Scott Cantrell

KANSAS CITY – With the volatile mix of race, religion and politics stirred up in the presidential primaries, the new opera introduced Saturday by Lyric Opera of Kansas City is unexpectedly au courant.

Exploring the run-up to the Civil War, Kansas-born composer Kirke Mechem's John Brown is peopled by Frederick Douglass and Lt. J.E.B. Stuart as well as the eponymous and still-controversial abolitionist. With some compression and dramatic license, the opera spans a period from December 1855 to December 1859.

It begins in eastern Kansas, inserts an episode at Ralph Waldo Emerson's home in Concord, Mass., then moves on to preparation for and the aftermath of Brown's doomed raid on Harpers Ferry, Va. An epilogue has Douglass and Brown's daughter-in-law, Martha, apotheosizing the dead man and mourning for lives soon to be lost.

Serving as his own librettist, Mr. Mechem is no poet. Dialogue is pretty stilted, and more lyrical effusions mainly recycle Bible verses. If in doubt, it seems, he inserts a hymn. James Russell Lowell's "Once to Ev'ry Man and Nation" is certainly apt, but a couple of others seem gratuitous padding.

Though known mainly as a composer of choral music, Mr. Mechem writes beautifully for the orchestra. The musical language is tonal, in the populist-modernist tradition of American operas from the 1950s on, but it's enlivened by colorful harmonies and deft counterpoint. For voices, he writes as one who understands registers and natural declamation.

Thanks to wig and makeup designer Jan Delovage, James Maddalena and Donnie Ray Albert really do look like the historic John Brown and Frederick Douglass. Mr. Maddalena is the very personification of Brown's righteous indignation, with a strong, sinewy baritone. The Richardson-based Mr. Albert exudes dignity and sings gorgeously.

Lt. Stuart, the future Confederate general and a pretty unappealing figure in the opera, is portrayed by David Gagnon with a vinegary character tenor. Jennifer Aylmer's soprano has a bit too much edge for Brown's daughter-in-law, Martha, but she sings ardently and expressively.

Other notable performances come from tenor Patrick Miller, as Brown's son, Oliver; baritones John Stephens, as Governors Shannon and Wise; and Robert McNichols Jr., as Jim and Daniel; and bass Nathan Whitson, as Charles Robinson and Amos Lawrence.

Ward Holmquist, the Lyric's artistic director, conducted the opening performance with authority and natural expressivity.

Apart from some uncertain cello intonation, members of the Kansas City Symphony played very well indeed. The chorus, prepared by Mark Ferrell, sang strongly and surely.

The Lyric Theatre's compact stage squashes the opening skirmish between Kansas settlers and pro-slavery Missouri ruffians, but, in general, designer R. Keith Brumley makes effective use of simple but evocative sets.

Period costumes are by Mary Traylor. Stage director Kristine McIntyre does a competent job with an imperfect opera.

It's too bad Mr. Mechem's inspiration flags in the second act. Douglass' oration, a book-burning and the scene at Emerson's home feel gratuitous, not organic.

With some more trimming, this could be a genuinely taut and compelling two-act opera.PLAN YOUR LIFE John Brown by Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues at 8 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Lyric Theatre, 1029 Central, Kansas City. $17 to $75. 816-471-7344, www.kcopera.org.

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