BERNSTEIN, L.: Trouble in Tahiti (PAL/NTSC)

Bernstein’s wry portrait of American suburbia gets a near-ideal production Trouble in Tahiti is often unfairly rated a problem piece in Bernstein’s, for me, rather problematic oeuvre. Scripted as well as composed by him in the early 1950s, it’s a satirical domestic drama that works well enough on its own despite being eventually subsumed into the opera intended to be its sequel, the altogether grander A Quiet Place. There are only five soloists: the mezzo-soprano and baritone principals (Dinah and Sam) plus a Greek chorus of Brechtian Andrews Sisters. As in Sondheim at his best, the catchy vernacular elements interact unpredictably with the deeper emotions. The protagonists squabble, neglect their son and seek solace in material comforts or the macho possibilities of office and gym. What’s left is the movies: the piece is named after the escapist South Sea Islands fantasy both set out to see as the curtain falls (Dinah has in fact already seen it, recounting its dubious plot in an