To say that I found " A QUIET PLACE" disappointing is the understatement of the year. The fact is that Leonard Bernstein's final work for the stage just does not work, and what started out as a charming one act opera called "Trouble In Tahiti" [about a bored couple living in the suburbs] has been blown up into a three act opera [libretto by Stephen Wadsworth] dealing with alienation,strife, and reconciliation of a dysfunctional American family.
Even with an often lovely Bernstein score [wonderfully well orchestrated by the composer,Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal] this is an overlong often ponderous work, and the production it is being given by the New York City Opera Company seems underdirected by Christopher Alden, and the single all-purpose set by Andrew Lieberman seems to have been done on a very limited budget.
The opera is conducted by Jayce Ogren with a loving hand and the company is good, but not first rate.
Anyway, "A QUIET PLACE" left me as cold as a penguin's toes.
At THE DAVID H. KOCH THEATRE LINCOLN CENTER N.Y.C.
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