MYTHS, LEGENDS AND OBSCURE FACTS FROM 100 YEARS OF RADIO HISTORY

Classical Pairings

JOIN US IN A 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOAST TO CLASSICAL MUSIC INDY WITH A NEW TWIST ON A CLASSIC COCKTAIL. ____

by Nicholas Johnson, Ph.D.

THE COCKTAIL:

A Quiet Place designed by Ryan Gullet, Bluebeard

THE COMPOSITION:

Trouble in Tahiti by Leonard Bernstein

Cocktail visionary Ryan Gullet, the bar manager for Bluebeard, based Classical Music Indy’s 50th anniversary cocktail on a classic Manhattan with several tweaks that make a modern experience. We dubbed his concoction “A Quiet Place” because it’s like looking backward and forward in one glass, much like the dichotomy between Leonard Bertstein’s one-act opera Trouble in Tahiti and its sequel A Quiet Place, which looks at the same family 30 years later.

The opening notes of Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti strike the listener with snare drum and clarinet. Bluebeard’s new cocktail, A Quiet Place, strikes the drinker with citrus and hibiscus. It’s tropical and urban, spiritually fulfilling, or as Bernstein might put it, “island magic.”

There are only two main characters in Trouble in Tahiti: Sam the businessman and Dinah, his wife. Keeping with Bernstein’s habit of skewering American society, the opera centers on the strife in their relationship with commentary on the many distractions and comforts that supposedly make life worthwhile. Sam struts his stuff on the handball court, Dinah describes her life to a silent psychologist, and their lives of quiet misery are interrupted only by regular trips to the movie theater.

The two main ingredients in our anniversary cocktail fare better. Cognac and Gentian Amaro get along swimmingly in Bluebeard’s A Quiet Place. The point of the drink is the interplay between grape and hibiscus. At first sniff, they may seem at odds with each other, but the sweet and floral soon resolve. They play nice and communicate in a way that Sam and Dinah never do.

Aside from a libretto about Sheridan sofas and bone china, the other star of Trouble in Tahiti is the jazz trio. The opera is drenched with silky-smooth radio jingles drawn from a certain era. This cocktail also has a trio that goes down dangerously smooth – just like suburbia: a spiced simple syrup made of beer, a Horse’s Neck orange peel, and the bubbles of Scarpetta Frico Frizzante, which I just discovered is a sparkling wine. (Learn about music or booze every day for a happier life!)

Trouble in Tahiti may not be Bernstein’s most celebrated work, but it captures the American experiment of the 20th century. Whether the experiment was a success or failure is ultimately up to the individual, though Bernstein certainly voiced his opinion in Trouble in Tahiti and his sequel opera, A Quiet Place.

Head to Bluebeard and celebrate Bernstein’s 100th birthday and Classical Music Indy’s 50th anniversary together by ordering A Quiet Place and listening to Trouble in Tahiti. Think about the life you want for the 21st century. ■