''Crossing'' is a two-act

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

composed by Matthew Aucoin. Based on Walt Whitman's ''Memoranda During the War'' (1875), it offers a fictionalized account of Whitman's time as a nurse during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Performance history

''Crossing'' premiered at the American Repertory Theater on May 29, 2015. Aucoin conducted the Boston-based chamber orchestra A Far Cry, Diane Paulus directed. ''Crossing'' had its New York premiere on October 3, 2017, at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

Next Wave Festival. It was subsequently performed in concert form by the Los Angeles Opera on May 25, 2018, as a part of their Off Grand Series.

Roles

Synopsis

The opera opens with Whitman volunteering as a nurse at a Union hospital. John Wormley, a wounded soldier, appears at the hospital claiming to be a Union soldier and Whitman tends to his wounds. In the midst of Whitman's ministrations, the two become sexually intimate, and Whitman composes a letter on behalf of Wormley. Unbeknownst to Whitman, Wormley is in fact a Confederate soldier, and the letter will alert the Confederacy to the hospital's location so that they can destroy it. Wormley subsequently confronts Whitman, accusing him of perversion and questioning his motives. A messenger arrives to announce the war's end, and the shell-shocked soldiers react with muted enthusiasm.

Reception

Anthony Tommasini of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called the work "taut" and "inspired", praising the performers, direction and score. Tommasini reserved particular praise for Aucoin's vocal writing and orchestration. Mark Swed of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' termed the work "troublingly perceptive", while calling it "a young man’s work in both its impressive over-insistence and just plain over-insistence".'' ''Vulture'''s'' Justin Davidson called the work "dramatically static" and criticized its pacing. WBUR's Lloyd Schwartz criticized the work as "high-minded" and "inflated", though he praised the

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

as "dazzling". Several critics noted the influence of other composers on the score, including

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

and

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: ''The Tempest (opera), The T ...

References

External links

Work details, commentary, videos
matthewaucoin.com * ,

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, 2015 {{Authority control Operas by Matthew Aucoin 2015 operas English-language operas Operas Operas set in the United States Operas based on real people Operas set in the 19th century Cultural depictions of nurses Cultural depictions of poets Cultural depictions of American people Musical compositions about the American Civil War LGBTQ-related operas Musical settings of poems by Walt Whitman