'Packed into 90 minutes, with a love-lost plot, stock characters, and an affirmative 'do your own thing' final message, it’s melodramatic and, in its best moments (as in a hilarious faux-baroque trio), satirical.' | DeannaIsaacs
This commission by Chicago Opera Theater brings to town a new opera by the prolific and celebrated Belize-born British composer, singer, pianist, and performer Errollyn Wallen, with librettist Deborah Brevoort. Loosely based on S.I. Martin’s novel, the story is grounded in the little-known historical fact that the Brits recruited enslaved people in the colonies to fight on their side in the American Revolutionary War by promising them pensions and a life of freedom in England.
Packed into 90 minutes, with a love-lost plot, stock characters, and an affirmative “do your own thing” final message, it’s melodramatic and, in its best moments , satirical. Wallen’s rich orchestral score moves everything along on a vibrant river of sound, and her ensemble and choral pieces are strong, but, as in much of contemporary opera, there’s a lack of memorable arias.
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