The Puccini-esque ‘View From The Bridge’

Photo: IU Opera Theater

Eddie (Nathaniel Olson, right) gives Rodolpho (Nicholas Fitzer, left) a boxing lesson on the stage of "A View from the Bridge."

In 2005 IU’s Vincent Liotta directed the first collegiate production of William Bolcom’s opera A View from the Bridge, based on the play by the same name by Arthur Miller. Seven years later, as he’s directing this fall’s production he’s even more impressed.

The Text

“Arnold Weinstein, the librettist, worked very closely with Arthur Miller to preserve the structure and values of the play. There have to be cuts, and also some expansions for arias and choruses, but much of the text comes directly from the play. In fact, in rehearsals we frequently begin by having the singers simply speak their lines.”

The Music

“Bill Bolcom is Puccini-esque: He’s always writing from a melodic point of view. It’s so melodic that sometimes we have to ask the singers to hold back a bit in sections that are really closer to what we call recitative. In terms of style, the composer is a master of everything from pop to rock to jazz to classical, and he confident in his eclecticism. No matter which style he chooses for A View from the Bridge, it still sounds like Bill Bolcom.”

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