Ricky Ian Gordon: Ellen West
Bright Shiny Things

Certain pieces stay with you, years and even decades after the first encounter. A personal example is Water Music: A Requiem, a two-part piece by Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956) included on Musica Sacra's 1993 release Of Musical Light. That discovery led to the appreciation of other Gordon works as well as recent delight at being presented with a new release by the American composer, his one-act chamber opera Ellen West. With a libretto based on a poem by Frank Bidart (itself based on Ludwig Binswanger's case study “Der Fall Ellen West”), the seventy-seven-minute piece was recorded live at the Prototype Festival in January 2020; in contrast to some live recordings, the sound quality of this one is superb, so much so one might think it a studio recording if one didn't know otherwise.

Though its first staging occurred in 2019, the opera's origins can be traced to the ‘90s when Gordon's partner succumbed to AIDS. Seeking solace in the wake of his passing, the composer discovered Bidart's poetry and specifically Ellen West. The intense, debilitating agony she experienced in the early twentieth-century from an eating disorder (which would now, of course, be diagnosed as anorexia) and other body-related issues, coupled with her confounded doctor's inability to help her during treatment at a Swiss psychiatric hospital, resonated with Gordon, who was himself suffering albeit in a different way. Nearly twenty years passed between that earlier death and the actual writing of the opera, with Bidart augmenting his original poem with a prologue and epilogue at Gordon's request.

Critical to the success of the production are soprano Jennifer Zetlan and baritone Nathan Gunn. Both give fully invested performances that resonate long after the opera's over; certainly the title role offers Zetlan much to dig into when it's so steeped in turmoil and anguish. She possesses a tonally resplendent voice (in a few places it reminds me of Dawn Upshaw), and her authoritative, at times theatrical execution makes an indelible impression. If the material he has to work with is less dynamic, Gunn nonetheless impresses, not only in the warmth and strength of his voice but in taking on three parts: Bidart himself, Dr. Binswanger, and Ellen's husband. Ably supporting them is a chamber sextet comprising pianist Djordje Nesic, double bassist Evan Premo, and the Aeolus Quartet, with Lidiya Yankovskaya conducting.

While the score isn't a patchwork of songs assembled into a seamless presentation, Gordon's largely tonal music is lyrical, expressive, and accessible, qualities consistent with a composer possessing long-standing ties to art song, opera, and musical theatre. His material takes its cue from the libretto, with Gordon tailoring his material to Bidart's text and Ellen's reportage. Whereas the music is playful, for example, at the start of the “Even as a child, I saw” episode, he cleverly threads into “Callas is my favorite singer” a few subtle Tosca references. Gordon smartly intersperses short interludes throughout the work to provide respites from the oft-intense vocal sections. Another strength of the recording is its handling of indexing, as the twenty-two tracks enable the listener to easily follow the work's unfolding when its parts match the sections delineated in Bidart's poem.

Enhancing its impact, the libretto alternates between the psychiatrist's clinical observations (e.g., “Now, at the beginning of Ellen's thirty-second year, her physical condition has deteriorated still further. Her use of laxatives increases beyond measure… She has thinned down to a skeleton, and weighs only 92 pounds”) and his patient's journal entries, the inner monologue providing a rich, introspective account of her world. In offering that inner view, sympathy deepens for West, which in turn makes her fate all the more affecting. Certainly one of the more memorable scenes is the lengthy one where West remembers attending a Tosca performance featuring Maria Callas, the memory significant in accentuating the kinship Ellen feels with a singer who had her own body image issues. In culminating in Ellen's suicide by poison at thirty-three following her release from psychiatric care, the story ends on a tragic note, though it's also reported that she “looked as she had never looked in life—calm and happy and peaceful.”

November 2020