Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Prelude - Patrick Summers
2. Prologue - Patrick Summers
3. Act One, Scene 1. Hope House: 'He Will Gather Us Around'
4. Act One, Scene 2. The Drive To Angola State Prison: 'Be Careful,' People Have Always Told Me.
5. Act One, Scene 2. The Drive To Angola State Prison: Aria: This Journey. This Journey To Christ.
6. Act One, Scene 3. Outside Of Angola State Penitentiary: Sister Helen? I've Been Waiting For You.
7. Act One, Scene 4. Father Grenville's Office: Some Of Them Didn't Look So Bad.
8. Act One, Scene 4. Father Grenville's Office: I Don't Like That Man.
9. Act One, Scene 5. The Walk Through Death Row: Woman On The Tier!
10. Act One, Scene 6. The Death Row Visiting Room: Thank You.
11. Act One, Scene 6. The Death Row Visiting Room: Aria: A Warm Night.
12. Act One, Scene 7. The Pardon Board Meeting: The Defendant's Mother, Mrs. Patrick De Rocher. - Frederica Von Stade
13. Act One, Scene 8. The Parking Lot Outside The Courthouse: Its A Good Sign When They Take So Long.
14. Act One, Scene 8. The Parking Lot Outside The Courthouse: You Don't Know What It's Like To Bear A Child.
15. Act One, Scene 8. The Parking Lot Outside The Courthouse: It's The Decision Of This Pardon Board
16. Act One, Scene 9. The Death Row Visiting Room/Scene 10. The Waiting Room: Guess Your Nun Ain't Comin' Back, De Rocher./Excuse Me. Do You Have Any Change?
17. Act One, Scene 10. The Waiting Room: 'He Will Gather Us Around'

Disc 2:

1. Prelude - Patrick Summers
2. Act Two, Scene 1. Joseph's Cell: 31...32...33... - John Packard
3. Act Two, Scene 2. Sister Helen's Bedroom: Oh!... Now And At The Hour Of Our Death. Amen.
4. Act Two, Scene 2. Sister Helen's Bedroom: Duet/Scene 3, Joseph's Cell. August 4 In The Evening: Sometimes Forgiveness Is In The Smallest Gesture./Well? Well?
5. Act Two, Scene 3. Joseph's Cell. August 4 In The Evening: What Time Is It?
6. Act Two, Scene 4. The Visiting Room: Wow! Those New Ford Mustangs Are So Cool.
7. Act Two, Scene 4. The Visiting Room: Aria: Dont' Say A Word.
8. Act Two, Scene 4. The Visiting Room: Who Will Walk With Me?
9. Act Two, Scene 5. Outside The Death House: Good Evening.
10. Act Two, Scene 5. Outside The Death House: Duet: I've Said Some Harsh Things.
11. Act Two, Scene 6. Joseph's Holding Cell: You're A Regular Illustrated Man, De Rocher. - David Okerlund
12. Act Two, Scene 7. The Confession: How Much Longer? How Much More Time?
13. Act Two, Scene 7. The Confession: We'd Been Drinkin' And Smokin' Weed At The Road House.
14. Act Two, Scene 8. The Execution: Dead Man Walking!
15. Act Two, Scene 8. The Execution: 'He Will Gather Us Around.'
16. Applause

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45281 in Music
• Released on: 2002-01-08
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.com
Dead Man Walking opens with a brutal rape-murder scene and ends with a passage, silent except for the clicks of the machine delivering fluids that execute a condemned man, followed by Susan Graham intoning the spiritual "He will gather us around." Those searing scenes flank that rarity, a contemporary opera that deals with an important issue--the death penalty--with balance and empathy while sustaining dramatic tension, the narrative conveyed with musical alertness. Small wonder that the opera has been so successful. It's based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean and the acclaimed Tim Robbins film made from it about a nun who befriends a condemned man and brings him to face the redemptive truth of his actions. The recording was made during the San Francisco premiere of the opera and has all the intensity of a live performance, in addition to the overwhelming power of the story and the music.

It would be hard to imagine a better performance, too. Susan Graham is perfect as Sister Helen, singing with purity of tone and fiery passion. She's delightful, too, in the humorous bits that leaven what would otherwise be a story too harrowing for the medium. Frederica von Stade, as the murderer's mother, is as good, and baritone John Packard as the condemned man is a real find--a singing actor totally convincing throughout, both as the hardened killer and later as the repentant man finally accepting responsibility for his deeds. The supporting cast is also first-rate, and Patrick Summers conducts with unerring sweep and fervor. Jake Heggie's score may lack hummable arias (other than the traditional hymn that plays so important a part throughout), but the orchestration is fresh, the vocal lines are grateful, and the range is wide, moving seamlessly from modern romanticism to bits of pop and rock. No small part of the opera's success is due to Terrence McNally's dramatically cohesive libretto. A triumph for all concerned. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Isa Lei
The merging of the Fijian song Isa Lei into a deeply moving piece of sub-continental music is brilliant. Worth the whole CD

Weak attempt at opera realism
The idea of making this story into an opera is a great idea, and I was so excited to see it, but the music is way too tonal and lyrical for a story like this. The whole opera sounds very amateurish. Heggie's sense of orchestration and musical language is very bland and unimaginitive in my opinion. And a good chunk of the opera consists of about four or five themes that keep reappearing throughout the opera almost always in the same form. There is no intellectual system of Wagnerian leitmotif here, it is simply direct repetition of material throughout the opera. This is not a story of heros and heriones with an epic romantic plot. This is a very dark and gritty look at the death penalty, and I'm amazed that reviewers complained that this opera is too atonal and 20th century for their tastes. In my opinion this opera does not nearly have enough atonality and emotional depth to it. Dark stories should use dark music. Just look at operas like Peter Grimes, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Wozzeck, and Lulu. In all of these operas the purpose of the music is to elevate the drama in this dark stories to a level that could not be achieved by simple spoken word. To me Heggie undercuts the drama by reverting to lyrical numbers at very dramatic points in the opera. It doesn't help that the stage direction was pitiful in the version I saw (stage symmetry is the last thing you would want in a 20th century realism opera). It seems that I am alone here in my argument. But anybody who knows anything about 20th century opera realism (Puccini does not count) will probably agree that Heggie completely missed a good opportunity to make a scoarching opera.

Challenging in many dimensions
I think that this opera (or it's subject more generally) gets to the heart of the entire debate about capital punishment - if we could devise a test that was perfect in its ability to distinguish the guilty from the innocent, would we still be willing to execute people for horrendous crimes. Having just seen this opera in a performance in Pittsburgh, I'm not sure. One of the amazing things about this opera is the extent to which it presents the conflicts associated with the death penalty without manipulating the observer. Is this despicable person really worth anyone's time? Is there some sense in which his death is warranted as retribution for his crimes? Would his death provide any sort of compensation to the surviving victims of his crimes? I honestly have no idea. But an extraordinary feature of this opera is the way in which it introduces these issues without biasing the viewer. During the after-show dinner, my wife and I discussed these issues a number of times. Any work that induces that type of reflection about the deeper underlying issues is worthwhile from my point of view.

In terms of the music, I suppose that there are moments of power and beauty. We're talking about a modern opera, so there aren't many hummable songs (see Broadway if you want those.) I suspect that the entire endeavor is more effective in person.