Love to Me
Several years ago, Steve Epstein—who has about as many Producer of the Year Grammy Awards as Pete Sampras has Grand Slam titles (actually, more)—sent me the soundtrack recording he’d produced of the musical The Light in the Piazza. I listened once to the score, written by Adam Guettel (who also contributed the lyrics), and fell in love with the song “Love to Me,” but hurried through the rest of the recording. Several days ago, I decided to write a blog about the unique qualities of this gorgeous song, delivered by Matt Morrison, who would later become known to millions for his starring role in the television show Glee.
The Light in the Piazza received mixed reviews when it was released in 2005. Based on a novella of the same name by Elizabeth Spencer, the plot centers on a wealthy American woman who takes her 20-something daughter to Italy on vacation. The young woman, burdened with a mysterious malady revealed late in the production, falls in love with a handsome Italian boy who barely speaks English. Setting aside the plot contrivances (Craig Lucas wrote the show’s book), some critics felt Guettel’s score was a muddle of influences—Sondheim, opera, pop music—that never quite gelled.
They’re wrong. I pulled out the CD this morning and listened from start to finish. The score of The Light in the Piazza is a great work of art, one that future generations will reference when cataloging the musical masterpieces of the early 21st-century stage.
Of course, Robert Schumann didn’t always pick the right horse, so any composer who falls in love with a score must temper their passion. But this one overflows with an individual harmonic sense and an understated contrapuntal quality that propels the music forward in waves. The vocal lines, moving effortlessly between melody and declamation, are without exception perfectly suited to the human voice—not surprising, since Guettel was a boy soprano who performed at both the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera as a child. His theatrical pedigree traces back to his grandfather, the legendary Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, through his mother, Mary Rodgers (Once Upon a Mattress).
Recalling their chance meeting in the piazza, “Love to Me” is Fabrizio’s declaration of affection for Clara. Scored for nylon-string guitar—which Guettel himself played on the recording (I thought it was a harp until Epstein corrected me)—and chamber orchestra, this beautiful song has something harmonically unique. But what? Dissecting it at the piano, the answer became clear: “Love to Me” features the largely forgotten diminished chord—four of them in all. The diminished triad, built on the seventh step of the major scale, has long been considered too weak to stand on its own. Folded into the dominant seventh chord centuries ago, it has been used in extended harmonies, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many examples in either popular or “serious” music where the diminished triad is displayed so nakedly. Its usage heightens the tenderness of the melodies Guettel assigns to Fabrizio. Gorgeous—and entirely in service of the character.
The cast album was recorded at Right Track Recording in New York and mixed in Sony Music Studios, Room 309, by Todd Whitelock. Anyone who had the pleasure of mixing in that great room, which featured a custom console built by David Smith, will forever regret the day SMS was torn down.
Every project Steve Epstein turns his talents toward glistens, including the gorgeous score of Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza. If you’re not familiar with this music, check it out.
2/22/2013
