SF Opera’s ‘Three Decembers’: Another Tale of the City

THE KIDS: Keith Phares and Kristin Clayton appear as Charlie and Beatrice in Jake Heggie’s ‘Three Decembers.’ Courtesy of Houston Grand Opera

BERKELEY, Calif.—The legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade starred in the latest production of the San Francisco Opera, Three Decembers by Jake Heggie. Von Stade played the role of Maddy, who proclaims that her life has been simply grand: “I’m awfully glad I showed up for it.” These same words sum up the audience’s sentiment about Jake Heggie’s newest opera.

The three-member cast also included soprano Kristin Clayton and baritone Keith Phares, who also appeared in the opera’s world premiere in Houston last winter. This Three Decembers production is presented at U.C. Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall in collaboration with Cal Performances.

Commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, Three Decembers portrays glamorous stage actor Madeline “Maddy” Mitchell as she makes peace with her adult children Charlie and Beatrice, both of whom feel their mother somewhat neglected them in favor of her performing career. Charlie and Beatrice also struggle to remember their father, who, according to Maddy, was run over by a silver car more than 20 years ago.

The opera’s opening scene is in December 1986. Madeline is vacationing in Barbados and sings her latest Broadway number to a group of adoring fans, which leads to a flashback of her actual performance on stage. Frederica von Stade was absolutely stunning in this opening aria.

In the next scene she writes her children her usual Christmas letter, which Charlie and Beatrice read together over the phone. Beatrice is unhappily married to her cheating husband in Hartford while Charlie lives in San Francisco with his ailing partner, Burt, who has AIDS. Charlie feels particularly hurt that his mother never truly accepted Burt.

In the letter, Maddy tells her children of another December long ago, when she and her late husband walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. Charlie and Bea decide to relive this experience in memory of their dead father, whose image seems to fade with each passing Christmas.

Bea and Charlie meet in San Francisco and walk across the bridge in one of the most powerful highlights of the opera. Clayton and Phares were spellbinding in the perfectly delivered and deeply emotional duet “Man in the Chair,” where Bea and Charlie remember sitting on their father’s lap in his deep, comfy chair on Saturday mornings and watching cartoons. In the duet’s final verse, Charlie admits the heartbreaking truth that he now only remembers the chair.

Act two takes place in the second of the title’s three Decembers—1996—when Charlie’s partner is dead and Charlie is packing up Burt’s things to be donated to his church. In another moving aria, Charlie sings about how Maddy finally came around and showed sincere kindness to Burt while he was in his deathbed. This led to another magical moment by Frederica von Stade as Maddy enters the stage and sings the comforting lullaby-like aria “Moonbeams,” which evolves into a powerful trio Phares and Clayton
later join in.

The remainder of Act 2 is an emotionally charged depiction of the threesome’s straining relationship as the children each try very hard to understand and forgive their mother. This is when Maddy slips out the truth that her husband was a depressed alcoholic who was not run over by a car. He threw himself in front of a subway train. Here the children storm out feeling utterly betrayed and abandon their aging mother on the stage.

As the audience wonders whether the children can overcome the pain of being lied to about their father, Act 3 opens in December 2006 with middle-aged Charlie and Beatrice reading their late mother’s final Christmas letter at her memorial service. Yes, they have forgiven their mother. Frederica von Stade then appeared as Maddy’s ghost, who sings out the letter in an intensely emotional aria.

Heggie’s music is richly textured and primarily tonal with occasional forays into far-off, sophisticated harmonies. The presence of two pianos compensates for the small size of the ensemble and creates a surprisingly broad orchestral sound. Some of the musical passages feature drifting parallel orchestration at times reminiscent of French impressionism, while others follow a sequential harmonic progression similar in style to Baroque music. The singers’ solo numbers are, however, unmistakably American and Broadway-inspired.

The 11-piece ensemble was led by Houston Grand Opera music director Patrick Summers, who also played the piano. The second piano was played by the composer himself.

While innovative and moving, Jake Heggie’s music alone is not why Three Decembers is a remarkable contemporary opera, nor is the brilliance of Frederica von Stade as its central figure. Even a fine librettist such as Gene Scheer with his heart-piercing words cannot be credited as the opera’s single most important component, nor can the poignant storyline of the original play by Terrence McNally.

It is when all of the above line up in perfect order—much like a rare astronomical convergence—that a great work of art is born. Ladies and gentlemen, Three Decembers is that work of art.

Eman Isadiar teaches piano at the Peninsula Conservatory and writes about music in the San Francisco Bay Area.