Composer Richard Danielpour gives Berklee students a peek behind the curtains of Margaret Garner.

By Brenda Pike
Berklee.edu Correspondent
October 26, 2007

	Richard Danielpour
	Photo by Phil Farnsworth
	Berklee students get a tour of the costume department at the New York City Opera.
	Photo by Brit Woollard

The night that Richard Danielpour's opera Margaret Garner opened, Danielpour found Angela Brown, the actress who played Garner's mother-in-law, sobbing backstage. The opera, cowritten by Toni Morrison, depicts the true story of a slave who escaped, then later killed her children rather than watch them be returned to slavery. The role was almost too emotionally difficult for Brown to play. Though Danielpour felt immensely guilty for putting her through such pain, she grabbed his arm and said, "Thank you for giving this to us."

Students heard such inside stories at Danielpour's clinic in Berklee's David Friend Recital Hall. As part of his residency, the composer presented two public clinics at the college, held a piano master class, and invited students on a trip to New York for a glimpse backstage at the opera. During the clinic at David Friend, Danielpour discussed the process of writing the opera and the difficulties staging it. Then members of the Berklee community performed all seven arias from the opera.

For years Danielpour and Morrison had been discussing writing an opera based on Garner, whose story Morrison fictionalized in her Pulitzer Prize–winning book Beloved. They began serious discussions with an opera company, only to walk away when it turned out their view of the story conflicted with the company's. ("They wanted Jefferson in Paris," Danielpour said.) Then, in 1999, they were approached by another company, though it still wasn't an easy sell. While Danielpour and Morrison were presenting the idea to the company's board, one gentleman said, "Haven't we had enough about slavery already?"

"White people didn't want to touch this. And it was too painful for black people—which was exactly why we knew we needed to do it," said Danielpour.

It was the first full-length theater work for both writers. The treatment alone took about a year. Morrison wrote the libretto in another year. And Danielpour spent three years composing the music. The process was difficult, but they worked well together.

"I became her editor, which is what composers normally do, because in an opera . . . the music is what's driving the show," said Danielpour. "She, in turn, educated me about the history, both during that period that we were working with and also since that period, so that I could understand how this story could be relevant to all of us today."

He described the process as "a winnowing down to what is the most essential," cutting some of their best work because it didn't fit. "She trusted me, and she allowed me to lead her through this," Danielpour said.

From the beginning their goal was to make Margaret Garner an American opera, using the vernacular and evoking distinctly American music, such as gospels, spirituals, and r&b. They wanted to evoke the period without drowning in it, said Danielpour, making the music contemporary, but with a historical feel. 

This feature could be heard in the arias performed by Berklee faculty, students, and alumni, especially in such nontraditional songs as "Hard Workin' Man" and "Margaret's Lullaby." Taking turns with the roles, the Berklee performers sang on David Friend Recital Hall's small stage as if there were a whole production behind them, bringing a little bit of Broadway to Berklee.

Faculty members Gabrielle Goodman and Louis Stewart and student Martha Banks perform "He Is By." Photo by Phil Farnsworth

Brenda Pike is a content editor in Berklee's Office of Communications.