Pinkham The Cask of Amontillado.1 Garden Party2 • John Finney, cond; Richard Conrad (Montresor);1 Alan Schneider (Fortunato);1 Joe Dan Harper (Adam);2 Emily Browder (Eve);2 Aaron Engebreth (Gabriel);2 Wayne Rivera (Snake);2 Mark Pearson (God);2 Boston Academy of Music O & Ch • ARSIS 151 (72:45 &)

David Pinkham takes Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Cask of Amontillado (published 1846) and sets it basically verbatim to music. A brave move, one might think, but Pinkham is an experienced hand. His works have been championed by the likes of Leonard Bernstein; his Third and Fourth Symphonies were recorded by Koch Classics (performed by the London Symphony). Any addition to his discography is welcome, this disc of two one-act operas particularly so given the excellence of production and performance.

The Cask of Amontillado is a dark tale of revenge that culminates in burial alive (such a manner of interment was a subject that fascinated writers of the mid 19th century). Pinkham’s opening has a distinctly Stravinskian/orientalist tinge. The use of arioso with a piano as accompanist/continuo is most effective; this is, after all, effectively a narration.

Pinkham’s imagination is everywhere evident, not least in the deft instrumental interlude (track 2). Both solo vocalists are superb. Alan Schneider’s firm tenor is every inch the equal to Richard Conrad’s hypnotic baritone narrator. Conrad has a lyricism at the heart of his voice that works particularly well in this shadowy tale.

In stark contrast comes Garden Party, a witty, sometimes hilarious, take on Genesis (the “Garden” of the title is the Garden of Eden). Emily Browder’s Eve, when in conversation with the Snake, sounds rather Judy Garlandish (think Wizard of Oz), presumably intentionally. She sings beautifully (try her hypnotic “With Adam I am resolved”). Aaron Engebreth is a very masculine-voiced Gabriel, but if there is one star of the show, it is the chorus. The double-choir number, “Don’t forget to read the bible,” complete with vamp-till-ready between-verse interjections, is a joy, with the choir completely on the ball rhythmically.

The first part of the opera centers on Eve’s apple dilemma: to eat or not to eat? Wayne Rivera is a hilarious snake: nasal, even slithery, in delivery. With the memorable line, “But fruit so ripe and red/plucked from the tree of knowledge/might make me bright just like/a graduate of college,” the damage is done. Reenter Adam, now in dialogue with God (in performance the latter is off-stage and heard through a loudspeaker). Two texts by American children’s author and poet Norma Farber act as Bachian chorales, commenting on the action.

This release is particularly apposite given Pinkham’s death in December 2006. It acts as a fitting memorial to a compositional talent whose works deserve greater currency (certainly across the Atlantic here in the UK, anyway). Full librettos are included. Performances and recordings are of the very highest standard.

FANFARE: Colin Clarke