I was excited to post this morning because I got to see a great production in downtown Salt Lake City over the weekend, and since I promised to keep an eye on the music and arts scene for you, I thought I'd share some thoughts on it with all of you.  

It was the Utah Opera's performance of "Grapes of Wrath."  If you haven't heard of it before, it's because it's brand new.  In fact, Salt Lake City was only the second performance venue in the short life of this opera.  It was co-commissioned by the Utah Opera and the Minnesota Opera, and its premiere happened in St. Paul just a couple of months ago.

Most people don't pick up "Grapes of Wrath" for an inspirational, feel-good story.  This is down and dirty (dusty) stuff.  The opera version is no different.   As a listener, you really feel this family's pain, and the arias and instrumentation can be downright gritty in and of themselves.  But the sound is quintessentially American -- even some flapper tunes thrown in for good measure.  At times, it felt like we were at a Broadway musical instead of an opera because it's not how most people imagine opera to be. 

The music was composed by Ricky Ian Gordon,who even showed up at the curtain call to the delight of the Capitol Theater audience.   The singers (several of them local) all did fine interpretations, but the standouts were Roger Honeywell, who sang the role of Preacher Jim Casy, and Jennifer Aylmer, who played Rosasharn. 

Production-wise, they did a great job of keeping things moving -- even though it was a 3 1/2 hour-long performance.  I was afraid I'd be asleep by the second act since we went on Friday night and I'd gotten up at 2:15 that morning for work.   But even if I did let a yawn or two sneak out in the intermissions, I was captivated throughout the whole show.

 I won't go into all the particulars in case you didn't get to see the production, but suffice it to say that Utah was extremely fortunate to be literally on the world stage with a brand new opera, world-class performers, and a highly-acclaimed composer sharing their talents here for several weeks.   Thanks to all those local performers in the orchestra, on the stage and behind the stage, because they did all of us Utahns proud.