In New York’s Little Italy, Annina has been blessed by both stigmata and the ability to hear voices. Her deeply catholic community sees her as a saint, even though her brother believes that she is deeply troubled and requires hospitalisation. As an atheist, his views are overwhelmed by the needs of those around her, leading to a tragic ending for Annina...

The Saint of Bleecker Street (1954) is a relatively modern and yet rarely performed opera by the Italian-American composer Gian-Carlo Menotti, better known for his more assessable pieces like Amahl and the Night Visitors. Menotti wrote the libretto, which is sung in English.

The Saint of Bleecker Street received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best play, the Music Critics Circle Award for best opera, and the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1955, though it only ran for ninety-two shows, not a great amount in the mid-fifties and less than some of his earlier works.

To cement its position as a serious opera Bleeker is broken up into three acts with a full orchestra and chorus.

For the totality of the opera the main point of contention is between Annina’s brother, who does not believe that the mark on her hands are stigmata, but rather the product of a sick woman inflicting harm on herself and the priest, with his superstitious congregation who see it as a vindication of their faith. Running below this is a substrate dealing with her brother’s love affair.

I think that the central tragedy of Gian Carlo Menotti’s work was his rejection of modernity, and the evolutionary nature of music. In harking back to the works of Puccini and Mascagni, he presents himself as hopeful Salieri to a more talented Mozart.

Worse comparisons can be made. This opera was written in 1954, seventy-nine years after Georges Bizet’s Carmen, which still has a more modern feel compared to the rambling onslaught of The Saint of Bleecker Street. Maybe he felt that, so long as it wasn’t Baroque, why fix it. Its presentation and structure make the piece sound old fashioned, rather than the contemporary piece that it is.

There is a general lack of lightness in the piece, with practically every track seemingly having to convey some level of portentousness doom, which can be a little wearing at times, smacking more of pretentiousness. Nor does the piece, particularly sport any outstanding arias to lighten the mood of the audience.

Technically the audio is faultless, the recording features soprano Gabrielle Ruggiero and tenor David Poleri. The recording was conducted by Thomas Schippers, who picked up a Tony Award for his work; the whole recording was supervised by Menotti.

So it’s a difficult call, pretentious or classic? I think the answer will come down to whether you like Wagner or Bizet, personally I’m a Bizet man.

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Charles Packer