Get Bizet

THE SOPRANOS FINALE Katherine Pracht, left, plays the bound slave Djamileh.

“Publishers have so much music in their vault that if no one asks for it, no one ever looks for it,” says music director Francesco Milioto of the Chicago Cultural Center’s Summer Opera. This week, the center digs up one of those neglected scores with the Midwest premiere of Georges Bizet’s nearly forgotten mini-opera Djamileh (“zhaw-mee-lay”). This one-act 1871 opera comique has been performed in the United States only a handful of times; the notion of an opera by the composer of Carmen lying dormant is simply stupefying.

Milioto, a Canadian-born conductor, runs through a list of the score’s musical achievements—such as a heavy use of forward-thinking chromaticism—and notes that many of its ideas would be found later in the ever-popular Carmen. Yet this modest, hour-long opera met an initially lukewarm reception, smothered by the fashionably lavish productions of its era, which often featured extravagant ballets.

“The Midwest premiere of a 137-year-old opera” smacks of contradiction, but for the Chicago Summer Opera, here with its tenth annual production, obscure revivals are business as usual. This interpretation stays fiercely loyal to Bizet’s tale of the beautiful titular slave (played by mezzo Katherine Pracht) who falls for her foppish master (Cornelius Johnson). This isn’t going to be some jazzy 1920s update: The maestro reminds us that a rarely seen work benefits from factual, historical treatment, so all the customs of medieval Cairo, including turbans and veils, will be brought out.

Costume designer Carol Blanchard chose garments that walk a fine line between Arabian Nights and Egyptian clothing from the late 1700s. To set off the cool tones of the tiles lining the interior of the recently remodeled Preston Bradley Hall, male choristers wear warm colors, while dancers twirl in bright, glitzy dresses. Djamileh’s green silks reveal some midriff, while Prince Haroun and his court are clothed in rich metallics. Bizet penned the opera the same year as Aida, so viewers can expect a similar feel, but with much less “triumphal” panache.

The opera’s obscurity isn’t without some justification. Like a Samuel Beckett play, Djamileh, which Bizet dubbed “antitheatrical,” features virtually no scene changes and few entertaining distractions. Milioto says, “You’re literally getting just an hour of this guy’s life.” Producer Helen Vasey intended the 21st-century production to be presented in English for accessibility, but she found the translated French a bit clunky. The sung parts remain in librettist Louis Gallet’s native French, with spoken dialogue worked into English for American ears.

Preston Bradley Hall’s limited square footage requires Milioto to whittle the orchestral accompaniment down to about ten instruments, played by members of the New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago. Taking a few creative liberties, Milioto wrote a piano part to fill holes created by those missing strings and other assorted instruments. With no known reduction of the score available, he had no choice.

The quick-talking maestro strongly emphasizes that while Bizet was writing in the twilight of his career, this is no work of a composer past his prime. “Okay, so some things are a little iffy in the music and not everything works,” he freely admits, “but what you get in this hour is completely awesome.” And it’s taking place under Preston Bradley Hall’s gorgeously restored Tiffany dome for free.

The Chicago Cultural Center presents Djamileh Sunday 3 and Tuesday 5.