Boston composer Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006) is best known for his organ and choral music, so it's not surprising that the most effective parts of his two short operas, The Cask of Amontillado and Garden Party, are the instrumental sections and the choral writing. His writing for the solo voice in The Cask of Amontillado tends to be less effective -- it's primarily recitative and seldom lyrical or melodically memorable. This opera, based on the story by
Edgar Allan Poe, doesn't showcase Pinkham as particularly gifted in writing for the theater; he truncates the horrifying ending so severely that it loses most of its gruesome punch. Garden Party is altogether more successful, probably because Pinkham was temperamentally more attuned to depictions of whimsy than of grotesque cruelty. The instrumental writing is particularly felicitous; the solo voices frequently speak their lines, and when they sing, Pinkham's writing is effectively songlike. The libretto by the composer, about Adam and Eve, is drawn from a variety of sources, including Genesis,
Mark Twain, John Milton, and Julia Child. Its wittiness is wonderfully reflected in the lighthearted music. It's a piece that could easily slip into the repertoires of university opera departments or companies looking for chamber operas. The vocal performances sound mostly like the work of talented amateurs, except for Emily Browder's excellent Eve, and Wayne Rivera is hilarious in the speaking role of the snake. The Chorus and Orchestra of the Boston Academy of Music sing and play nimbly under John Finney. Arsis' sound is clean and present.