Grendel

Last night we went to see Grendel, a new opera that is part of this year's Lincoln Center Festival. The big attraction was the work's director, co-librettist, co-puppet designer, and, according to the program "co-conceiver," Julie Taymor. I had marveled at her wonderfully inventive The Lion King puppets on Broadway, as well as her staging of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) at the Metropolitan Opera. (I also loved her film Frida.) So I wanted to see her new effort.

There was a lot of press about Grendel's recent world premiere at the Los Angeles Opera. The computer controlling the scenery failed, and it did not open on schedule. They got things sorted out eventually, and it drew mixed reviews. But I still wanted to see it. So it was off to Lincoln Center, past the Midsummer Night Swing dance area, under the boat sculpture, to the New York State Theatre.

As usual, I got a seat which could use some new springs, but it wasn't too bad.

There is a lot about Grendel that is innovative. It is the retelling of the ninth century tale of Beowulf, the mythical Swedish hero who slays a monster. Many people read it in their English classes, though I never had it. What's different in this retelling is that it is from the point of view of the monster--Grendel. It is based on the 1971 novel by John Gardner. Basically Grendel doesn't like being a monster, but comes to realize that that's his lot, he can't change it, and humans need monsters to fight in order to define themselves.

Another innovation: there are five singers portraying Grendel. Eric Owens (pictured above) is the main one, but there are three "Shadow Grendels" also, which basically allow Grendel to easily talk to himself, as well as to give the voice of the main Grendel a chance to rest now and then--it is a huge part. The fifth one is the Child Grendel, used in a flashback. This was sung by the diminutive soprano Michèle Eaton, whom I've seen perform a number of times at the P.D.Q. Bach concerts.

Also unusual, if not quite innovative, is the use of two languages in the libretto. Grendel sings in modern (sometimes quite vulgar) English, while the humans sing in Old English. (Both are shown in modern English on the supertitles, but they use a different font for the translations of the Old.)

It was clear from the start that the music is not Grendel's strong point. Composed by Elliot Goldenthal (Taymor's significant other), it is tuneless, modern "movie music," as I like to call it--great for setting the mood, for conveying emotion, but not pretty in the least. And in this case, not memorable in the least.

The most impressive part of the production (outside of Owens' performance, which I'll get to), isn't the staging (the scenery computer worked just fine, BTW) or even the puppetry. It is the dancing. A series of ensemble pieces continues throughout the show, and a long solo by Desmond Richardson as Beowulf caps the opera. If they could somehow extract the dance portion of the opera, it would make an excellent stand-alone ballet.

The much-anticipated scenery is nothing extraordinary. It's a rotating wall, which is not uncommon in operas. The only innovative part of it is a trapezoidal section in the center that swings down at various angles to become anything from a throne room to a children's snow-covered sliding hill. The use of projections now and then is actually a more useful device.

The puppets are every bit as good as Taymor's Lion King efforts. Sometimes Grendel is portrayed by a huge puppet, fighting normal-sized humans. Other times miniature puppets battle Owens as Grendel. There are a number of others.

As I've said, Owens' portrayal of Grendel was excellent. It is a huge role, said to be one of the longest for a bass-baritone. Also wonderful was Denyce Graves' cynical Dragon (to whom Grendel goes for advice on being a monster). It's a much smaller role, but still difficult.

As I've also said, this is not a music-driven opera. It's too bad there isn't another category to put it in. It's an interesting, off-beat story of an unhappy creature, with great dancing, excellent puppetry, and more than adequate scenery--appropriately set to off-beat, unhappy music. If you need your opera to have beautiful music, Grendel isn't for you. Otherwise, it's an excellent evening of sung theatre.