Cincinnati Opera presented the world premiere staging of Paul McCartney’s 1991 “Liverpool Oratorio” over four performances in July 2024 (on July 18, 20, 21 and 27).
Directed by Caroline Clegg and conducted by Joseph Young, the production featured the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet, and Cincinnati Boychoir.
While Paul himself didn’t attend, he sent a special video message to audiences before each performance.
[…] “Liverpool Oratorio” was far more theatrical than most oratorios. It had a narrative. It wasn’t hard to imagine the tale of a young man navigating the complications of life being developed into a stage production.
But it never happened.
“I have no idea why,” says Andrew Owens, who sings the role of Shanty – McCartney’s alter ego – in the Cincinnati Opera production. “Probably some of it has to do with image. But in recent years that has changed a bit. Certain popular composers have taken a stab at writing opera, like Rufus Wainright. It has taken some of the stigma off the idea that opera could be popular.”
Cincinnati Opera artistic director Evans Mirageas is more blunt about it.
“I think there is a bit of snobbery involved,” said Mirageas. “It’s Paul McCartney, you know, so it must just be pop tunes.”
Heaven forbid a legitimate opera company might decide to engage in a production of this sort. But in the course of the past 20-30 years, some American opera companies – Cincinnati, among them – have changed a great deal. They understood that unless they evolved along with the world around them, they were in danger of turning into museums dedicated to long-ago musical eras.
So we have seen a steady diet of new operas from Cincinnati Opera. A few have been mainstage productions. But just as many have been smaller productions, often developed in conjunction with the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.
“Liverpool Oratorio,” though, is destined for the stage of Music Hall’s Springer Auditorium. It is sure to play to near-sellout crowds, as was 2018’s production of “Another Brick in the Wall,” based on Pink Floyd’s album of the same name.
“For people who worry that this isn’t opera, I can assure them that this is the real thing,” says Owens. “Last year, I went to Zurich and saw a friend of mine – an opera singer – perform in ‘The World of Hanz Zimmer.’ I had more fun than I can remember. It was a damned blast.
“Sometimes I sit there at these ‘serious’ events and I get frustrated. I ask myself ‘What are we doing wrong?’ Why can’t the things we do have more elements of fun? Why can’t they have more relevance to our own lives? Well, this one does. Definitely. I can’t wait for people to see it.”
Painter Maggie Barnes had only been home in Cincinnati for two weeks when she received news that made her jaw drop.
Barnes had been conducting a deep-dive into the music of Paul McCartney for an extensive series of paintings inspired by his work. In the summer of 2023 she traveled to the UK to gather inspiration, including studying and painting the sites that McCartney explores in his 1991 Liverpool Oratorio. A mere two weeks after that trip ended, her daughter phoned to ask if she had heard the news: in 2024, Cincinnati Opera would be giving the world premiere performance of the stage adaptation of the Liverpool Oratorio.
“I told her, you have to be mistaken,” Barnes remembers, still astounded.
Barnes reached out to the Opera and a partnership was formed. Her series of eight paintings tracing the storyline of the Liverpool Oratorio, including the striking Liverpool Cathedral, will be displayed in the P&G Founders Lounge during the opera’s premiere, and another two dozen related works will grace the walls of nearby Wash Park Art Gallery.
For Barnes, this lucky happenstance is only one of countless ways that art has added delight to her life. Proudly sober since 2003 — a fact she is comfortable discussing publicly — Barnes looks back on the way that painting and other artistic pursuits have helped her guide her life. After losing an artist friend due to issues related to alcoholism, she began looking for healthy ways to process her grief.
“This idea came to me: why not pick up a paintbrush instead of a drink?” she recalls. Barnes had never painted in a serious way before, but 20 years later, has hardly missed a day at her easel. “I found out I paint as obsessively and as emphatically as I ever drank,” she says with a wry laugh. Barnes feels her art and her sobriety are so entwined it’s difficult to separate them — not only did she pursue painting to support her sobriety, but the tools and processes of her sobriety have also made her a stronger artist. “I painted like my life depended on it,” she adds. “And it did.”
JULY 18 & 20, 2024 | 7:30 PM JULY 21 & 27, 2024 | 3:00 PM MUSIC HALL • SPRINGER AUDITORIUM
Music and libretto by Paul McCartney and Carl Davis
Sung in English with projected lyrics
FOR THE WHOLE WERE WE BORN.
Memories from Paul McCartney’s life in Liverpool England inspire chapters on growing up and finding our way. Beginning with Latin which means, “not for ourselves, but for the whole were we born,” the piece explores formative moments, relationships, and the responsibilities we face. See the world premiere opera adaptation of McCartney’s acclaimed work for orchestra and voices, a powerful story full of heartfelt lyrics and effortless melodies.
Cincinnati Music Hall, Springer Auditorium
This was the 2nd concert played at Cincinnati Music Hall, Springer Auditorium.
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