The Atlanta Opera presents its new production of the opera April 30 – May 8 at Cobb Energy Center
Melinda Bargreen | 18 APR 2022
You may think, when you are a journalist dialing John Moore’s telephone number, that you are about to do an interview.
You would be wrong.
The term “interview” is much too scrawny a concept to encompass an hour’s conversation with the baritone, who portrays – no, let’s say “inhabits” – the title role in The Atlanta Opera’s upcoming production of Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. Judging from his compelling performances three seasons ago in a Seattle Opera production of that work, the role of Apple founder Jobs is a natural fit for Moore. And perhaps it’s an even better fit now, after a period of considerable reflection during the Covid era.
Moore’s far-ranging views of opera, and life in general, underwent what he calls “a two-year hard look at the world, and an incredibly creative time” for him – even as production after production was cancelled. The Covid era, Moore explained in a recent phone interview, has been “a basic test of what it means to be human. We’re taking care of each other and getting past some of the petty human squabbles. The risk is that we go back to ‘normal’ – instead of embracing the ‘new normal.’”
Looking deeply into the life work of Steve Jobs (1955-2011) has accelerated Moore’s desire for change in the world of opera.
“It’s so clear that the ‘new normal’ will be digital,” Moore explains. “If we return to the 1980s mode of presenting opera, we will miss out. But if an opera board puts one-third of its budget into spatial audio, virtual reality headsets, and all the potential of digital media, we have many more possibilities. We can offer the 60-plus crowd the same storytelling opportunities of opera, and their kids’ generation will also think this is cool.”
Moore, as Jobs, raises high the “one device.” (credit: Erich Schlegal / Austin Opera)
Moore feels concerned about the future of opera companies in the “business as usual” mode. He observed a “half-full” audience for a recent Metropolitan Opera matinee, and suggests that many opera companies may be resistant to change – with boards of directors whose income sources are more invested in oil, for example, than in digital technologies.
“When you go headlong into Steve Jobs for four years, it makes you think,” Moore reflects. “Jobs engaged the smartest people in the world. He was incredibly proactive. He was 10 years ahead of everybody, and that’s the reason why Apple became the most successful company in human history.”
Moore’s in-depth study of Jobs results in an operatic portrayal of the tech genius that is almost scarily intense. In his performances in the role three years ago at Seattle Opera, this reviewer found that “John Moore did a heroic job in the title role; he’s an accomplished, mellow-voiced singer and a persuasive actor (delightful as Papageno a few seasons back) who apparently lost weight in order to portray the gaunt Jobs. He was equally effective as the exuberant inventor and chilly boyfriend of the unfortunate Chrisann Brennan (Madison Leonard, who was excellent), the mother of his long-unacknowledged daughter.”
The production mixed an electronic track full of sound effects together with live instruments (some of them amplified). This reviewer found the score a little short on melodic content, but arresting in its mix of electronic sound effects and live instruments. It’s a vivid score, and the title role is one of the juiciest opportunities of our time, for the right singing actor with the right voice. And unquestionably, it’s a great fit for Moore.
Even with all the restrictions and cancellations imposed by the pandemic, Moore is enthusiastic about the state of opera today: “Our technology now allows us to offer so much more. The digital platform will increase, not decrease, intimacy. We need to have conversations about how digital technology can enhance the communal experience of opera.”
The optimistic Moore even sees the bright side to the Covid cancellations that have stalled the opera world: “I got to spend more time with my wife, to see my family more, to live where I live. It’s been a two-year hard look at what we do, but it also has been an incredibly creative time in many ways.”
Moore recalls a chance meeting after an ice storm cancelled the opening night of the Austin production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs this past February: “I met a guy named Steve in an ergonomic chair store. We started talking, and I ended up getting him two tickets to the next show. While I was meeting him and his wife after the performance, an older woman came up to us and said: ‘I worked with Steve Jobs in the 1980s. My grandson is in the chorus, and he said, ‘Grandma, I don’t think you’ll like this opera.’ I didn’t like the man [Jobs], but at the end of the opera, I was crying. You changed my mind about him!’”
Moore as Jobs with Wei Wu as Zen roshi Kobun Chino Otogawa. (credit: Erich Schlegal / Austin Opera)
Moore adds, “Jobs’ understanding was just so profound. I think of him as a Buddhist who meditated all the time, not just 30 minutes a day.” Moore also is happy that over time, small details and adjustments have gradually given the score “ an even deeper resonance” for operagoers of all ages and backgrounds. He notes that “[librettist] Mark Campbell has also given us some very complex and deep women.”
“When I’m on the stage,” Moore concludes, “all I’m thinking is, ‘I can offer this to you.’ It’s what I’ve been doing since I was four years old. I am a mere vessel for the music; I have a job to do, and we all really care about it.
“Opera is a church. We’re not just singers anymore.” ■
External links:
• The Atlanta Opera: gemmanew.com
• John MOore: milosguitar.com
Melinda Bargreen is a Seattle-based composer and music journalist who has been writing for the Seattle Times and other publications for four decades. Her 2015 book, Classical Seattle is published by University of Washington Press. Her 50 Years of Seattle Opera was published by Marquand Books in 2014.
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