Besides supporting opera composers such as Mark Blitzstein and Aaron Copland, Bernstein used his compositional talents to write Trouble in Tahiti, his first attempt in the operatic genre.
Structure of the Opera
Described as an ‘opera in seven scenes,’ Trouble in Tahiti was written on a chamber scale, using wind ensemble, an abbreviated string group, percussion, and five vocalists. It is 40 minutes long, using minimal stage design with an emphasis on monochrome backdrops and costumes. The seven scenes are grouped into two ‘acts’ (four and three scenes, respectively); the opera begins with a prelude and is centered by an interlude.
First 'Act' (Prelude, Scenes 1-4)
The opera’s time is listed as ‘now’ with a setting of ‘any American city, and its suburbs.’ Trouble in Tahiti opens with a prelude in which the trio, an evening-dressed arrangement of soprano/mezzo-soprano, high tenor, and high baritone, rattle off a jazzy song typical of radio and film during the 1940s and 50s that plugged American materialism (Suburbia! / Parks for the kids, neighborly butchers, / Less than an hour by train!…In Shaker Heights / In Michigan Falls / In Beverly Hills…). Besides the trio’s prominence in the prelude and interlude, these voices will give background commentary to the opera.
In scene 1, we are exposed to Dinah (mezzo-soprano) and Sam (bass/baritone), a typical suburban couple that parents a son called ‘Junior’ (not seen in the opera). It is breakfast time, with Sam readying for work and Dinah grinding onward as a housewife. Their son will be featured in a school play that afternoon, which Dinah insists they attend; but Sam gives more importance to his handball tournament, aiming for its championship trophy (both events are taking place at four o’clock).
The couple argues and moves on with their turgid lives. Sam is a well-regarded businessman who has flirted with his secretary (scene 2), while Dinah pays a regular visit to her psychiatrist (scene 3). These goings-on occupy the stage simultaneously and establish a contrast between the two individuals.
Scene 4 brings Dinah and Sam together in the street, a chance meeting. Using a theme from Satie’s Gymnopédies, the couple passes up lunch together and makes excuses to remain apart (Why did I have to lie? / To avoid another hour together? / Is it better to sit alone in a crowded restaurant, / And catch up on last week’s magazines?).
Second 'Act' (Interlude, Scenes 5-7)
The trio reprises its opening pop song in an interlude, droning on about ‘chlorophyll toothpaste’ and ‘Book-of-the-Month Club.’ This links the earlier scenes to scene 5, in which Sam belts out a testosterone-filled diatribe on victory. He’s won the handball tournament, proudly displaying his gold cup in a locker room (For they always, always, always, always will win…).
Dinah spends time looking at hats in scene 6, the one comical scene in this opera. She has just watched a dreadful film called Trouble in Tahiti, whose plot she describes in a challenging aria for soprano. The aria clearly mocks Richard Rodgers’s South Pacific; Bernstein’s score even asks for the vocalist to sing in an indigenous manner about ‘white man.’
Scene 7 reunites Dinah and Sam at night. They sit in their living room, clearly in a dead relationship but staying together out of necessity. Their conversation is awkward, before Sam proposes they see Trouble in Tahiti, a film he just read about in the newspaper. Dinah gives in and the opera ends bleakly, with the trio’s pop song mocking the emptiness of American suburban values.
Trouble in Tahiti’s Reception
Trouble in Tahiti was first performed in June 1952 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. It was Bernstein’s lifelong desire to create an opera that would appeal to the American general public in ways akin to West Side Story, which had great success on Broadway. Trouble in Tahiti did not achieve this and Bernstein decided to expand on the theme of dysfunctional family life, using these scenes as flashbacks in his 1983 opera A Quiet Place.
The latter opera had a mixed reception and keeps an uneasy place in the repertoire. Ironically, Trouble in Tahiti has become increasingly popular in its original form, especially amongst smaller opera companies and university music workshops. It remains an effective stage work on American life and displays Bernstein's commitment to classical music, jazz, and popular song.
Sources
Bernstein, Leonard. Trouble in Tahiti: an opera in seven scenes. New York, NY: G. Schirmer, 1953.
Bernstein, Leonard. Trouble in Tahiti / Facsimile [CD recording]. New York, NY: Sony Music Entertainment, 1966.
Burton, Humphrey. Leonard Bernstein. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1994.
Keller, James M. Program Notes: Music of Leonard Bernstein. San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, 2009 [via Internet].
Paul-John Ramos - Paul-John is a freelance writer based in Yonkers, New York. His past articles have appeared at Classical Net and his poetry in Steam ...
