Power, poignancy in Glimmerglass' 'Blue'

The economy and power of the single-word title "Blue" is indicative of the force and efficiency at work in the new opera by composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist Tazewell Thompson. The world premiere performance took place at the Glimmerglass Festival on Sunday afternoon.

The hot-button theme is police shootings of African-American youth. We never learn the names of the mother, father and son who live in Harlem. The lack of much backstory goes almost unnoticed. What weighs heavily is the day-to-day danger of being a young black man in America.

In the opening scene, three chattering girlfriends coo over the pregnant mother. Hearing that she's expecting a boy, they turn grim and declare, "Thou shalt bring forth no black boys into this world!" The stoic father is a police officer who has to be coached on how to hold an infant.

Act One ends with him and his now-teenage son arguing at length but ultimately finding connection through a long embrace. Act Two is the aftermath of the son's death at a peaceful protest.

The libretto is urgent and immediate. Thompson, who is African American and also directs, writes with authentic detail and genuine voice. He offers many startling and succinct lines. Another example: "Stay alive. That's what you're supposed to do."

Though the vocal writing is often lively and contemporary, stately brass chords tell us this is more than the passing struggle of any single family. John DeMain conducted the rich score.

Bass Kenneth Kellogg, playing the father, seemed tight and constrained to start. Perhaps that's his deliberate depiction of a cop. Maybe it's also a reflection of being a black man, or just an adult male, striving to be temperate in a trying world. In Act II, Kellogg unleashed his full force and fury. An even more startling vocal power came from baritone Gordon Hawkins as the...