Photo By Philip Groshong

Gregg Baker and Denyce Graves portray Robert and Margaret Garner at Music Hall

As the curtain rose at Music Hall on July 14 for the first of three sold-out performances of the world premiere of Margaret Garner, a somber chorus of slaves intoned their heartfelt wish for slavery's end: "Please, God, no more!" That hurtling, melodic call set the tone for the new opera by composer Richard Danielpour and prizewinning writer Toni Morrison. In fact, their work had the opening night audience expressing its own fervent desire for "more" -- not more slavery, of course, but more of this impassioned, clearly presented indictment of the hateful institution that ruined lives and souls.

Inspired by the true story of Garner who, with her family, sought to escape slavery on a farm in Northern Kentucky in the 1850s, the opera unflinchingly depicts the violent ignorance prevailing before the Civil War. Margaret (Denyce Graves) is troubled when her owner, Edward Gaines (Rod Gilfry), rents her husband, Robert (Gregg Baker), to a neighboring farm. Despite their imploring, Casey (Mark Panuccio), a brutal overseer, sneers and brandishes a weapon at Robert's mother, Cilla (Angela Brown), if they give him any trouble. Margaret, who has dutifully served the Gaines family for years, waits on guests at the wedding reception of Caroline (Nancy Allen Lundy), Gaines' daughter, who respects her. But the cruel widower has ulterior motives, and when Margaret tries to refuse him, he rapes her. Robert devises a plan to flee with Margaret and their children to freedom in Ohio, but a mob led by Gaines finds them in a shack in Cincinnati. Robert is beaten and prepared for lynching. Margaret, in a frenzy of fear and love, murders her two children, preferring their deaths to lives without freedom. Her trial ensues: Is her crime one of a theft and destruction of property or murder? Despite Caroline's argument for the latter, Margaret is sentenced to die for destroying Gaines' "property," her own children. She stoically accepts her fate, despite a last-minute offer of clemency, and hangs herself, achieving a kind of ultimate freedom.

This unflinchingly grim narrative -- well suited to the opera stage -- occasionally warms. Angela Brown's Cilla sings of her core of faith, and Margaret and Robert express their loving devotion. But such moments are full of foreboding: "It's dangerous to love too much," Margaret sings, and Cilla's faith grows from a hope for freedom after death.

Morrison's libretto is sometimes too literate for these simple characters, but director Kenny Leon and a cast of singers who know how to act bring them to convincing life. Graves sings with powerful ease, and her performing skills make her perfect for this emotional role.

Baker is a giant of a man, but he comfortably personifies Robert's dignity and decency. Brown is the only performer who holds her own with Graves, especially in their Act II duet about accepting death.

Panuccio, a Cincinnati-based singer who stepped in to play the sardonic Casey, made the vile character fearfully real. The same is true of Gilfry as the hateful Gaines: His singing is memorable, but he enlivens the arrogant man with a dawning grasp of the evil he has perpetrated. Lundy's Caroline is well sung, but the role represents a perspective more than a flesh-and-blood woman.

Conductor Stefan Lano's orchestral support emphasizes the emotional subtext of Danielpour's score, frequently accented with clarion brass or mournful oboe lines. Opening night saw a few technical glitches onstage (including a snagged Act I curtain that diminished the horrific rape scene), but overall the play's design -- a series of house-shaped frames decorated with quilt patterns -- and expressive lighting further enhanced the story-telling.

As the opera ends, the combined chorus sings of the necessity to "break through the night," a call Margaret's ultimate sacrifice has made vividly real. It's a powerful lesson, one we are better for seeing here in Cincinnati. Grade: A-

---

MARGARET GARNER, presented at Music Hall by Cincinnati Opera, has its final performance on Friday. For additional coverage of the opera and Toni Morrison, go to citybeat.com