Peter Child: Reviews: Embers Composed 1984, a chamber opera based upon the play by Samuel Beckett. Baritone, mezzo-soprano, flute and alto flute, clarinet, violin and viola, 'cello, percussion, and piano. APNM. Excerpted from (The Boston Globe, May 20, 2002)
The wonderful Auros Group for New Music closed its 10th anniversary season with a salute to playwright Samuel Beckett, including a brief new fanfare written for the occasion by John Heiss... ... The second half of the program was devoted to Peter Child's chamber opera ''Embers,'' premiered by Alea III in 1984. Beckett's text is a radio play. A man named Henry walks alongside the seashore, or thinks he does, as he engages in dialogue with his father, who may have committed suicide; his daughter, who is silent; and his wife, who is probably not present, although we hear her speak and sing. Henry tries to organize his experience by telling stories, but he never gets them into shape or finishes them. Only the sound of the sea is a constant. As usual with Beckett, the sonic landscape becomes a psychological landscape. And Child has found a flexible, communicative musical analogue to the way Beckett uses language. The austerity of Beckett's writing is not what appeals to Child; instead it is the element of implication and the interpenetration of the comic and the terrifying, the pitiless despair and the compassion. Everything in the music is allusive and elusive, everything is connected to everything else. Child is attentive to the weight, color, rhythm, and meaning of words; he takes care to make them heard. The piece casts a spell. Baritone David Ripley returned to the role he created with an impressive
demonstration of vocal skill, musicianship, stamina, memory, and
imagination. Soprano Janna Baty as Ada added to these qualities sumptuous
tone and a vividly theatrical presence in the minimalist staging by Michael
Ouellette. The Auros players were superb, and no composer could ask for a
more accurate and committed interpreter than conductor David Hoose.
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