Last month, the Met presented what The New York Times declared 鈥淣ew York City鈥檚 opera event of the fall鈥�: the world-premiere production of Kevin Puts鈥� The Hours, which continues its run through December 15. Based on Michael Cunningham鈥檚 landmark novel and the Oscar-winning film it inspired, the powerful new adaptation brings together three of opera鈥檚 most exceptional artists to portray
a trio of women from different generations united by their shared struggles with sexuality, mortality, and regret: mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as Virginia Woolf, in the midst of writing Mrs. Dalloway; Tony Award鈥搘inner Kelli O鈥橦ara as Laura Brown, a 1940s housewife reading Woolf鈥檚 novel and yearning for more from life; and the great Ren茅e Fleming as Clarissa Vaughan, a New York City literary editor whose lifelong friend is dying of AIDS at the end of the 20th century. Before the curtain went up, Puts discussed his approach to bringing the opera鈥檚 three distinct storylines into harmony on the Met stage.
I鈥檝e heard that one of the opera鈥檚 stars actually gave you the idea to adapt The Hours. How did that come about?
Kevin Putts: Yes, Ren茅e Fleming and I are both alumni of the Eastman School of Music, and they
commissioned me to write a piece for her. So I composed an orchestral song cycle called The Brightness of Light, based on the letters of Georgia O鈥橩eeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. We both really enjoyed that collaboration, so I asked if she might be interested in working on an opera together. We discussed a few
potential ideas, and then she suggested that it would great to do something that takes place in different time periods simultaneously, like The Hours. Right away, I thought it was an amazing idea.
Why did it strike you as being so well-suited to the operatic form?
I had read the book and seen the movie, so I started thinking about what could be done in music that can鈥檛 be done in writing or in a film. If I first established these three different women living in their different time periods, then, in a way that is only possible on the operatic stage, I could gradually blur the
lines between them. Their worlds could come together and apart, and I could create duets and trios that essentially transcend time and space.
When Philip Glass famously composed the score for the film version of The Hours, he chose to frame all three stories with the same musical language, but it sounds like you took a different approach.
Initially, I wasn鈥檛 sure how overtly I wanted to establish the three different time periods, but it ended up happening naturally.
Virginia鈥檚 music has a very spare, almost Baroque quality, with the harmony always subverting itself in ways that you don鈥檛 expect. I wanted a sense of instability in her music to reflect the complexity of her mind and the unpredictable paths she takes in her writing. Then for Clarissa, who鈥檚 in New York in the 鈥�90s, the music has an urban vibe, perhaps with roots in some of the post-minimalist American composers I love. But for Laura, who feels trapped in a life which is not authentic, I instead wanted to depict an environment鈥攖his supposed suburban domestic bliss鈥攚hich feels alien to her. So it has a glossiness inspired by music from that time, composers like Henry Mancini, Clive Richardson, Lawrence Welk, and so on.
Over time, the three begin to sing together, culminating in a climactic final trio in which they finally discover each other outside of reality.
Tell me about the process of collaborating with the opera鈥檚 librettist, Greg Pierce.
Fortunately, Greg and I got along very well from the beginning. He really understands music and how his words might translate to music. For instance, I remember him texting me and saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 thinking of starting the piece in Virginia Woolf鈥檚 head, with the chorus singing these fragmented lines that
eventually coalesce into the first line of Mrs. Dalloway.鈥� And when he sent me a page, I looked at it, and it immediately felt like music. I could imagine the chorus singing, their lines overlapping each other and gradually becoming a full choral sound.
With three extraordinary artists portraying your heroines, did you have their voices in mind while composing?
Absolutely. When I heard whom the Met had in mind for the casting, I practically fell off the couch! It鈥檚 inspiring to write for them鈥攊t makes me do my best work. What鈥檚 interesting about the voice is how individual each artist is. When you write for the bassoon, you know that the low B flat will sound a
certain way, and the F above middle C will sound a certain way. But every person鈥檚 voice is different, so it helps to have a close collaboration where I can really understand every nuance of the singer鈥檚 approach and technique鈥攁nd then combine that with my own voice. I had worked with Ren茅e on other projects, and I knew Joyce鈥檚 voice very well from hearing her in performance, but I didn鈥檛 know what to expect from Kelli. I wondered if she would be most comfortable in a kind of musical-theatre register, but she sings beautifully above the staff鈥攚ay above the staff, actually. There鈥檚 really nothing she can鈥檛 do. This whole process has been very gratifying. When you鈥檙e working with artists of this caliber and it feel like their parts fit them like a glove, it鈥檚 a magical thing for a composer
Kelli O'Hara, Ren茅e Fleming, and Joyce DiDonato in the 2022 production of Kevin Puts' The Hours
Ren茅e Fleming in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kelli O'Hara in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kathleen Kim and Ren茅e Fleming in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kelli O'Hara and Kai Edgar in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kelli O'Hara, Ren茅e Fleming, and Denyce Graves in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Joyce DiDonato in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kelli O'Hara in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Joyce DiDonato (in silhouette) and Sean Panikkar (seated) in a scene from Kevin Puts's The Hours
Sean Panikkar and Joyce DiDonato in Kevin Puts's The Hours
A scene from Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kelli O'Hara (top) and Joyce DiDonato in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Ren茅e Fleming and Kyle Ketelsen in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kelli O'Hara, Brandon Cedel, and Kai Edgar in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kelli O'Hara (top) and Joyce DiDonato in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kathleen Kim, Kai Edgar, Kelli O'Hara, and Ren茅e Fleming (background) in Kevin Puts's The Hours
A scene from Kevin Puts's The Hours
Tony Stevenson and Ren茅e Fleming in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kai Edgar and Sylvia D'Eramo in Kevin Puts's The Hours
Kai Edgar and Kelli O'Hara in Kevin Puts's The Hours
