BREAKING NEWS — 10 Days in a Madhouse, by composer Rene Orth and librettist Hannah Moscovitch, is the winner of the 2024 Award for Best New Opera conferred by the Music Critics Association of North America. The honor, which recognizes both musical and theatrical excellence, is given annually to an operatic world premiere presented in North America the previous calendar year. Commissioned by Opera Philadelphia and Tapestry Opera, 10 Days, directed by Joanna Settle and conducted by Daniela Candillari, had its world premiere on Sept. 21, 2023, at Opera Philadelphia as part of Festival O23.

The opera was selected by the MCANA Awards Committee co-chaired by Heidi Waleson, opera critic of The Wall Street Journal, and George Loomis, longtime contributor to the Financial Times and Musical America. The committee is rounded out by MCANA president Arthur Kaptainis, contributor to Ludwig van Toronto and former music critic of the Montreal Gazette; John Rockwell, former critic and arts editor of The New York Times and a regular correspondent for Opera (UK) and Musical America; and Alex Ross, music critic of The New Yorker. 

The Awards Committee stated: “Drawing from reporter Nelly Bly’s exposé of conditions at the insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island (now Roosevelt Island), this searing chamber opera explores how insanity has been used as an operatic trope and as a way to control non-compliant women. The ingenious libretto structures the narrative in reverse: It opens with Bly’s 10th day in the asylum, where she went undercover, and over 90 intense minutes reassembles the disordered elements of her institution-induced breakdown into a recognizable story. Text fragments, choral hazes, and electronics are among the techniques used to unmoor the narrative from rationality; yet the characters remain strong and musically distinctive throughout. Taut, original, and affecting, 10 Days in a Madhouse works on multiple levels — theatrical, thematic, and human.”

Orth and Moscovitch will receive the award July 26 during the MCANA annual meeting at Tanglewood.

With its third MCANA Best New Opera Award, Opera Philadelphia confirms its status as a source for new works. The company’s Opera Lab, launched in 2011, has incubated an impressive array of premieres, including Breaking the Waves and The Wake World, MCANA’s awardees in 2017 and 2018. The Opera Lab paired composer Orth and librettist Moscovitch as potentially compatible partners, and the team clearly proved compatible.

“Opera has a long tradition and fascination with madness and women, often resulting in watching women suffer trauma and eventual death,” Orth has said. “This opera is not that.”

Orth was named Opera Philadelphia’s composer-in-residence in 2016, not long after receiving her master of music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. The position supported her development as an opera composer for three years.

Moscovitch, a prize-winning and widely produced Canadian writer for theater and television, earned viral fame for her work on the 2022 cable series Interview with the Vampire — her writing colleagues dubbed her “the dark princess of Canadian theater.” She had already worked on two operas by Lembit Beecher at Opera Philadelphia, giving voice to characters with mental health conditions: Sky on Swings, about a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, and I have no stories to tell you, about a character suffering the after effects of war. In 10 Days, Moscovitch also responded to the feminist angle. “There was absolute authority of these male doctors over these female patients,” Moscovitch told Canada’s The Globe and Mail before the premiere. “They were treated abominably — they didn’t go in there mad; those conditions created madness.”

Orth and Moscovitch “set out to write something surprisingly rare in the operatic tradition — a work that didn’t focus on women suffering trauma and death but rather strength and perseverance against the continued societal biases working against us,” the composer told The Globe and Mail. She discovered the remarkable Nellie Bly and her writings while scrolling through social media and thought, “It just screamed opera.”

Orth and Moscovitch workshopped a 20-minute excerpt of 10 Days, leading to a commission for the full opera, which they completed in 2018. It was Orth’s idea to reverse the chronology of the book, and Moscovitch structured the narrative, working with Orth’s unusual scoring, which incorporated electronic enhancement into the vocal writing. In an email, Orth wrote, “Hannah…[is] super collaborative, open to taking risks, a literal genius with words and drama, and still leaves the composer plenty of space for their music to complete the storytelling.”

The original book 10 Days in a Madhouse, published in 1887, established the reputation of Nellie Bly, pen name for “stunt girl” journalist Elizabeth Cochrane. She was only 22 when she was assigned to go undercover for The New York World to investigate conditions in an insane asylum for women. Feigning madness, she got herself arrested and then committed to a notorious facility in the East River, after having quietly arranged for someone to have her released after 10 days.

Bly experienced first-hand and reported on the appalling conditions inflicted on the women, all charity cases, who had the bad luck to land at Blackwell’s: bad food; no heat; inadequate clothing, bedding, and sanitation; icy baths; abusive nurses; enforced inactivity; and virtually nonexistent medical care. It became clear to her that a woman could be pronounced insane simply for being sick, poor, foreign, or too emotional, like Lizzie, a single mother grieving the death of her child. Once confined to this purgatory, a return to the outside world was unlikely, and illness, mental disintegration, or death became almost inevitable. Still concealing her identity, Bly dropped her mad act once in the asylum; she quickly realized that, despite her apparent normalcy, she was assumed to be insane by a staff invested in their own power. Bly detailed the dehumanizing treatment in simple, precise prose; a reader feels the writer’s indignation and senses her empathy but never fears that Bly herself will go mad. In the end, Bly’s articles in The New York World and the ensuing book led to a grand jury investigation and reforms to the carceral mental health system.

In the opera, the book’s chronology is reversed so that the viewer is plunged into the nightmarish last day of Bly’s confinement. In contrast to Bly-the-journalist’s detachment, Bly-onstage appears to be on the brink of true madness. An opening percussive rumble overlaid with a piercing electronic tone crescendos into a crash. Women’s voices join the instrumental and electronic chaos, and on the darkened stage a spotlight reveals a disheveled, terrified-looking woman, Nellie — called The Madwoman in the libretto, though later identified as Nellie — shrieking, moaning, and pleading for her release. In the background a woman, Lizzie, is heard, anxious to catch a boat that, we learn later, should take her to her dying daughter.

Orth’s score for string quartet, winds, brass, piano, and extensive percussion, augmented with electronics, creates a dynamic array of shifting moods. In the opening chaos, Nellie’s first desperate utterances alternate with fleeting vocalizations that recall the mad songs of bel canto heroines. Nellie, a coloratura soprano, and Doctor Blackwell, a baritone, sing in a mostly conversational style; more lyrical vocalism falls to Lizzie, a mezzo-soprano, the emotional heart of the work, whose powerful lament about her daughter is the opera’s affective climax.

During ensemble scenes, individual chorus members give distinct voice to the other inmates. The orchestra grows transparent during dialogue, with fragmentary instrumental solos insinuating subtext, like a leitmotif. The lucid exchanges between Nellie and Dr. Blackwell follow natural speech contours. As time scrolls backwards to the beginning of the story, Nellie’s voice grows more confident and her lines more lyrical (when she’s not pretending to be crazy). Novel stylistic juxtapositions include dance beats inserted into a sinister waltz, or the transformation of a choral hymn, sung deliberately out of tune by the inmates, into a jazzy gospel song, as the women gleefully rebel against the pious hymn the sadistic nurse forced them to sing. The music alternates between chaos and beauty, though the sense of unease never disappears.

Bly’s final aria, as she gives a post-confinement lecture about her experience, is her most lyrical moment. Beginning like a Schumann lied with piano, her speech grows in intensity as instrumental, vocal, and electronic forces join to create a powerful musical and moral finale.

10 Days in a Madhouse will be performed in a future season (to be announced) at Toronto’s Tapestry Opera, the co-commissioning company.

Please welcome new MCANA member Eric Myers. Eric is a freelance journalist who covers Des Moines Opera, among others. He contributed to Opera / Opera News for years. Please welcome Eric to the Music Critics Association of North America.

Please welcome two new members, Mark T. Ketterson and Jennifer Goltz-Taylor.

Mark has been the Chicago correspondent for Opera News magazine for 20 years. He is active with Arts ATL, which shares content with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and has written in the past for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago magazine. He also writes program notes for various companies across the country.

Jennifer has reviewed Michigan Opera Theater/Detroit Opera on behalf of Opera News for the last decade.  She is a professional vocalist and music theorist with a Master’s in Voice and a PhD in Music Theory, both from the University of Michigan. She teaches at the UM Residential College, where she offers courses in voice, writing about music, race/gender/class in American Musical Theater, and, as of Winter 2024, music theory, as well as Arts and Humanities in the 20th century.

Please welcome new MCANA member Louis Harris.  Louis is a staff writer/editor at Chicago’s Third Coast Review. www.Thirdcoastreview.com.  He also does freelance writing.

Below are the results of the 2023 election of the MCANA executive board as announced on June 25 at our annual meeting in Chicago. Each board member was elected to a two-year term. 

President — Arthur Kaptainis
Vice-President — Susan Geffen
Treasurer — James Bash
Secretary — Angela Allen

Members at Large
Janelle Gelfand
Richard Ginell
Jeremy Reynolds 
Paul Robinson
David P. Stearns

The Music Critics Association of North America
bestows its Sixth Annual Award for
BEST NEW OPERA
to
Composer NICOLE LIZÉE
Librettist NICOLAS BILLON
for
R.U.R. A TORRENT OF LIGHT

A timely exploration of the relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence

This marks the first Canadian opera honored by MCANA

AWARDS COMMITTEE:
Heidi Waleson, co-chair
George Loomis, co-chair
Arthur Kaptainis
John Rockwell
Alex Ross

R.U.R. A Torrent of Light’s composer & librettist to be honored
during the MCANA annual meeting June 22 at the University Club of Chicago

Watch excerpts from the opera’s world premiere

Statement from the MCANA Awards Committee

“Set in the near future, R.U.R. A Torrent of Light concerns an international technology company whose founders differ on how to respond to the growing independence of the androids that serve them. The timeliness of this theme in a world challenged by advances in artificial intelligence is obvious.

R.U.R. A Torrent of Light is accomplished on many levels, but we were impressed particularly by the freshness and vitality of Nicole Lizée’s score. While rooted in the minimalist tradition, the music is inventive, expressive and expertly written for the voice. Nicolas Billon’s libretto cleverly employs repetition to represent the efforts of machines to express themselves. A figure of particular interest is the android Alex. It is unusual for a non-human character to invite deep sympathy. The dilemma of Alex scans as authentically operatic.”

The Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA) is pleased to announce that its 2023 Award for BEST NEW OPERA—a major recognition for an opera introduced in North America during the previous calendar year—goes to composer Nicole Lizée and librettist Nicolas Billon for R.U.R. A TORRENT OF LIGHT. This compelling work was given its premiere by the Toronto-based Tapestry Opera, which created the production in collaboration with OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design) University. The first performance took place in Toronto on May 28, 2022 at the Great Hall at OCAD.

The Best New Opera Award is determined by an Awards Committee of distinguished music critics. It reflects the overarching mission of MCANA to recognize distinctive achievements and, through its web publication Classical Voice North America, to communicate the richness of musical life in the U.S. and Canada at a time when classical music coverage in traditional print media is shrinking.

R.U.R. A Torrent of Light prevailed over a strong field including major productions delayed by the pandemic. The opera is an immersive experience that addresses the complex relationship between humans and technology in a futuristic setting where artificial intelligence is ubiquitous. Inspired by the 1920 play R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots by Karel Čapek, which introduced the word “robot” to the English language, R.U.R. A Torrent of Light follows two tech company founders whose androids dominate the AI market. The opera traces the struggle that arises between the two founders as they disagree about how to deal with their creations.

The site-specific piece combines dance, multimedia design, and technology created with OCAD University’s Social Body Lab, whose aim is to explore the relationship between humans and technology. The instruments OCAD created include a cello bow that makes bird sounds, wearable speakers, and wearable Wifi-activated LED lights. Eight skilled players under the direction of conductor Gregory Oh utilized dozens of instruments—including a typewriter—to portray a detailed and evocative soundscape distinguished by a mixture of electronic and acoustic elements.

Tapestry Opera’s Artistic Director Michael Hidetoshi Mori told OCAD: “Opera was historically a launchpad for all kinds of applied design technologies. Having the opportunity to collaborate with OCAD U faculty is an invigorating way to reconnect to that tradition and foster connections between art, music, and design.”

The creative team comprised more than 20 artists working across mediums. Mori directed the production, which also included choreographer Jaime Martino and several collaborators from OCAD. In its citation, the MCANA Committee notes that “the striking set by Cameron Anderson and costumes by Joanna Yu incorporated retro elements that made the setting seem both futuristic and universal.”

After its Toronto premiere, Opera Canada described R.U.R. A Torrent of Light as “a musically brilliant and thought provoking theatre piece.” Lights Out Toronto lauded Lizée’s score, calling it “a revelation” that “create[s] a robotic soundscape that is at once beautiful and terrifying—just like A.I. itself.” Broadway World deemed it “a visually and aurally compelling production that successfully marries opera and automation, and encourages us to look into the eyes of our creations to try to find the best in ourselves.”

In response to winning the award, composer Nicole Lizée said:
“For R.U.R. A Torrent of Light to be recognized with this prestigious award from MCANA is truly an honour. When Nicolas and I began our collaboration those many years ago, I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be awarded North America’s best new opera. Nic and I would like to extend our deepest thanks and gratitude to Michael Mori, Tapestry Opera, and the incredible performers and creative team we had the pleasure of working with.”

Librettist Nicolas Billon said:
“R.U.R. A Torrent of Light has been a labour of love for Nicky and myself, and we are deeply honored to have our opera recognized by MCANA with this award. We also want to acknowledge the production’s creative team for their wonderful and awe-inspiring work in bringing R.U.R. to life.”

The Best New Opera award plaques will be presented to the opera’s creators on June 22, opening night of the MCANA Annual Meeting, held this year in Chicago. R.U.R. A Torrent of Light is slated for further performances at Vancouver Opera in January 2025.
Watch: R.U.R. A Torrent of Light Highlight Reel

MCANA’s Best New Opera Award

The year 2023 marks the sixth MCANA Award for Best New Opera. It honors musical and theatrical excellence in a fully staged opera that received its world premiere in North America during the preceding calendar year. The award is one of the few in the world that simultaneously recognize both composer and librettist.

After MCANA members submit nominations, the finalists are chosen by an Awards Committee co-chaired by Heidi Waleson, opera critic of The Wall Street Journal, and George Loomis, longtime contributor to the Financial Times and Musical America—alongside committee members Arthur Kaptainis, contributor to Ludwig van Toronto and former music critic of the Montreal Gazette; John Rockwell, former critic and arts editor of The New York Times and a regular correspondent for Opera (UK) and Musical America; and Alex Ross, music critic of The New Yorker.

MCANA’s Best New Opera Award has an illustrious track record. The 2017 inaugural award went to Missy Mazzoli (composer) and Royce Vavrek (librettist) for BREAKING THE WAVES; the 2018 Award went to composer-librettist David Hertzberg for THE WAKE WORLD; the 2019 Award went to Ellen Reid (composer) and Roxy Perkins (librettist) for P R I S M; the 2020 Award went to Jeanine Tesori (composer) and Tazewell Thompson (librettist) for BLUE; the 2021 Award went to Raven Chacon (composer), Du Yun (composer), Aja Couchois Duncan (librettist), and Douglas Kearney (librettist) for SWEET LAND. (Due to the pandemic, no award was given in 2022.)

Nicole Lizée

Described as “a brilliant musical scientist” (CBC), and “breathtakingly inventive” (Sydney Times Herald), JUNO-nominated composer Nicole Lizée’s commission list of over 60 works is varied and distinguished and includes the Kronos Quartet, the BBC Proms, the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Her work draws from influences including MTV videos, turntablism, rave culture, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Alexander McQueen, thrash metal, early video game culture, 1960s psychedelia, and 1960s modernism. Lizée was awarded the prestigious 2019 Prix Opus for Composer of the Year, the 2017 SOCAN Jan. V. Matejcek Award, and the 2013 Canada Council for the Arts Jules Léger Prize for Chamber Music.

Nicolas Billon

Nicolas Billon writes for theatre, film, and television. His work has been produced worldwide and won over a dozen awards, including a Governor-General’s Award for Drama, a Canadian Screen Award, and a Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award. Credits include writing for CBC’s WWII spy series X Company and adapting the play The Elephant Song.

Tapestry Opera

Tapestry Opera is an award-winning Toronto-based company that is dedicated to creating, developing, and performing original Canadian opera. Tapestry is passionate about uniquely Canadian stories, told in innovative settings, unforgettably interpreted by world class artists. Tapestry supports emerging artists, develops new audiences and brings Canadian opera to the world stage. Founded in 1979, Tapestry is the voice of original contemporary Canadian opera.

Music Critics Association of North America

MCANA is the only North American organization for professional classical music critics. The association was incorporated in 1957, and early members included leading critics such as Miles Kastendieck of the New York Herald Tribune, Harold C. Schonberg of the New York Times, Paul Hume of the Washington Post, and Irving Lowens of the Washington Star. Current members include critics at the New Yorker, New York Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal; regular contributors to the Chicago Sun-Times, Financial Times, Gramophone, Los Angeles Times, Ludwig van Toronto, Musicalamerica.com, Opera, Opera News, and Philadelphia Inquirer; and program annotators and broadcast journalists. The organization is a member of the National Music Council. In 2013, MCANA launched Classical Voice North America, a web publication for reviews, features, and commentary with readers in 120 countries.