June 26, 2019

  • Exploring Tragedy in the Air

    Frey: One-Eleven Heavy
    Jenny Ribeiro, soprano; Karim Sulayman, tenor;
    Hotel Elefant/David Bloom
    Navona Records 6226
    Total Time:  14:01
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

     

    In 1998, a SwissAir flight crashed in the Atlantic off the coast of Canada after experiencing an on-board fire.  All 229 passengers and crew perished in the disaster.  After experiencing his own airplane emergency when an aircraft he was on needed to make an unscheduled landing due to engine failure, composer Matt Frey decided to create a dramatic work that could pull together the emotions of these sorts of modern situations over which one has no control.  The brief chamber opera One-Eleven Heavy explore the 1998 crash through a libretto that uses recollections by reporters on the scene, family members, and descriptions from survivors of other plane crashes.  Voice recordings from Air Traffic Control and the sounds of aircraft alarms add to the textures of the piece.

    The dramatic flow of the opera works in reverse and is cast in three parts plus an epilogue.  The first part, “Hundreds Of” picks up as memories of the end of the disaster reflecting on the debris field.  It opens with Air Traffic Control dialogue and a simple, minimalist accompaniment as the soprano begins to reflect on the debris.  The orchestra then also gradually appears with the tenor then merging with the soprano voice.  Part two transitions to statements that might have been made by the passengers facing the reality that they were about to die in a plane crash.  Part Three, “They Were Going” moves us to the expectations of air travel as different recollections of plans are shared.  The “Epilogue” creates the chilling realization that the flight has crashed into the ocean.

    This is an admittedly brief release that could use some additional filling out.  The style is perhaps closer to a Sondheim-esque music theater piece.  The music itself is quite accessible tonally and the vocals are clearly delineated.  The orchestral backdrop works to add an extra emotional quality to balance the intensity of the additional media applied in the music.  It is a rather intense experience that is certainly unique in Navona’s catalogue and worth a look for those interested in contemporary dramatic music.