MIND ; FEED YOUR HEAD 6 Edition

• Published in: The Hartford courant
• Main Author: -- ERIC DANTON, CAROLE GOLDBERG, SUSAN DUNNE, ROGER CATLIN and MATTHEW ERIKSON
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hartford, Conn Tribune Interactive, LLC 27.11.2005
• Subjects: Naish, John
• ISSN: 1047-4153

Theodore Dreiser's 1925 novel "An American Tragedy" inspired the 1951 Oscar-winning film "A Place in the Sun" with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. Now it is an opera by American composer Tobias Picker. Friday night at New York's Metropolitan Opera, it has its world premiere, starring baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Patricia Racette and Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Susan Graham. Next to the September world premiere of John Adams' "Doctor Atomic" at San Francisco Opera, "An American Tragedy" promises to be the opera event of the season. The last world premiere for the Met was in 1999, with John Harbison's "The Great Gatsby." Critical reaction was mixed. For Picker, who has composed three other operas, the question remains whether this one will get any traction beyond its eight Met performances. Here's a trivia question for you: How many operas by an American composer the last 25 years have had a meaningful life beyond its premiere? Probably only Adams' "Nixon in China" and "Death of Klinghoffer." Why do Oscar winners rush to make silly popcorn movies just after they take home the big one? Halle Berry did a James Bond. Jamie Foxx did a stupid movie about a runaway jet. Are they trying to mix respectability with bank-ability? For whatever reason, it's Charlize Theron's turn. In "Aeon Flux," based on a comic book, she plays a secret agent of the future. Frances McDormand, also an Oscar winner, and Sophie Okonedo, a nominee, add to a classier cast than movies like this usually attract. Could be fun. Karen Kusama directs.