Renegade Opera Presents

She Loves You Back

Created and Music Directed by Jesse Preis

Stage Directed by Joellen Sweeney

Composed by Ashi Day, Shruthi Rajasekar, Lisa Neher, Robert Schumann

Program

For Whom the Dog Tolls
Ashi Day

The Letter
Music by Shruthi Rajasekar
Texts by Lord George Gordon Byron, George Etherege and Carl Sandburg

Frauenliebe und -leben
Music by Robert Schumann
Text by Adelbert von Chamisso

No One Saves the Earth From Us But Us
Music by Lisa Neher
Texts by Craig Santos Perez and Felicia Zamora
1. It Was Summer All Winter
3. Among Starving Polar Bears
7. O, Vulnerable Humans
10. The Taut Logic of Crisis

Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef
Music by Lisa Neher
Text by Craig Santos Perez

A Note from the Director

“Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

“I was raised with the idea that the Earth is a living being. She gives life to you in and return you have a responsibility. We, collectively, have come to a point where we are ignoring the cries of Earth Morther. That is how the Climate Crisis is linked to women and girls, because the same structures that are uprooting, abusing, hurting, taking without consent [are] how we treat Planet Earth.” - Ayisha Siddqa, Climate Activist

It’s natural to feel helpless in the face of the Climate Crisis. When I let the magnitude of it in, I almost always do. Our planet is vast and complex, and the forces that continually harm it are powerful, fast moving and financially resourced. And who am I? No one. A leaf. A bean. A coral polyp. A poppy seed. A droplet. A shadow. One human woman.

And yet: reading the words of artist-activists like Ayisha Siddiqa, or artist-activist-scientists like Robin Wall Kimmerer, I am invited to examine the thinking that situates me as a powerless parasite, anonymously consuming from the planetary host. Instead, I am asked to reflect on my personal relationship with the planet that nourishes me daily. How are we doing, she and I? How is the quality of my listening? What sort of reciprocity do I offer for the daily gifts of air, water, sustenance? Where am I taking her for granted?

She Loves You Back is a gathering of reflections on relationships, particularly relationships involving and affecting women. In For Whom the Dog Tolls, we meet a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever who delights in being of service to the Hunter (her owner) and his whims—she revels in all that she can offer him. Next, we hear lines from real letters sent by men throughout history to women in The Letter, Rajesekar’s new work, and examine the human desire to possess and own what we love. A reimagined staging of the song cycle Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben connects the self-effacing love of the Woman/Earth to the rapid exploitation of nature begun in the Industrial Revolution. Finally, we arrive at Neher’s works which ask – who saves the earth from humanity but humanity itself? How do we accept the planet’s love without possession, exploitation, and extraction? How can we move from a place of rupture to a place of repair?

So thank YOU–fellow droplet, fellow bean–for joining us tonight in listening for the voice of a planet that loves you back.

–Joellen Sweeney, Stage Director

FULL SUNG TEXTS CAN BE FOUND AFTER ARTIST INFORMATION

Cast

claire robertson-preis

Mezzo-soprano Claire Robertson-Preis is a musicmaker--originally from Missoula, MT. and Boerne, TX. Claire holds double Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music and Russian from the University of Montana in 2016, studying abroad in both St. Petersburg, Russia (FINEC) and Graz, Austria (The American Institute of Musical Studies). With a M.M. Vocal Performance earned from West Virginia University in 2019, Claire's academic focuses include vocal pedagogy, perspectives in musicology, and twentieth-century music theory. While at WVU, Claire worked as a lecturer teaching private voice lessons and served as a Choral Intern with Suncrest United Methodist Church. Currently, Claire works as the Operations Manager for Portland Symphonic Choir and teaches voice to young singers at the Hoffman Academy in Portland, Claire is passionate about making the opera industry a more accessible space now and for future singers.

emily evelyn way

Hailed as “captivating in her performance” (The Register-Guard, Eugene OR) and “lovely… with a well-focused tone” (Opera News), Emily Evelyn Way was most recently seen as Zina in Dark Sisters with OrpheusPDX, and as Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor in a joint production with Opera Bend and the Central Oregon Symphony. Other recent performances include in recital at Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel, and in concert with Ping and Woof Opera, singing works from L’Elisir d’Amore, Don Pasquale and La Traviata. Past roles include Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore (Opera Bend), Adele in Die Fledermaus (Eugene Opera), Laurie in The Tender Land, Héro in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Benedict (Eugene Opera), Beth in Little Women (Eugene Opera, Astoria Music Festival), Flora in The Turn of the Screw (Eugene Opera, Opera on the Avalon), and Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel (Opera on the Avalon). Emily is thrilled to join Renegade Opera for this production!

Jesse Preis

Jesse A. Preis is a tenor, pianist, and composer, originally from Emblem, Wyoming. Jesse graduated from the University of Montana in 2016 with a BM in Piano Performance & Pedagogy and a BA in Vocal Performance and studied voice abroad in Graz, Austria (The American Institute of Musical Studies) during the summers of 2016. In 2019, Jesse completed an M.M. Vocal Performance at West Virginia University. After relocating to Portland, they have worked as a piano teacher at Hoffman Academy and Lydian Music Studios, the Director of Music Ministry at Prince of Life Lutheran Church and St Stephen Lutheran Church, and as a freelance accompanist. Most recently, in the summer of 2023, they performed as the accompanist for the Lutheran Choral Association. Jesse also performed as the pianist for Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito (Renegade Opera) during the summer of 2022. Jesse has performed the roles of Perry in Orfeo in Underland (Renegade Opera), Parpignol in La boheme Warhola (Pittsburgh Festival Opera), the First Priest and Armored Guard in The Magic Flute (WVU), and other roles in numerous opera scenes productions.

Creative Team

Composers

Renegade Producers

Jesse Preis, Claire Robertson-Preis, and Maddy Ross

She Loves You Back

Sung texts and Translations

For Whom the Dog Tolls - Ashi Day

Is it true? Is it true? Is it true? It’s too good to be true. It’s true!

Outside the walls, outside the doors, off the leash, free!

The wind in my face, the water! The mud beneath my feet,

The smells…

What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?

I’m here. What do you need? I’m here. I can do it.

Tell me to go and I’ll go. Tell me to fetch and I’ll fetch.

Tell me to wait and I’ll wait… for a little while.

Tell me to find, I’ll find anything.

You can go into the wild with me.

Conquer and explore the wild with me.

Let’s crawl through the brush, hide in the grass,

Fly through the air, dive through the river.

What are we gonna do?

The gun! The call! The blind! Is it - is it?

Bring you the birds??

Hello duckies! Ready? Set!

Oh duckies, is that you across the river? I hardly noticed!

Don’t mind me! I’m just flashing my tail, splashing about, causing a ruckus,

Nothing that would interest you, I’m sure. Unless -

Again! Again! I think they see me!

What’s that catching your eye?

What’s that hint of red glinting through the marsh?

Curious, curious… Don’t you want to know?

Could be something special…

That one, that one, that one,

They see me, they’re coming! Again, again, again, again!

Come, come closer, come closer,

Come explore the edges of your world.

Come and see what waits for you on shore.

No need to stick to the safety of your slow-rolling river.

There’s so much more.

You know you want to. Come, come closer, come closer…

They’re all moving now, they’re all almost here,

Again again again again again…

Come out, come out, come over

I know, I know, I know you wanna see,

I won’t hurt you,

I’m just here for fun! You like fun.

Come on! Don’t be boring!

Come out, come out, come over,

You know, you know, you know, you feel it inside

Don’t ignore it, it’s primal!

They’re here! They’re here! They’re here!

Oh duckies, I’m coming!

Don’t you know? Don’t you know you are prey?

Don’t you know? Don’t you know you are sport?

Watch your back. Don’t explore. Don’t be fool enough to learn.

Why should that be safe? For ducks? For chicks?

I won’t hurt you. I’m made with a soft mouth,

I won’t hurt you myself.

I found it, I found it, found it, found it,

And I can do it again.

I found it, found it.

Do you need anymore, I can do it,

They’re yours for the taking, the world is yours,

Do you need anymore, I can do it.

What do you wanna do, I can do it.

I can, I can, I can do it.

‘Cause I am, ‘cause I am, say it, you know, tell me,

Tell me, I am, tell me,

‘Cause I’m a good girl!

Your little fox, made for this, bred for this,

The blind, the call, the gun, off the leash, free!

And a good dog, say it, a good dog…

Tell me, tell me…

The Letter - Shruthi Rajasekar (Lord George Gordon Byron, George Etherege, and Carl Sandburg)

Man: Sweet lady! The grief of my heart,

The joy of my eye, you who undoes me, fair and unkind

Give me, oh, give me back my heart!

Woman: Take it!

Man: Tender as dew, impetuous as rain

Sweet lady, sweet lady, wilt thou weep when I am low

Woman: Low? But what if I am low?

Man: Her murmuring speech

Woman: I never murmur

Man: A sweet voice of music, on the waters…

A sweet voice from those lips I long to taste…

Woman: Well, that wasn’t very tasteful!

Man: Sweet lady, sweet lady, the grief of my heart

The joy of my eye, I worship more but cannot love thee less

I would not give thy bosom pain

Woman: Yet you do…

Woman: I met him just last week, perhaps I’ve been harassed!

How can he speak to me this way?

It’s not acceptable, right?

But no, they say this is how it’s always been

You should be thankful, they say,

You should be grateful, they say,

You should smile!

Well, to hell with this! I feel naked, stripped! Breached! Violated!

How dare he? How dare he?

I won’t have the strength to rebuke him.

He, they, are louder than me…

Frauenliebe und Leben - Adelbert von Chamisso

Since I have seen him, I believe I am blind;

Whither I am looking, I see him alone;

Like in a waking dream, him image floats before me,

Rising from the deepest darkness, brighter and brighter.

Everything else around me is light and colorless,

The games of my sisters I want to share no more,

I would rather weep silently in my chamber;

Since I have seen him, I believe I am blind.

He, the most glorious of all,

How kind he is, how good!

Gentle mouth, clear eyes,

Clear mind and firm courage,

Even as in yonder blue depth,

Shines bright and glorious that star,

So is he in my heaven,

Bright and glorious, sublime and far.

Wander, wander along your course,

Only to look at your light,

Only to look at it humbly,

Only to be blissful and sad!

Do not hear my silent prayer,

Offered for your happiness;

You must not know me, humble maiden,

Noble star of glory!

Only the worthiest of all

May your choice make happy,

And I will bless the noble one,

Many thousand times.

I shall rejoice and I shall weep then,

Blissful, blissful I am then,

Even though my heart should break,

Break, o heart, what does it matter?

I cannot grasp, nor believe it,

A dream must have me bewitched,

How could he from among all others

Have exalted and blessed poor me?

It seemed to me that he had spoken:

I am forever yours,

It seemed to me that I am still dreaming,

For it can never be thus.

Oh, let me die in my dream,

Cradled on his breast,

Let me drink blissful death

In tears of infinite joy.

You, ring on my finger,

My little golden ring,

I press you devoutly to my lips,

Devoutly to my heart.

My dream had come to an end,

Childhood’s peaceful, lovely dream,

I found myself lonely and lost

In empty, infinite space.

You, ring on my finger,

You taught me only then,

You opened to my eyes,

Life’s infinite, deep value.

I want to serve him, live for him,

Wholly belong to him,

Give myself and find myself

Transfigured in his splendor.

Help me, my sisters, kindly adorn me,

Serve me, the happy one, today.

Wind zealously around my forehead,

The lovely wreath of myrtle in bloom.

When I contented, with a joyful heart,

Formerly lay in my beloved’s arms,

He always invoked, his heart filled with yearning,

Impatient by this very day.

Help me, my sisters, help me

Cast out a foolish anxiety,

That I with bright eyes may receive him,

Him, the source of all happiness.

Have you, my beloved, come to me,

Do you, sun, give me your light?

Let me devoutly, let me humbly,

Let me bow to my master and lord.

Strew, sisters, strew flowers before him,

Budding roses offer to him,

But you, sisters, I greet with sadness,

Joyfully parting from your midst.

Sweet friend, you look amazed at me,

You cannot understand how I can weep;

Let the moist pearl’s adornment

With playful clarity tremble in my eyes.

How frightened is my heart, how with rapture filled,

If I only knew the words to tell it to you;

Come and hide your face here on my breast,

Let me whisper in your ear all my delight.

Now you know the tears that I must shed,

Should you then not see them, you beloved, beloved man?

Stay near my heart, feel its throbbing,

So that I may clasp you only firmer and firmer.

Here by my bed the cradle will have its place,

Where it may in silence hide my lovely dream;

There will come a morning when the dream awakens,

And from the cradle your image will smile up at me,

Your image!

On my heart, on my breast,

You my delight, you my joy!

Happiness is love and love is happiness,

I have said it and won’t take it back.

I deemed myself so fortunate,

But I am more than happy now.

Only she who suckles, only she who loves

The child to whom she gives nourishment;

Only a mother can know,

What it means to love and to be happy,

Oh how sorry I am for the man,

Who cannot feel a mother’s bliss.

You dear, dear angel you,

You look at me and you smile at me!

Now you have cause me the first pain,

That really hurt.

You sleep, you hard and cruel man,

The sleep of death.

The now forsaken woman stares into a void,

The world is empty, empty.

I have loved and I have lived,

I do not live any more.

I silently withdraw into myself,

The veil is falling,

Then I have you and my lost happiness,

You, my world!

No One Saves the Earth From Us But Us - Craig Santos Perez and Felicia Zamora

1. It was summer all winter.

It was summer all winter.

It was melting, it was melting,

And it was going to melt.

The last glacier fits in our warm hands.

3. Among starving bears,

The only moving thing

Was the edge of a glacier.

7. O vulnerable humans,

Why do you engineer sea walls?

Do you not see how the glacier already floods

The streets of the cities around you?

10. A litany of statistics.

Melting terrain…

Movement and warming waters,

Earth’s temp’ratures, heat collecting

Lies, perpetrator

We create gases

Poisoning animals…

Our feed draws

Civilization upside down

See prayers

Here one earth

Believe

One home

Believe in facts…

Our rampant greenhouse emissions

Global industry makers and false foundations

Shifting laws

We caused species dying

Fact changes an economy of global climate crisis

Within our vote, within our vote, act, act ,act, act

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat…

A Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef - Craig Santos Perez

We dip our hands into the outdoor reef exhibit

And touch sea cucumbers and red urchin

As butterfly fish swim by

A docent explains:

Once a year, after the full moon,

When tides swell to a certain height,

And salt water reaches the perfect temperature

Only then will the ocean cue coral polyps to spawn,

In synchrony, a galaxy of gametes,

Which dances to the surface

Fertilizes, opens, forms larvae, roots to the sea floor,

And grows, and grows, grows, and grows,

Generation upon generation at home,

We read a children’s book,

The Great Barrier Reef,

We read to our daughter

Snuggling beneath us in bed.

We don’t mention corals bleaching

Reared in labs or frozen

And isn’t our silence, too, a kind of shelter?