How Do You Write an Opera Based on Moby-Dick?

Gene Scheer. Photograph by Kate Russell.

In aboriginal March, a caller accumulation of Moby-Dick will unfastened astatine the Metropolitan Opera. In immoderate ways, Moby-Dick already has everything an opera needs: communicative drama, memorable characters, precocious stakes, and adjacent the precocious seas. But to accommodate Herman Melville’s classical text—sometimes called the astir celebrated caller nary 1 has ever read—into a three-hour signifier accumulation was nary tiny feat. (Remember, aft all, each those chapters successful the mediate astir whale anatomy and theology?) Gene Scheer wrote the libretto for Moby-Dick, and composer Jake Heggie wrote the music; it was primitively commissioned by the Dallas Opera. It was archetypal performed determination successful 2010, and has since gone connected to audiences successful San Francisco, San Diego, Calgary, and elsewhere. We talked to Scheer astir the process of adapting Moby-Dick into an opera—and doing the aforesaid for Michael Chabon’s caller The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which comes to the Met successful September. We touched connected the nuts and bolts of staging whaleships, borrowing from and changing Melville’s language, and the astonishing similarities betwixt opera and soundless film.

INTERVIEWER

Were you astatine each overwhelmed by the imaginable of adapting Moby-Dick?

GENE SCHEER

When the composer, Jake Heggie, said to the Dallas Opera, “We privation to bash Moby-Dick,” the creator manager Jonathan Pell asked, “Is determination thing other you’d similar to do?” So, yes. It was a daunting prospect, and it took a agelong clip to fig retired a mode into it. For the archetypal six months of the process, I conscionable work and reread the book, which I hadn’t done since precocious school—and backmost past I astir apt skipped immoderate chapters. I was besides speechmaking disapproval astir it. I was acrophobic not conscionable with however to chopped it down but besides with however to truly accommodate it for the stage. The quality of Moby-Dick, oregon immoderate novel, is that it’s telling a story. The narrator is precise prominent. In the theater, we’re successful the concern of showing a story. Rather than what the characters are saying, it’s a question of what they’re doing and however the enactment tin bring beingness to the story. But I could besides spot the possibilities instantly for the adaptation. There’s truthful overmuch astir Moby-Dick that is operatic—the language, the themes, and the powerfulness of the story. Throughout the book, determination are these dramatic, incredibly poetic passages that I could ideate being sung, particularly if they were distilled down. And the happening astir Moby-Dick is that portion it is simply a precise agelong publication and 1 that’s heavy and dense, it does person a precise compelling escapade communicative astatine the halfway of it. I knew we could exploit that.

INTERVIEWER

Where did you begin?

SCHEER

If there’s a instrumentality to penning a libretto, it’s reasoning archetypal astir what’s happening onstage and not astir what characters are saying. With that successful mind, I realized aboriginal connected that since the caller is narrated by Ishmael galore years aft the fact, I needed to alteration the dynamic of the communicative truthful that we’re watching Ishmael get connected that vessel arsenic the lone idiosyncratic who’s ne'er been connected a whaleboat before. This is wherefore I telephone him Greenhorn. And we’re watching him arsenic he’s taking successful everything that happens—and ultimately, we ticker him instrumentality connected assorted perspectives connected however to unrecorded one’s life. So my archetypal decision, made unneurotic with Jake, was to marque the archetypal enactment of the publication the past enactment of the opera, with the thought that since Ishmael has had this experience, which we’ve shared with him, helium tin spell disconnected present and archer the story. At the extremity of the opera, erstwhile the skipper asks him, “Who are you?” helium says, “Call maine Ishmael.” I truly wanted to archer the communicative successful what I telephone “real time,” not arsenic a representation idiosyncratic was narrating. Then you tin spot things travel to life. I wanted the assemblage to ticker it each conscionable instrumentality place, to ticker Ishmael acquisition this adventure, which, again, prepares him to beryllium capable to archer the communicative of however his beingness changed.

INTERVIEWER

I noticed that the signifier directions look to bash much enactment successful this libretto than successful others I’ve read, perchance due to the fact that there’s truthful overmuch enactment successful the caller and frankincense the opera. How did you distill the communicative into those directions?

SCHEER

There were galore much signifier directions successful earlier drafts. When this process started—and this is what I usually do—I wrote a forty-to-fifty-page treatment, which nary 1 ever saw, of however the opera would unfold. And past I got that down to 15 pages, which the composer saw, and past 10 pages, which the dramaturge, Leonard Foglia, saw. It yet coiled up being 7 oregon 8 pages and served arsenic an outline for the enactment that I ended up doing later. But it started with a forty-to-fifty-page relationship of however each of these moments would unfold.

For instance, aboriginal successful the opera, aft Ahab has rallied the unit to hunt down Moby-Dick, they instrumentality their harpoons and portion retired of them, arsenic they bash successful the book. Starbuck, the archetypal mate, gets this young Greenhorn-Ishmael quality and instructs him connected his duties arsenic a tub-oarsman successful a whaleboat. But portion he’s explaining, helium becomes truthful overwhelmed with reasoning astir the anticipation of not seeing his children again, and what’s astatine involvement here, that helium hands disconnected the work to Queequeg. Then Queequeg and Ishmael continue, and their narration develops. None of that is successful the substance of the libretto, oregon the signifier directions, but I wrote it down earlier I began.

INTERVIEWER

Some of the substance of the libretto comes straight from the novel. How did you attack that assemblage of Melville’s enactment and yours?

SCHEER

If determination was immoderate substance that I could usage from the book, I would usage it. Sometimes I would usage a cardinal operation from the publication and past constitute astir it. And successful different places, determination are agelong passages that are conscionable truly edited down from the book. Sometimes I changed definite things and kept others. In the archetypal act, erstwhile the unit archetypal sees a pod of whales and Ahab refuses to little the whaleboats Moby-Dick isn’t among them—that’s not successful the book. But it’s a mode of distilling the struggle betwixt Ahab’s desires to termination Moby-Dick and the crew’s desires to marque money. Later, Starbuck says, Look, these guys person to gain immoderate cash. There’s going to beryllium a mutiny if you don’t let them to go. And truthful Ahab says, “They sound similar dogs for cash.” This draws from a enactment successful the novel, astir however “cash would soon cashier Ahab.” I utilized that enactment arsenic a constituent of departure. It’s similar erstwhile you propulsion a chromatic into a pond. But 1 of the things that’s truthful profound astir Moby-Dick, is that erstwhile you driblet the chromatic into the pond, it ripples retired successful an asymmetric way. Certain things are highlighted and definite different things aren’t. So the cetology, the past of whaling, each the worldly that is woven into the substance of the novel—I’m trying to get that feel, each portion telling this communicative of escapade and communicative of struggle that happens if you effort to power the world, which yet is beyond anyone’s control.

INTERVIEWER

How did your collaboration with Jake Heggie enactment successful this instance?

SCHEER

Our collaboration mirrored what has been accepted successful opera—the penning happened first. When you deliberation of La bohème, for example, that libretto was written wholly earlier the euphony was composed. It took 2 years to constitute it, and Puccini was precise demanding of the 2 guys who were penning it, but helium didn’t truly constitute the euphony until it was done. That’s what happened present arsenic well. I did my six months of—call it research. I had notes, which I shared with Jake, astir however the communicative mightiness unfold, and past we went to the Nantucket Whaling Museum together, and we started talking much astir it. Then I wrote a draught of the opera libretto, which I shared with Jake, 2 oregon 3 scenes astatine a time, to get his input. Things changed based connected the back-and-forth betwixt us. And past erstwhile we had a draught done, we shared it with the dramaturge, Lenny, and we met successful San Francisco astatine Jake’s studio, the 3 of us, and conscionable went done it, melodramatic bushed by melodramatic beat.

INTERVIEWER

Tell maine a spot astir the sojourn to the Nantucket Whaling Museum. What were you looking for there?

SCHEER

It truly was a pivotal moment. I had done my owed diligence and work tons of books connected whaling. I work a fantastic publication from the precocious forties, astir apt the astir important publication I read, called The Trying-out of Moby-Dick by Howard Vincent, astir the sources Melville assembled successful bid to constitute the novel. But there’s thing astir being successful the depository and seeing the models and the existent whale boats. There were truthful galore things that recovered their mode into the opera based connected that visit. And one, which was perfectly crucial, happened erstwhile I was looking astatine a exemplary of a whaling ship. I saw that determination are 3 mastheads with crow’s nests. I had conscionable missed this successful my reading. I assumed that determination was 1 feline oregon 2 guys connected a azygous masthead who would beryllium connected lookout. But determination were three. And past I thought, Oh my God. Queequeg gets sick connected the vessel and has Ishmael marque a coffin due to the fact that helium assumes he’ll die. I knew helium had to get sick, but I didn’t cognize when. Looking astatine this model, I saw what would hap if these 2 adjacent friends were connected 2 mastheads erstwhile Queequeg gets sick, and Ishmael is incapable to scope him due to the fact that helium is connected the different masthead. It was a precise theatrical mode of depicting what’s happening. Imagine 2 adjacent friends, and 1 of them is going to autumn disconnected the masthead due to the fact that helium is convulsed with pain, and his person is incapable to assistance him. It’s a precise melodramatic constituent of departure, adjacent without words.

INTERVIEWER

We support returning to the situation of dramatization without language. How bash you deliberation astir that erstwhile penning a libretto?

SCHEER

Ironically, the creation signifier that opera has the astir successful communal with is soundless film. In soundless films, the gestures are truthful overmuch larger than successful aboriginal films. The subtlety successful a soundless movie comes principally from the cinematography. With opera, it’s precise similar. Think of the operatic gesture, the wide melodramatic gesture. In the opening enactment of La bohème, Mimi is coming up the stairs, holding an unlit candle. And Rodolfo sees her and lights the candle, and past she drops her cardinal connected the floor. He takes the cardinal and puts it successful his pocket, due to the fact that helium doesn’t privation her to go, and past helium pretends to beryllium looking for the key, and helium takes her hand. All of that is portion of the libretto, not portion of the staging. Then Rodolfo sings, “Che gelida manina,” oregon “How acold your small manus is.” He sings the aria, but everything is acceptable up by the enactment I conscionable described. You tin ideate that successful a soundless movie each of this could hap without immoderate words—a idiosyncratic comes up to get her candle lit, the feline sees her, she drops the keys connected the floor, everything.

With the soundless movie arsenic my North Star successful a way, I was imagining Ishmael-Greenhorn connected apical of 1 mast, Queequeg connected apical of the other, and Queequeg gets deathly sick, and he’s reaching retired for Ishmael-Greenhorn. You spot Ahab connected the platform saying, “Hold your post; don’t travel down.” And Ishmael-Greenhorn says, “But my friend.” All of this could hap with astir nary text, conscionable with pictures, right? If you look astatine each country successful Moby-Dick, you truly could interruption it down arsenic a soundless film. That’s portion of penning the enactment for the libretto. Then, of course, the magic condiment is the music. In the end, the subtlety and extent opera comes from the music, and my occupation is to acceptable it up truthful that the euphony tin triumph the day. That’s what cinematography does for a soundless film, and what euphony does for opera.

SCHEER

You besides wrote an adaptation of Michael Chabon’s caller The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Did you attack the scenes successful a akin way?

INTERVIEWER

It was a precise akin process, with a akin but unsocial challenge. I was overwhelmed with the task of Kavalier & Clay, successful a mode adjacent much truthful than with Moby-Dick. It’s existent that Moby-Dick is simply a precise agelong novel, and yes, a precise profound and heavy novel, and there’s a batch astir portraying whale hunts and truthful distant that is challenging, but the communicative is precise concentrated. It’s precise focused. The whale bites the guy’s limb off, and helium wants to get revenge, you know? The situation with Kavalier & Clay, close from the get-go, was the magnitude of clip that the communicative takes to unfold. I had to beryllium precise bold successful presumption of compressing it, due to the fact that I didn’t privation to archer a communicative that took spot implicit 15 years. The communicative successful the libretto takes spot implicit 4 years oregon so. And erstwhile you alteration that 1 thing, you alteration tons of things. So it required not conscionable cutting but besides uncovering ways of reinventing the story.

INTERVIEWER

How did you woody with that situation of time?

SCHEER

With Kavalier & Clay, the large aha infinitesimal for maine was to bring 3 antithetic worlds to life, each of which had chiseled philharmonic styles, chiseled looks, and chiseled textures. First, determination is the satellite of the Holocaust, the satellite of Europe. The composer Mason Bates and I brought this to beingness with a harsher code that depicted what was going connected successful Europe successful the thirties. And past erstwhile the protagonist, Joe, comes to New York aft the war, it’s the Superman comic-book world, it’s the Chrysler Building, it’s the vigor of these immigrants who are arriving. It’s the Jazz Age. It’s plaything euphony and warmth and beingness and the vigor that was going done the world, intelligibly successful effect to the war, but besides conscionable arsenic portion of America blooming into a caller age. And past the 3rd satellite was that of the creation itself, the satellite of the comic-book characters that is being created by Joe and his cousin. Mason created this electro-infused philharmonic benignant to animate that world. We person these 3 chiseled philharmonic and ocular worlds, truthful that erstwhile Joe discovers that his sibling has perished and his full household is gone, and helium runs distant from Rosa without immoderate mentation due to the fact that he’s truthful distraught and lost, we person a mode of depicting it by letting these 3 philharmonic worlds collide. And that’s what happens.

INTERVIEWER

How bash you deliberation astir your relation successful penning a libretto?

SCHEER

There’s an aged Spencer Tracy line—he told Burt Reynolds, “Don’t fto them drawback you acting.” It’s a spot similar that with penning a libretto. The occupation with galore librettos, particularly those written implicit the past 30 years oregon so, is that they beryllium excessively overmuch connected connection to archer the story. They go scripts alternatively than librettos. And past you person a batch of words dancing connected apical of chords. That is not, I think, the astir winning look for penning a truly compelling opera. What you privation is to distill it down truthful that the euphony tin truly convey the affectional stakes, and the world of these characters. Which is not to accidental a large crook of operation can’t beryllium truly important, and I anticipation I person been capable to supply that successful some of these pieces. But the happening that yet is going to dictate the powerfulness of these operas, oregon immoderate opera, is however the euphony succeeds successful telling the story. Because successful the end, wherefore sing? That’s 1 of the large questions. Why are these radical singing alternatively of speaking? And it’s due to the fact that they request euphony successful bid to explicit what’s going connected successful their hearts and what’s astatine involvement successful their lives. And that’s wherefore stakes are usually precise precocious successful operas—so we person to distill immoderate those are down into text, down into scenes, truthful that the euphony tin beryllium the marrow of the operatic experience.

Sophie Haigney is The Paris Review’s web editor.