WESTMINSTER COLLEGE OPERA STUDIO, The Photographer, Vieve Gore Concert Hall, March 28

Philip Glass is among America’s most famous and prolific composers, living or not. Early in his career, he composed in a strict minimalist style after being influenced by composers like Terry Riley and Steve Reich. In early works like Music With Changing Parts and Music in 12 Parts Glass relied heavily on repetitive structures with changes often coming in the form of augmentation and/or diminution of those structures, usually not adhering to common meters. While these and other early works were important in Glass’ development and in the development of the minimalist style, it wasn’t until Glass began to embrace common meters that his signature and popular style was forged.

Philip Glass (Photo Credit: Raymond Meier)

Glass first rose to prominence with his opera Einstein on the Beach, and has regularly composed for the opera ever since. His operas often focus on the biographies of notable historical figures including Gandhi, Galileo and Kepler. The biographical focus of Westminster College’s production of Glass’ The Photographer is a less known historical figure of tremendous importance named Eadweard Muybridge. It’s often argued that Muybridge’s experiments with the rapid capturing of many photos in sequence was the first cinematic technology, and led to the moving picture and modern day cinema.

Westminster College has been providing quality chamber music concerts for years, usually featuring distinguished faculty performers and other professionals from the community. The scale of the production of The Photographer required a new level of ambition for the college. Musically, it requires a chamber orchestra and choir, however the work is a truly multimedia production because it also requires light projections of Muybridge’s work during the entire second act and a dance performance during the third. To realize the ambitious score and the multimedia elements the production director, Michael Chipman, assembled a collection of students and faculty from the college representing a variety of academic disciplines.

Considering the ambitious nature of the production and the inclusion of student performers, the performance was a smashing success. The projection and dance elements worked especially well thanks to projectionist Talus Baddley (a student) and choreographer Ashley Mott and her ensemble of talented dancers. Aside from a couple of minor synchronization problems within the ensemble, the music was also well performed. Glass’ music is deceptively difficult to perform, especially when ensemble works like this one reach into the higher tempos. The kaleidoscopic aural effects of Glass’ musical patterns require machine-like accuracy with the pulse in order for the full effect to be heard. Conductor Brandon Derfler did an admirable job of keeping the ensemble balanced and together, though sometimes I was left wanting more from the biggest crescendos and a little extra zip on the fastest tempos. Still, this was an admirable reading of a challenging score and a terrific staging of an important contemporary multimedia opera.

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY OPERA THEATRE, Help, Help, the Globolinks!, Kent Concert Hall, Utah State University, March 28

A diehard traditionalist, Gian Carlo Menotti was genuinely worried that electronic music would become the predominant means of musical expression and would usher in the demise of conventional instruments.

He was alarmed by this to the point he felt he needed to write an offbeat one-act opera that would show once and for all the importance of “real” music over that created by electronic means.

Menotti’s 1968 theatre piece, Help, Help, the Globolinks!, while a bit heavy handed in its message, nevertheless makes a powerful statement about the importance of traditional music.

Schoolgirl Chorus, with Megan Warburton, second from left. (Photo Credit: Andrew McAllister, USU Production Service)

The Utah State University’s opera theatre program brought Menotti’s odd little opera to life last Saturday. The plot is about a group of aliens, called Globolinks, who invade Earth. It eventually turns out that they are repulsed by hearing music, and by playing their instruments a group of schoolgirls and their teachers save the planet.

The opera was given a clever update by having the Globolinks come to Earth out of curiosity over peoples’ use of cellphones and other electronic devices. It was set in a wonderful staging that incorporated backscreen projections and simple sets to bring the story to life.

The cast was well chosen. They captured the spirit and intent of the story with conviction. They made it fun without making it silly.

Dale Kynaston with Globolink (Photo Credit: Andrew McAllister, USU Production Service)

The young singers were both strong vocalists as well as actors. They brought depth and definition to their characters, and there was a fabulous interplay among the group.

Megan Warburton as Emily was a delight. She brought youth and innocence to her portrayal that underscored her character’s age and demeanor.

Shalayna Guisao as Madame Euterpova has a powerful voice that was wonderfully suited to play a music teacher. It was a campy portrayal that wasn’t too caricatured and balanced well with the others.

Also notable was Jacob Spjute as Dr. Stone, who ends up being transformed into a Globolink as he saves Emily. Jaron Putnam as the bus drive was also exceptional.

In smaller roles were Dale Kynaston; Emily Cottam; Peter LeBarge; and Brad Summers. They all gave strong performances that added much to the overall production.

The four Globolinks, who were on stilts, were Kylie Evans, Sam Meredith, Josh Musselman and Andrew Taylor. They were absolutely delightful, despite their scary makeup, and fun to watch.

The orchestra under the direction of Dallas Heaton, played well; Heaton’s tempos were well chosen and fluid. And Stefan Espinosa’s stage direction was spot on; it moved the story along at a good pace.