Productions of an opera dedicated to the turbulent life of the jazz icon Charlie Parker have been staged in cities including Atlanta, London, Seattle, Chicago and Madison. The failure of a Kansas City organization to present “Charlie Parker’s Yardbird” in his hometown in the years since the 2015 premiere of the opera in Philadelphia is a shameful travesty.
Pittsburgh Opera is currently staging the work. The company offered a livestream of the opera by composer Daniel Schnyder and librettist Bridgette A. Wimberly on Friday, April 16. It currently streams on YouTube. Even though a microphone dropped out on the magnificent tenor Martin Bakari for about a third of the production, I’m now able to confirm it’s a civic disgrace the consequential opera has never played in Kansas City.
Schnyder resists the temptation to rely on allusions to Parker’s music. While George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” is the obvious reference point, I detect influences of other 20th century composers including Alban Berg. The opera depicts Kansas City as a hostile place for musicians who flaunt societal and cultural norms. The de facto embargo of “Charlie Parker’s Yardbird” in Kansas City suggests little has changed.