Westergaard crafts operatic interpretation of 'Moby Dick'

While most Princetonians relax over Fall Break, Peter Westergaard, an emeritus music professor, will oversee the premiere of "Moby Dick: Scenes from an Imaginary Opera."

He began working on the opera, his fifth, in 2001, the year he retired. "I like writing opera most," Wester-gaard said. "I like working with the singers, and I'm always thinking, 'What's the next opera?' I wanted to do a big project [three years ago]. I was looking at Aeschylus and Sophocles, but I don't know ancient Greek, and I wanted to write my own libretto. I've always loved "Moby Dick," and it's on the same level as the Greek classics, so I started working on it. "

Westergaard's challenge was how to condense the massive book into a two-hour opera. He estimated that the libretto, which comes almost exclusively from the book, is only four percent of Melville's text.

"The thing I miss in the opera is the cosmopolitan nature of the novel," he said. "The three harpooners from the South Seas, India and West Africa, who are all such full characters in the novel, are small parts in the opera."

This is Westergaard's first original opera since 1994's extremely successful "The Tempest."

"Moby Dick" features Robert Baker as the narrator Ishmael, William Parcher as Captain Ahab, Todd Thomas as Starbuck, and David Kellet and Douglas Millar in a number of roles. The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, under the direction of Michael Pratt, and a chorus prepared by Richard Tang Yuk, round out the opera.

"There's quite a bit of overlay [with the Tempest]," Westergaard said. The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and William Parcher were both involved in the 1994 production, and Pratt and Westergaard have collaborated on operas since 1978's "The Magic Flute."

The opera is divided into four acts and focuses primarily on Ahab's three-day battle with Moby Dick. Familiarity with Melville's book is not necessary to appreciate the work, as plot synopses will be available at the performance.

"I call it 'Scenes from an Imaginary Opera' because people come there thinking they'll get a real dose of Pequod, but they're not," Westergaard said, explaining the opera's subtitle. "The opera isn't staged. There will be lighting by Chris Gorzelnik to tell if the action is on the Pequod or on the water, and there are costumes by Marie Miller of McCarter Theatre, but there's no whale and no shipwreck."

While the production is not staged, Richardson Auditorium's stage will be arranged to give the impression that the cast is on the prow of a ship. And while there is no acting in the conventional sense, Westergaard was confident that the talented cast will make the opera "dramatic in a way that an oratorio or cantata can't be."

"Moby Dick" will be preformed at Richardson Auditorium on Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. Tickets are free and available through the Richardson Auditorium Box Office.