At the Met in New York, the effective “Grounded” by Jeanine Tesori

Peter Gelb, director of the Met, has explained this often in our columns : against the decline in audiences, more marked by the epidemic in New York than in European opera houses, the creation of new works is encouraged, whose themes and musical language speak to the younger generations , has become a priority in his mandate. The popular opera of today, bringing forth the barren dream of other houses, beginning with the Parisian vessel of the Bastille in its early days?

Commissioned and co-produced by the Met and first unveiled a year ago at the Kennedy Center in Washington, On earth benefits from worldwide distribution in cinemas that are members of the Met Live HD network, and a prestigious poster, with the house music director on the podium, Yannick Nézet-Séguinand on the stage the rising star Emily D’Angelo. The house called the event a wedding of American opera and Broadway, and it is a good summary, for the best and most normal.

Unrivaled professionalism

The best part is the unmistakable professionalism of all. Acclaimed composer for music (including the cartoon adaptation Scream). From his original play, a monologue for Anne Hattaway, the playwright drew a polychoral action that lends itself to dramatic music. Grounded by an unexpected pregnancy and then motherhood, an elite US Air Force pilot trades high-risk strikes in the skies of the Middle East for the seeming comfort of remotely controlling deadly drones from a military base in Las Vegas, returning every evening to her. a man and a girl. Feminist experience of the soldier in combat, personal responsibility in the line of war, distance or proximity caused by new military technologies, moral conflict and loyalty between objective legitimacy and innocent death… themes which is both timeless and current—the full European acceptance of a truly American perspective is another matter.

With his incredible vocal composition, between lyrical arioso, country smells and sharp melodic lines reminiscent songs from London’s West End or Times Square, Jeanine Tesori is there for her characters, and uses an orchestral palette as rich in texture as it is different in the structured numbers of the score – we can count on Yannick Nézet-Séguin to sing alternately. and shining the sluice and the choir. The normality lies deep down, for the text and for the music, in this highly crafted character, where the first degree of emotion leaves little room for the trouble and unhappiness. the subject wants.

Emily D’Angelo shoots the boards

The same goes for scenes of Michael Mayerdetailed and easy-to-read actor’s guide, dynamic but somewhat neutral visual and video system. There is no doubt, however, about the release: Emily D’Angelo burns the boards like a soldier as an undoubted prey, the flexibility of the voice and the natural sweetness of the timbre bending to the violence of the torment who eats it by giving her more. still touching; and the tenor Mountain Year just ideal for tenderness and discontent in the difficult role of her husband, a farmer from Wyoming in love with wide open spaces and torn apart in the obscurity of Las Vegas casinos.

The statistics at the end of the season will tell more, but a look at the almost full hall shows a much higher proportion of young adults than for operas in the repertoire. Would the victory they reserved for the team at the final curtain show that the bet is going to be won?

On earth of Treasures. New York, Metropolitan Opera, October 19.