Opera ‘Moby-Dick’ Premieres at the Met

Leonard Foglia’s enthusiasm was palpable when he was approached to direct an opera adaptation of Herman Melville’s classic tale of the white whale, “Moby-Dick.” His initial reaction was one of excitement, but that quickly shifted to a sense of awe upon revisiting the novel. “I thought: ‘Oh my God, what am I in for here?’” Foglia recollected, noting the challenge ahead. Despite the daunting task, Foglia and his team went on to bring this ambitious project to life, set to be staged at the Metropolitan Opera starting March 3. The musical score is the creation of Jake Heggie, with a libretto by Gene Scheer.

Scheer had the monumental task of distilling Melville’s over 600-page novel into a succinct 64-page libretto. In doing so, he managed to retain nearly half of Melville’s original language, albeit with some modifications to enhance its musicality. Before Heggie began working with Scheer, he had initially collaborated with Terrence McNally, who later stepped back due to health concerns. They had collectively decided to streamline the narrative by omitting the land-based chapters of the book and focusing the opera entirely on the ship Pequod’s sea journey.

The character dynamics were also adjusted for the stage. The narrator was renamed Greenhorn to emphasize his inexperience, with the iconic line “Call me Ishmael” cleverly repositioned to the opera’s end, signifying the character’s growth and readiness to recount the tale. “The theater demands real-time storytelling,” Scheer explained, considering the opera an immersive education of Ishmael.

Tenor Stephen Costello, embodying this complex transformation for the fifth time and the sole returning cast member from the 2010 Dallas premiere, sees his character as the only one with a significant development arc. “He journeys on the Pequod because there was nothing left for him on land,” Costello reflected. “He must either perish at sea or discover his true identity.”

Joining Costello in the diverse cast is tenor Brandon Jovanovich as the revenge-driven Captain Ahab. The role of Pip, Ahab’s cabin boy, takes the form of a “trousers role” and will be performed by soprano Janai Brugger. The lineup also includes baritone Peter Mattei as the first mate, Starbuck, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as Queequeg under the baton of conductor Karen Kamensek for eight performances running through March 29.

The opera, originally commissioned for the inauguration of a new Dallas opera house, was warmly received both by the audience and the critical community, including academics. Bob Wallace, a professor at Northern Kentucky State University and former president of the Melville Society, found the adaptation so impressive that he penned a book about its development. “Scheer and Heggie artfully condensed the novel to fit the stage while preserving its core,” he noted.

Critics have praised Scheer and Heggie’s adaptation along with Heggie’s evocative score. Yet, the physical staging, designed by Robert Brill with projections by Elaine J. McCarthy, garnered extraordinary accolades. The New York Times’ Steve Smith described the performance as “a multimedia spectacle ranging from impactful to nearly miraculous.”

The production’s visual effects are particularly striking, notably when animated projections on a curved wall mimic the Pequod crew’s embarkation onto whaling boats. “The production team’s contributions are integral to the opera’s excitement,” Scheer remarked. Foglia encouraged creative imagining, promising to figure out its realization. This meant challenging the singers with unconventional physical demands.

For instance, during a dramatic scene where Pip ends adrift at sea, his character’s operatic “mad scene” is sung while suspended high above the stage with projections that simulate a water ambiance. “I told Janai during rehearsal that she could be mad at me since she has to sing her most demanding aria while suspended by a mere wire,” Foglia recounted.

Similarly, Queequeg and Greenhorn perform singing climbs up masthead ladders. Captain Ahab, having lost a limb in a previous confrontation with Moby-Dick, maneuvers on a wooden leg. In the opera’s climax, Greenhorn, newly identified as Ishmael, clings to a passing ship’s whale hook for salvation. “I tease the performers, reminding them that I’ve deprived them of their operatic security — firm footing,” Foglia jested, highlighting the unique challenges of bringing “Moby-Dick” to operatic life.