Yesterday evening was my first opportunity to watch the latest Great Performances at the Met broadcast, which I had recorded thanks to the software provided by xfinity. The opera was Grounded, composed by Jeanine Tesori on a commission from the Metropolitan Opera, working with a libretto by George Brant, based on his play with the same title. The narrative behind the title involves the fighter pilot Jess, who has to give up flying her jet after an unplanned pregnancy. She then channels her talents into drone operation.
All this comes across as little more than soap opera with a full orchestra in place of a Hammond organ. Tesori’s text muddles its way from one cliché to another with episodes that amount to beads on a string. Most interesting for those of my generation was how much the nature of military service has changed since the middle of the last century; but this is the stuff of a well-researched history book, rather than an opera libretto. Thus, even the best efforts of Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin with mezzo Emily D’Angelo as Jess and tenor Ben Bliss as her husband could not rescue this production from being little more than a tedious slog.
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