Somtow Sucharitkul's latest opera, The Snow Dragon, received its world premiere in the US earlier this month to unanimous critical acclaim.
The Snow Dragon is Thai-American Somtow's ninth opera, and his first to have a modern setting. Viswa Subbaraman, who conducted the world premiere of Somtow's Buddhist opera The Silent Prince in Houston in 2010, and now music director of the Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee, commissioned Somtow to write an opera for his new company "with a dragon in it". The success of the deeply moving opera, which continued its 11 performance run in Milwaukee with standing ovations every night, lies in its sensitive and accurate portrayal of the effects of abuse.
It is based on a short story Somtow wrote in 1982. Billy, a 12-year-old, is whipped every day by his foster father, Stark, a circus lion tamer. To escape the pain Billy retreats into a fantasy where he feels no pain, a frozen emotionless world of snow and ice, to which other victims of abuse have escaped, ruled over by a domineering ring master — none other than Stark. Billy engages the sympathy of his school counsellor, Dora, who overcomes her jaded professionalism and enters Billy's fantasy world. With the help of the friendly snow dragon, Billy is able to express his pent-up anger, discover compassion, and break the cycle of abuse.
At the end of the opera, Dora tentatively asks Billy, who hates to be touched: "If I hug you will you flinch?" She approaches him, but there is a blackout and the opera ends before any hug takes place. The effects of abuse don't stop when the abuse stops: there are long-lasting — often lifelong — consequences. For this reason a happy ending would be false, so we are denied the resolution that would be supplied by the final hug. Billy has made a step forward, but it is the first step, not the final one. He's not ready for that yet: this is only one more step in the process of healing (which may never completely happen).
The production, directed by Matthew Ozawa, is strikingly imaginative in dealing with the rapid cinematic shifts of scene, time and perspective. The most striking effect is the magical appearance of the snow dragon in the first act, like a Chinese festival dragon, but more geometric, glowing an icy blue, floating in the darkness. It is a pity that the dragon does not appear again in the second act, though her character does, strikingly costumed in white, with wings, and powerfully sung by the Junoesque soprano Cassandra Black. The Milwaukee production comes to Bangkok in July, and I think Thai audiences will want to see more of the dragon!
Colleen Brooks, a rich and glorious mezzo, is outstanding in the demanding role of Dora. Luke Brotherhood, 12, superbly portrays Billy's vulnerability. Dan Kempson is a menacing but charismatic Stark, and Erica Schuller is charming as Billy's foster mother and fallen country princess.
Musically the opera is a fascinating combination of Schönbergian serialism and Straussian romanticism.
The contrast in styles used by Somtow represent Dora's theoretical (Freudian) training with the expression of emotion that is necessary both for her and for Billy to move forward. The chamber orchestra dealt very well with the very complex score and Subbaraman, sometimes beating different time signatures with each hand, conducted brilliantly.
Michael Proudfoot is a British writer on opera and a former head of the School of Humanities at the University of Reading.
