“Soldier Songs” Speaks Strongly

By Flo Mano with Wes Hessel

Chicago Opera Theater opened its 50th season with the dynamic “Soldier Songs”, performed at the Epiphany Center for the Arts. This strident work, composed by David T. Little while still in his 20’s, pulled together the experiences of family and friends who were veterans of five separate conflicts, building it to a consensus in cantata of representative scenes, exploring the thoughts and feelings that lead to and become a part of the soldier.

The opera is in three stages: first, a young 6–8-year-old boy plays with toy soldiers, moving on to violent videos. Then an innocent teen seeking adventure of war signs his life to “the government”, bringing his iPad in wonder, unaware of the future. Lastly, the elder philosophizing – reflecting on the psychological trauma of war, and as a father who is visited by two marines he knows bear condolences for his son. In anger, he pours gasoline over and sets their car on fire in response to his devastating loss; later he shouts out about the generic letter by the President, that it won’t bring back his son.

Baritone David Adam Moore is compelling in his varied command of his voice and his facial expressions, utilizing a falsetto voice for the child, then as the disillusioned warrior in combat in a heavy metal outburst of the carnage he is part of, and finally, the despair of the father. Mr. Moore’s long familiarity with “Soldier Songs” shows, having performed it since 2008, and he recreated the role five years later for the critically acclaimed commercial recording of the work, released by Innova Recordings. The vocals are punctuated by the percussion of high violin notes of mourning, while the baritone saxophone, high pitched clarinet, and soft flute emit the melancholy, expertly conducted by music director Lidiya Yankovskaya, which made the vision come alive.

Chicago Opera Theater’s golden season continues with more diverse, excellent works in December and beyond – for more information and tickets, please visit their website at www.chicagooperatheater.org.

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