Twenty-five years on from the overwhelming success of Dead Man Walking, Jake Heggie has lost none of his enthusiasm for opera, an unusually demanding art form that few have conquered as unreservedly as he. A string of critical hits, from the epically ambitious Moby-Dick to the genuinely funny Great Scott! have proved that audiences as well as artists respond to his thoughtful brand of musical storytelling where dramatic craft goes hand-in-hand with lyrical beauty – and let’s not forget, intelligibility. 

Over the years, his sensitivity to the human voice has forged long-term relationships with singers from Frederica von Stade to Joyce DiDonato. One of those relationships is at the heart of his latest project, Intelligence, a fast-paced thriller of a work that premiered at Houston Grand Opera and now pops up as the debut recording on the company’s new in-house label. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and Heggie have worked in recital and on song cycles, so it’s little surprise that she delivers an incandescent performance here alongside the equally committed soprano Janai Brugger.

Intelligence is based on a little-known true story of two women who were spies in Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War: Elizabeth Van Lew, a white woman of privilege; and Mary Jane Bowser, a Black woman born into slavery in the Van Lew household. The opera, with a tremendously effective libretto courtesy of Heggie’s regular collaborator Gene Scheer, explores how the two manage to infiltrate the Confederate White House in Washington, narrowly escaping detection as they feed crucial information to the Yankees. But while Van Lew and Bowser grow closer, a secret in their mutual past threatens to destroy everything they are working towards.

Like all his scores, Heggie’s music is immediate and accessible, without ever feeling simplistic or trite. His vocal lines are a miracle of elegance and craft, his melodies stylish and memorable. More than usual, he taps into a popular vein that reflects both 19th-century music hall and an element of dance tailored to director/choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar whose company Urban Bush Women performed in the inaugural production alongside a cast of seven singers. It’s a heady melting pot that Heggie binds seamlessly into a cohesive whole while always remaining attentive to the music’s underlying tension (among Intelligence’s many attributes, it is also an action-packed thriller).

Brugger is sympathetic and powerful as Bowser, tracing her emotional journey from ‘privileged servant’ and resourceful spy to the final showdown with her single-minded mistress. Her warm soprano is ideally flexible, her diction is commendable, and her vocal performance is refreshingly unbuttoned. Barton’s Van Lew is a masterful creation, warm and tyrannical by turns, compelling the listener to invest fully in this complex and conflicted character. The voice commands attention, wide ranging and with an especially fine lower register. Fiercely controlling, along with her instinctive knack for comedy, it’s a standout performance.

Fleshing out a first-class cast are J’Nai Bridges, velvet-voiced and passionate as the mysterious Lucinda, and Caitlin Lynch, thoroughly ghastly as Elizabeth’s embittered sister-in-law Callie. Michael Mayes sings with impressive heft as the dark and dangerous Confederate agent Travis Briggs, Nicholas Newton delivers a tender performance as Henry, Jefferson Davis’s compassionate butler, and Joshua Blue is touching as Bowser’s hapless husband Wilson. Kwamé Ryan conducts the excellent Houston Grand Opera Orchestra with a sure and steady hand; the dramatic propulsion of his reading is clearly rooted in the experience of live performance.

Captured at the 2023 Houston world premiere, the recording has immediacy and depth with voices both well caught and deftly balanced against the orchestra. There’s relatively little background or stage noise making this a recommendable release all round. 

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Composer: Jake Heggie
Work: Intelligence
Performers: Janai Brugger s, Jamie Barton ms, J’Nai Bridges ms, Houston Grand Opera/Kwamé Ryan
Label: Houston Grand Opera HGO0001 (2CD)