The Glenn Korff School of Music will present the opera “Albert Herring” Nov. 8 and 10 in Kimball Recital Hall.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 8 and at 3 p.m. on Nov. 10. Tickets are $20 adults and $10 students/seniors and are available from the Lied Center Box Office at (402) 472-4747 or at the door.
Hixson-Lied Professor of Voice and Director of Opera William Shomos said Benjamin Britten’s comedic “Albert Herring” presents challenges.
“It’s a challenge and a blessing the way Britten writes this comedy,” Shomos said. “In order for the comedy to work, the performers must execute his music exactly as it is written on the page, with keen attention to absolutely every detail, and Britten gives a lot of detail. But the blessing is that once these musical details are in place, the comedy works on its own, for the most part. The music is funny, clever and, at times, movingly sublime. Britten was a master at pacing the drama of his operas through what he put down on the page.”
Set around 1900 in the fictitious village of Loxford in East Suffolk, England, “Albert Herring” is a coming of age story. The village, led by the bossy and demanding matriarch Lady Billows, is looking for a girl virtuous enough to be crowned May Queen. But after exhausting all the female possibilities, they select Albert Herring as the May King instead. Herring is an obedient lad kept in check by his overbearing widowed mother. But when Albert is informed of his election, he is less than thrilled to accept such an honor, as he feels he is ready for a new kind of life.
“There’s a real ‘carpe diem’ theme that pervades the show,” Shomos said. “And the question is, will Albert seize the day? Will he break the apron strings and experience all that life has to offer? The fruits and vegetables that he tends to act as a metaphor for Albert in this time of his life. They’re ripe and ready. But either they must be consumed, or they will spoil.”
Herring is played by Matthew Clegg, a second-year master of music graduate student from Midway, Utah.
“His voice has the right color and range for Albert Herring,” Shomos said. “He inhabits the role of Albert and connects beautifully to the character. He’s able to capture both Albert’s innocence and his sense of humor and, in the end, his willingness to ‘let ‘em have it.’”
Clegg describes Albert Herring as “typical.”
“Albert is a typical young man, but the normal emotions and desires that someone of his age might have are repressed by Albert’s mother,” Clegg said. “He wants to have the same freedoms and adventures that his friend Sid has, but doesn’t quite know how to go about it.”
Clegg did have one challenge in portraying Herring.
“It’s been interesting for me to portray a character who has gotten drunk for the first time,” Clegg said. “I don’t drink, and so I have to rely on the direction of others to aid me in making a believable scene.”
Lady Billows is played by Talea Bloch, a third year doctoral student from Lincoln, Neb.
“She’s just embracing the bigness of this character in a pretty marvelous way,” Shomos said. “Lady Billows is the matriarch of the town, and she sings higher and lower than everybody else, and sometimes all within one vocal phrase. Talea’s voice is just wonderfully matched for that, and she’s also just having a heck of a good time with the character. She’s taking no prisoners.”
Bloch is having fun with the character.
“I love being melodramatic,” she said. “This role allows me to say outrageous things and behave terribly. She’s the diva of the town, who gets away with everything.”
Audiences should have fun with the characters.
“The audience should expect a funny show with extraordinary characters,” Bloch said. “The show is more about how people relate to one another and less about plot. The characters drive everything.”
But Shomos said there is also truth to the characters.
“There are all these caricatures that Britten has drawn. They’re all a little nutty, and yet at their center, they are very real as well. That’s one of the challenges we have in playing the comedy. We want the broadness of the comedy to match the music. Opera, by its nature, is larger than life, so we want the drama to be pitched at that same level. Yet like the music, the comedy has to be based in truth.”
The UNL Opera production of “Albert Herring” coincides with the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
“It can be argued that Britten is the greatest composer of opera in the English language,” Shomos said. “Opera companies the world over have produced Britten’s works in even greater abundance this year to celebrate his birthday. UNL Opera is happy and proud to be part of that celebration with this production.”
UNL’s Philharmonia, under the direction of Professor Tyler White, will be in the pit.
“With each player acting as a soloist in their own right, the score is challenging, but immensely rewarding for its instrumentalists,” Shomos said.
Bloch has a simple message to audiences.
“I hope everyone will join us for this hilarious event,” she said.