ST. LOUIS — As the opera “This House” reached its poignant conclusion in its world premiere last weekend, the character Ida delivered a heartfelt message to her family and the audience. Through Ida’s voice, beautifully articulated by soprano Adrienne Danrich, we are reminded that “History’s the only thing to survive.” She adds a touching note: “You may have left us, but we will never leave you.”
This evocative opera, presented for the first time on Saturday at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, explores themes of love, ambition, resilience, and the enduring weight of history. Set in a Harlem brownstone, the narrative blurs the lines between the living and ghosts. Composer Ricky Ian Gordon’s profound score brings to life a libretto crafted by Lynn Nottage and her daughter Ruby Aiyo Gerber. The opera traverses significant historical eras such as the Civil War, the Great Migration, the Black Power movement, the AIDS crisis, and the process of gentrification over the past century. Scheduled to run through June 29, the performance offers several more showings.
Gerber, reflecting on the development of “This House,” expressed a desire to capture vital moments in Black history while weaving them into the story of a single family, ensuring that the past remains ever-present and acknowledged in contemporary consciousness, especially amid growing concerns about censorship.
The origins of “This House” trace back to Gerber’s senior year at Brown University in 2020 when she began writing it as a play amidst the unfolding coronavirus pandemic. Her mother, a celebrated playwright and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, proposed transforming it into an opera, collaborating once more with Gordon, her partner from the Lincoln Center Theater’s “Intimate Apparel.”
Commissioned as part of Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s 50th anniversary season, “This House” stands as the company’s 45th world premiere. Described by general director Andrew Jorgensen as a blend of family drama, ghost story, and meditation on memory and heritage, the opera was developed through insightful exchanges between Gordon, Nottage, and Gerber. These dialogues led to adaptations in the narrative, such as changing a duet’s locale from Barcelona to Valencia to avoid echoes of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company.”
Gerber recalls the candid creative process she shared with her mother, where critique was both honest and constructive, shaping the final product. Living in the very Brooklyn parlor house where Gerber was raised, Nottage describes their collaborative dynamic as a fusion of playwriting, poetry, and language mastery.
The storyline unfolds within a Harlem brownstone, originally acquired in 1919 by Minus Walker, a sharecropper’s son. Characters like Zoe, a contemporary investment banker, and her husband Glenn grapple with decisions about returning to the house and parceling it for sale. Zoe’s brother Lindon, a poetic artist, yearns to stay, while his partner Thomas suggests an escape to Spain.
Soprano Briana Hunter embodies Zoe, capturing her character’s blend of ambition and the emotional turmoil stemming from familial traumas. Hunter relates to Zoe’s escapist tendencies, noting the classic struggle of confronting versus evading one’s past.
Featuring a predominantly Black cast, “This House” delves into love triangles, unforeseen pregnancies, and shocking demises. Even the house itself is personified, singing in complex 12-tone chords. Ida’s Uncle Percy, a numbers runner, injects verve into the first act with a spirited aria, “Drink Up!”
Composer Gordon highlights a central theme: the universal haunting of personal and collective history. The opera seeks answers to moving forward liberated from past chains.
Seasoned conductor Daniela Candillari, leading her third world premiere in under two years, guided the orchestra—a larger ensemble than initially planned—through Gordon’s score, highlighting the unique challenges and rewards of working directly with living composers.
This world premiere was brought to life by 48 musicians from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, performing in a venue known for its challenging acoustics. Former artistic director James Robinson returned to direct, with future plans to bring the production to Seattle Opera.
For soprano Danrich, who portrays Ida, the performance has personal significance, being a resident of St. Louis and finding connection to her own upbringing. Her portrayal draws inspiration from her familial experiences and the memory of her childhood home, affectionately known as “the big house.”