisiting of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, told this time from the rat’s point of view. The work boasts a remarkable score by Bay Area composer Henry Mollicone, with one of the wittiest librettos ever by William Luce, an Academy Award level narrator’s performance by the famous actor Charles Nelson Reilly… It is an utterly engrossing first-rate piece of work that is certain to put Tubby the Tuba back in the can. …A Rat’s Tale simply stole the show.”ENQUIRER BULLETIN, Palo Alto (1992)

Dansa Trimbula
“Even the tango rhythm gets surreal, not unlike Ravel’s La Valse. But as wild and original as Astor Piazzola—Mollicone’s putative inspiration for this piece gets, Trimbula blazes a new and even more disturbing trail…the piece itself deserves universal attention. We live in a brave world of new music, and Mollicone has now emerged—especially in this piece—as a legitimate, if unexpected, pioneer.” SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE (2004)

“Composer Henry Mollicone was on hand to hear his delightful Dansa Trimbula. The work was written expressly for William Trimble—the ‘Trimbula’ of the title. When Trimble and accordionist Quartuccio took center stage, their white dinner jackets and bright ties jazzed up the symphony’s formal black atmosphere…’Dansa,’ began with an exaggerated tango full of swooping violin portamento and bluesy bent saxophone notes, exuberantly worked its way through a variety of Latin dances, some energetic, some slinky and all full of syncopated rhythms…Mollicone, sporting a bright red tie, came forward to congratulate the players and share the enthusiastic applause.” SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL (2004)

CHORAL

Beatitude Mass
Anyone who knows Mollicone quickly recognizes the magic in the Saratoga resident’s musical personality. His stage works include the haunting and unforgettable Coyote Tales, Emperor Norton, Hotel Eden and Gabriel’s Daughter. In 2006, he composed the Beatitude Mass, using the Mass in conjunction with texts taken from interviews with people living in homeless shelters. The libretto was written by William Luce, author of The Belle of Amherst (which gave Julie Harris success in New York and London, and a Best Actress Tony Award).

The Beatitude Mass was premiered at St. Joseph’s Cathedral Basilica in San Jose in the spring of 2006, with Leroy Kromm conducting the San Jose Symphonic Choir. Like so many of Mollicone’s works, the Beatitude Mass draws on his exceptional musical gifts of melody and harmony to exalt the simple, anguished words of homeless people into haunting and moving expressions. Alternating with the “Kyrie,” “Gloria,” “Sanctus, “Benedictus” and “Agnus Dei,” it takes on the universality found in so many great musical settings of the Latin mass. It adds for its finale the “Salve Mater Misericordiae” and, like Brahms’ “German Requiem,” reprises the opening beatification, “Blessed are the poor.”
– MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY – Scott MacClelland

SONGS

(From a review of the album Songs of Love and Longing. Valerie Errante, soprano; Jeffry Peterson, piano. Albany TROY1035; 54:35)

Excerpted from the complete review:
“Composer Henry Mollicone is represented with eight songs, and they offer a fascinating array of surprises. First Time He Kissed Me, for instance, is an impassioned poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning which Mollicone sets with unbridled potency that borders on the operatic. As one hears Errante deliver this intricate text so flawlessly, one has to wonder how these songs sounded when sung by the singer for whom they were composed, Italian soprano Maria Spacagna. She would have had the right vocal heft, but one cannot imagine her encompassing this text the way Errante does here with such spectacular clarity and honesty. Other songs touch on all kinds of different moods and styles, from the biting, sassy rhythms of Doctor Fell to the beguiling simplicity of Song, featuring a exquisite text by Christina Rossetti that begins “When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me.” Mollicone knows exactly how to bring these words to life, and Errante and Peterson in turn offer up this song with the simple directness it requires. They do so as well with Mollicone’s exquisite setting of Emily Dickinson’s poem There is Another Sky, which is nothing less than a masterpiece.”
Gregory Berg
Journal of Singing, September/October 2009
National Association of Teachers of Singing

VOCAL MUSIC – DISSERTATION

Diane Thueson Reich has written a dissertation on A SURVEY OF THE SOPRANO VOCAL LITERATURE BY HENRY MOLLICONE. Read it in PDF format.

REVIEWS – CONDUCTING

THE PLAIN DEALER, Reviewed by Donald Rosenberg ; July 31, 2004
In musical terms, Lyric Opera’s “Cosi” is mostly superb, starting with Henry Mollicone’s exceptionally vital, stylish conducting. Mollicone keeps Mozart’s score moving at a frisky clip, except when the lyricism needs space, and he plays harpsichord in the recitatives with a master’s hands. The orchestra, placed upstage behind the scrim, contributes artistry of bountiful freshness and refinement.

THE PLAIN DEALER, Reviewed by Donald Rosenberg; November 17, 2000
“The Oberlin production benefits enormously from the composer’s presence as conductor. Under Mollicone’s baton, the score dances with rhythmic glee and exudes poetic urgency. The Oberlin Opera Orchestra responds to Mollicone with playing of utmost point, sheen and spirit.”

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana reviewed by Paul Hertelendy
” Santa Clara composer Henry Mollicone is sharing a double bill at West Bay Opera with a legend of a century earlier, Pietro Mascagni. Like Mascagni (who got rave reviews at the turn of the century in San Francisco ), Molliconeis proving to be a galvanic conductor. He energized his predecessor’s Cavalleria Rusticana…”

NEW YORK TIMES Lee Hoiby’s The Italian Lesson (featuring Jean Stapleton) reviewed by John Rockwell
“…conducted persuasively by Henry Mollicone, himself an opera composer.”

NEWSWEEK Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Saliere reviewed by Annalyn Swan
“Henry Mollicone conducted both with verve.”

OPERA NEWS AND DENVER POST Hugh Aitken’s Fables reviewed by Glenn Giffin
“Henry Mollicone conducted. Himself a composer, Mollicone negotiated the intricate writing with finesse and graceful élan.”

NEW YORK TIMES Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne reviewed by Allen Hughes
“Mr. Mollicone’s conducting was again commendable.”

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Sondheim’s Follies reviewed by Gerald Nachman
“Equally crisp is a tireless below-stage orchestra led by Henry Mollicone…”

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Saliere reviewed by Bill Zakariasen
“…Mollicone…led both one-acters with flavorful attention to mood and structure and the orchestra was prevailingly alert throughout.”

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS Evita reviewed by Murry Frymer
“Henry Mollicone’s musical direction is flawless. The CLO orchestra has become superb.”

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas reviewed by Murry Frymer
“Henry Mollicone’s on-stage orchestra was grand once again…”

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS Man of La Mancha reviewed by Glenn Lovell
“…and musical director Henry Mollicone have done themselves proud… The orchestra… provides a rich, robust reading of the Mitch Leigh score.”

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS My Fair Lady reviewed by Murray Frymer
“And I dare not slight Henry Mollicone who has conducted the orchestra as musical director and made it all sound just the way you remember it.”

AUGUSTA CHRONICLE-HERALD H.M.S. Pinafore reviewed by John Schaeffer
“The orchestra under…Mollicone, is wonderfully light and precise, never intruding, but always there when they are needed.”

SALEM STATESMAN JOURNAL Martha reviewed by Jim Estas
“Conductor Henry Mollicone, making his Portland Opera debut, has his hands full with some lively patter songs and fast-paced solos and ensembles. But he keeps things together smartly.”

THE DURANGO HERALD Pagliacci reviewed by George Reeves
“Once again, Mollicone drew rich, full sound from his smallish playing ensemble; the orchestral playing of the intermezzo was but one of the performance’s many pleasures.”

THE SUN [Baltimore] American Portraits (three American one-act operas) reviewed by Karen Monson
“…Mollicone led the small orchestras in all three operas with sympathy for the singers…”

DURANGO HERALD Man of La Mancha reviewed by Felicia Wilbert
“The orchestra was impressive, conducted by Henry Mollicone.”

THE WASHINGTON POST American Portraits reviewed by Joseph McLellan
“Henry Mollicone conducts well in all three segments.”

THE SACRAMENTO BEE Gianni Schicchi reviewed by Alfred Kay
“Mollicone’s conducting was excellent…”