Search - Mollicone, Mcgiffin, Mccauley :: Face on the Barroom Floor Act 1

Henry Mollicone's one-act pocket opera The Face on the Barroom Floor was commissioned in 1978 by Central City Opera in Colorado--also responsible for giving birth to the now-classic The Ballad of Baby Doe--and has enjoyed a highly enviable success among contemporary American operas ever since. This is due in part no doubt to its strict economy of scale. The opera lasts a mere 25 minutes (prospective buyers should note that the disc contains no filler), requiring three singers and an accompaniment of piano, cello, and flute. But the real source of its durability is a simple, tightly dramatic story line (involving the classic love triangle, set in the present and--framed as a story within the story--in the Old West) with an O. Henry-like punch at the end and an accessible but eloquent score to advance it. Mollicone (who has also written the multicultural Coyote Tales with librettist Sheldon Harnick) cleverly varies the strains of saloon piano that open the piece and weaves tuneful, folksy, and vernacular elements along the way. Despite some strained vocalism from soprano Leanne McGiffin, this young cast delivers a fervent and emotionally responsive performance--particularly in the searing centerpiece, the trio "He Paints the Portrait of His Love"--and gives the opera a resonance beyond its brief scope. --Thomas May