Mark Abel was a 1960’s student at Stanford and became foreign editor of the SF Chronicle. His first opera successfully combines the expressive depth of classical music, the in-your-face impact of rock (he was a rock musician) and the free-flowing and quasi-improvisatory nature of jazz. The easy-to-listen-to and engaging music, featuring standout performances by young vocalists, is scored for the 13-player La Brea Sinfonetta, which includes an organ. The story follows twin sisters from CA’s bucolic Central Coast Morro Bay as they enter thorny career paths in Manhattan. Early success followed by the financial crisis of 2009, the human cost of the Afghanistan war, the emptiness of some of their peers, leads to decisions to return to more meaningful and moral lives in Morro Bay. Abel’s libretto covers a wide emotional landscape (youthful exuberance, tragedy, pathos, disillusion, humor) with satire and social commentary alongside.
Abel’s song cycle, The Palm Trees Are Restless, sets five Kate Gale poems to music for soprano and piano. Grammy-winning soprano Hila Plitman sings beautifully. Again, the listening is easy, and the emotional range wide.