Rare and unusual operas

Glad you like Szymanowski's King Roger. I heard it on the radio two years ago and had to have it. Our local classical DJ that does the night shift thinks it is greatly overlooked. I love the magical climax that they come to in act two and the finale is act three. Amazing that this was written around the time of early Stravinsky works. Too bad his bid to bring Poland into contemporary music didn't work and that he died not too long after that. I agree they should have cast a pole in the role and not Hampson to keep the body of the work Polish and not just the flavor.

I picked up Shostakovich's the Noseon vinyl and have enjoyed it a few times. Saw his Lady McBeth of Mtinsk this year at the opera and found it quite compelling. Many of his Symphonies are bombastic, and for a reason, however the operas have a sarcastic undertone without all the loud percussion etc.

There are some really great opera buys in the local s/h vinyl shops here in LA. Janacek is one of the great 20th century composers especially in opera that doesn't have enough air play. well enough blabbering...

glenn

What is the greatest post-war opera? Damned if I know, but I know one that should be in contention: Olivier Messiaen's St Francois d'Assise. I took a listen to this four hour wonder and must declare it one of my favorite operas. It is mezmerising and hypnotic and the music flows along, hiding the true length of the work. This is not so much an opera in acts - though it is split into three - so much as a progression of scenes revealing the soul of the protagonist. The 45 minute scene of Francis preaching to the birds is simply a marvel and feels like it passes by in a few moments. Jose van Dam gives a career performance in the title role and Kent Nagano outdoes his formidable self in this work. I do have two complaints, though they are mere trifles: the sound can become a little hard and congested during climaxes (the 119 piece orchestra and 150 choir members obviously contribute to the problem) and Dawn Upshaw is perhaps not the most appropriate angel. She is clear and plays the part fine, but, and this just may show my own prejudice, I'd prefer to hear the most beautiful possible voice for the angel. Perhaps Kathleen Battle could be tapped for the next recording, if there is one. (I didn't think I'd ever write this, but Seiji Ozawa, please go back into the studio.) I doubt this will ever be popular, but it is a masterpiece. My guess is that reaction to this opera will be determined by one's opinion about Messiaen. If you like him, as I do, then you'll like the opera. If not, you won't. This is the apex of Messiaen's output.

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Originally posted by Todd Arola:
This is the apex of Messiaen's output.

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This, and the piano Vingt Regards. They are the Alpha and Omega of Messiaen's entire works. If you have these you basically have everything.

Ah, what an age we live in when not one, but two versions of an obscure dodecaphonic opera are available to collectors. I write of course about Ernst Krenek's Karl V. I figured I had to hear the first "complete" 12-tone opera, Lulu and Moses und Aron never quite being finished. But which version? The Orfeo release of a 1980 Salzburg Festival concert conducted by Gerd Albrecht, or the brand spanking new Marc Soustrot led version on Dabringhaus und Grimm. Since I found the former at half-price the decision was easy.

I'm glad I bought it. Quite glad. I'll state immediately that this opera cannot compare with either Lulu or Moses und Aron, but it is strong in its own way. The performances are all strong, Theo Adam making an effective Holy Roman Emperor. The opera is very sparse and austere, with many extended monologues and dialogues, and there is not really a whole lot of beauty here. The story is somewhat convoluted (not helped by the German-only text in the booklet; I managed to catch only parts of the work), and involves numerous characters, but such concerns are ultimately immaterial. The music is outstanding (keep in mind that I seem to inherently like dodecaphonic music) and the recorded sound is exceptional for a stage performance - the recording is analog, which helps.

How to solve the dilemma of no text? Easy, buy the other recording for a translation. I would have to anyway since the newer recording is of the complete version rather than the shortened version recorded on Orfeo, and sanctioned by Krenek.

Should you look into the work? If you like Berg and Schoenberg's operas, or better yet, if you love them as I do, then yes, buy it. If not, better to steer clear.

How's this for a rarity: Emmanuel Chabrier's Le Roi Malgre Lui? I borrowed a copy of the 1984 world premiere recording (!) conducted by Charles Dutoit. The story is convoluted - involving Henry of Valois and the vacant kingship of Poland - and the libretto is often confucing, at best, but the whole thing works. The music is just splendid and so much fun to listen to. And the singing is quite fine, too. Cap it off with outstanding analog (!) sound and you have a winner. A masterpiece it is not, an enjoyable listen it is.

I find Samuel Barber to be a rather underrated composer. His best works – any of the concertos and the First Symphony, in particular – are exceptionally good and deserve wider recognition. So I was happy to get my hands on his opera Vanessa. The recording in question is the 1958 performance with Dimitri Mitropoulos leading the Met. The only singer in the cast I am familiar with is Nicolai Gedda in the lead male role.

How to best summarize the work? One word comes to mind: boring. The work just creeps along without any especially compelling music or singing; there are no great arias here. If individual aspects of the piece are considered separately, the work isn’t terrible. The orchestra plays fine, the singing is very good, there are some nicely dissonant and strained passages in the score, but it never captivates. The story – a more or less standard tale of complications arising from aristocratic love affairs – does not really help matters, either. The best thing about this RCA recording is the sound quality: one would hardly guess it was recorded in 1958, so clear are the voices and instruments. Only the tape hiss belies the vintage. No, this is not a work I will probably return to; I’ll stick to Medea when I listen to a Barber stage work.

Oh, where is the Great America Opera? I hold out hope for Elliot Carter’s What Next? If only a record company would get around to recording it.

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Oh, where is the Great America Opera?

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That is the conundrum of todays works. new operas are not about great arias it seems, but rather the whole story. If you want to drive yourself mad, try Glass' Einstein on the Beach.

count, 1,2,3,4,5,6,2,3,4,5,2,3,4,5,6,7

I just have excerpts of it (CD Songs from the Trilogy) and finally got to enjoy it tho not 4 hours of it. There is a documentary of it and conversations with Glass and Wilson which is rather enlightening and absurd. sure made a mark on 20th century music tho.

1,2,3,4,5,6,2,3,4,5,2,3,4,5,6,7,1,2,3,4,5,6,2,3,4,5,2,3,4,5,6,7,1,2,3,4,5,6,2,3,4,5,2,3,4,5,6,7,1,2,3,4,5,6,2,3,4,5,2,3,4,5,6,7

After the disappointment of Barber’s Vanessa, I was on the lookout for an American opera that might be better. Even finding an opera by an American composer can be something of a challenge. But then I found one: Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land. To say I was apprehensive is an understatement. Generally speaking, I am not a big fan of Copland, particularly of his most famous Americana music. Some of his more difficult, cerebral pieces are excellent, but Rodeo and its ilk can get on my nerves. Since the opera was written around the same time as much of his popular music – the mid-50s – I hesitated before borrowing the opera. I was finally convinced to borrow the opera because the recording was a local yokel affair. Murry Sidlin, erstwhile “resident conductor” of my hometown orchestra, transcribed the original score for chamber orchestra with Copland’s blessing; the Northwest chamber group Third Angle New Music Ensemble provided the players; and the whole thing was recorded in a local college auditorium where I have attended concerts. (It is a Koch release.) I figured that if I hated it I could simply stop listening and it would cost me nothing, and I wanted to hear how the locals fared.

To my surprise, this opera is very good. The small forces – ten singers and thirteen instruments – filled the bill. The music has a very wide-open feeling to it, with light textures and breezy passages. There is absolutely no question as to who composed this work; from first note to last it sounds like Copland. But, strangely, that works in its favor. The story is an almost squeaky clean tale of a farm family – that most beloved of American myths – who live simple lives and attend to simple things. The oldest daughter Laurie is about to graduate high school when a pair of drifters come upon her grandfather’s farm where she lives and offer to help reap the harvest. The grandfather agrees, but then one of the drifters and Laurie fall in love, and they pledge to run off together. Complicating matters is a “situation” with a couple of local girls who had run-ins with a pair of hoodlums right before the two drifters arrive, but the libretto never specifically states what the situation was. It is hinted that the girls were molested. Could the two hired hands be the hoodlums? There really is no tension. It’s clear what’s going to happen, but that does not really matter. The whole thing just moves breezily along. The libretto by Erik Johns is a nice, clean affair, filled with nothing offensive, and it attempts to use Mid-West colloquialisms. The attempts work sometimes but not others. At two hours, the work is relatively short, and it goes by quite quickly. There is nothing to offend either one’s moral sensibility or one’s ears. No, this is not a great opera, but it is good. It’s definitely better than Vanessa. If I can find it cheaply enough, I’ll buy it. I just don’t know how often I can take such picturesque music. I felt so ashamedly clean after listening to this that for my next opera I had no choice but to listen to Lulu again.

A quick word on the sound. The Koch engineers did a good job overall, but the sound is definitely not to all tastes. Rather than being a pinpoint, close-miked affair, they obviously opted to set the mikes about mid-hall. A good sense of the performing space is therefore provided, if not in ideal clarity. The small size of the hall is revealed, too; sometimes during louder the voices saturate the hall and become hard. Such occasions are rare. I can say that the hall is wonderful for string quartets, but bigger ensembles can feel a bit squeezed.

What is the worst opera ever written? We no doubt have no idea what it is since it was most likely never produced, let alone recorded. I have now heard an opera – well, part of one at least – that certainly is in the running to be the worst opera ever. I write of Regina, by Marc Blitzstein. Both were new names to me when I borrowed the work from the library. Those were the good old days.

Why is this so bad, you may be wondering? To begin with, the work started as a “Broadway Opera” before it was accepted into the repertory, for a short time, of the New York City opera. That isn’t necessarily such a bad thing. After all, I rather like Bernstein’s A White House Cantata. But then, Blitzstein is not Bernstein. I guess I should have been alarmed when I read the notes and learned that this work is based on Lillian Hellman’s play The Little Foxes, which purports to offer “a powerful look at the blossoming of industrial capitalism in turn-of-the-century Alabama.” That pretty much says it all. As one might guess from the wording, this work is left-leaning. With the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Pinko works can be good, even great. I’m an admitted fan of Erwin Schulhoff, a noted Communist (with a decidedly big C) and his opera Flammen. But then, Blitzstein is not Schulhoff.

If the setting doesn’t exactly inspire, the music and words grate. The music is just plain bad. The attempts at Dixieland jazz are absolutely horrid and strained, and the rest of the music has the depth and development of a B-movie soundtrack. And I am describing it as positively as I can. Then there’s the text. Here’s a brief snippet:

Marshall (a Northern Industrialist/Capitalist)
It’s remarkable how you southern aristocrats have kept together – and have kept what belongs to you.

Ben (A Southerner)
But southern aristocrats have not kept together, and have not kept what belongs to them.

Powerful. And indicative of the rest of what I heard and read. (Yes, it is presented out of context, but I don’t want to quote at length. And just try to envision a scenario where those words have meaning and subtlety. It will be better than what was written.) Then there is the text for the black characters. While the intention is to portray them sympathetically, the words chosen are inherently racist, though written out of ignorance, not hatred.

In stark contrast with a work like, say, Parsifal, where hours disappear, this work drags on and on. And on. Each minute is painful. I only made it through Act I. Why Decca gave this the full-blown premium opera treatment – fancy packaging, four-language libretto, 350 page booklet – is something I cannot understand. Avoid this work. Personally, I’d rather listen to rap.

I recently picked up a copy of the English composer Rutland Boughton's opera 'The Immortal Hour' from a local charity shop. A Hyperion label box-set of 2 LPs and I believe the only recording of this piece other than a live one made on 78s in 1922, when it ran in London for a record breaking number of 216 consecutive performances at the Regents Theatre. A revival the next year ran for a further 160 performances but since the 20s it's languished in obscurity. Originally he wrote it for the first Glastonbury Festival. Maybe not a great opera but a historically interesting one!

David

For several years my wife and subscribed to Chicago's Lyric Opera. We got to hear a number of new operas, including Amistad, A View from a Bridge, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Great Gatsby - but none of these was a great experience.

Berio's Un Re in Ascolto was fantastic! I don't know how it sounds as a record, but if you're open to new music and have a chance to hear this, do so.

BTW, other good experiences at the Lyric included Boris Godunov, Barber of Seville, Jenufa, Xerxes, and another Handel opera the name of which escapes me. Bad experiences included Marriage of Figaro(!), Magic Flute (!), Candide. Terrible experiences included Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and Fedora. You can see why we let the subscription lapse.

Regards.

Phil

Quite by coincidence, I had Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny sitting on my stack of works to listen to, so after reading about Phil’s less than stellar experience with the work, I opted to take a listen myself. The version I heard was the 1956 mono recording conducted by Wilhelm Bruckner-Ruggeberg with Lotte Lenya in the role of Jenny. I figured her presence would lend a bit of authenticity to the work. How to summarize the work? Well . . .

It is an allegory of sorts, though the message and the presentation are rather clear and perhaps not too subtle. The city of Mahagonny is a fabulously free city, with no restraints on what people can do, as long as they can pay, and everything is for sale. Not being able to pay is the most serious crime of all, carrying the penalty of death. And, alas, Jimmy Mahoney, the protagonist, cannot pay up on a bet on a fight. Where is this city? Well, since it is not a real city, it is nowhere, but it sure seems to be an American town. There are references to Alaska and, ironically for me given that I just heard Regina, Alabama. Indeed, one of the unexpected delights was hearing the original Alabama Song instead of the more famous and successfully exploitative version by The Doors. (How ironic that this particular song brought that band financial gain!)

This is surely one of the more bizarre operas I have heard. I don’t even like calling it an opera, or even operetta. It is truly a Singspiel, with a great deal of emphasis on setting and dialog. The German dialog and songs, and the few numbers in English (like the Alabama Song) make this unique. The fact that the work is really more of a collection of songs rather than a narrative makes for somewhat odd listening. There is little in the way of standard development. Then there is the music. This is some of the most difficult to categorize music I have heard. It is very “jazzy”, but I would not call it jazz. Most numbers are short and catchy, almost like popular tunes, but this could never be mistaken for Al Jolsen or Bing Crosby. The orchestra is small – 30 members, I do believe – so there is no great prelude or interlude. (Perhaps the Lyric Opera tried to use too big an orchestra?) And dig that banjo! There is no mistaking when this work was written: it definitively yells out “1920s!” As for the text, well the words used are somewhat colloquial sounding, but I would not call this a plain-spoken work. The setting and presentation are surrealistic, but the work is a really rather simple moral tale. Mahagonny is a moralist, socialist work, but I rather liked it. I may buy a copy if I can find a more recent recording cheaply enough. I’d prefer if professional jazz musicians were employed for at least part of the work. I think I may have to listen again just to really soak in all of the tunes. An interesting and intriguing work, then, if not an unqualified masterpiece.

Some of those titles you mention look quite tempting, Jarrett. The Eotvos and Zimmermann are especially enticing. I have one work by each composer at present - Replica by the former and the Violin Concerto by the latter. Both are excellent. I've read some strong reviews - by listeners, not critics - of Die Soldaten. I do plan on getting my hands on those operas, and when I do . . .

Dallapiccola is a new name to me, so now I may just have to find something, anything, by him (?).

I'm not sure about Korngold's total output, but he's on my to hear list.

As for other dodecaphonic operas, well, I just got Rautavaara's Aleksis Kivi, and plan to take a listen this weekend. I'll report back.

After reading a number of very favorable reviews, I picked up Einojuhani Rautavaara’s opera Aleksis Kivi and took a listen. I must say that opera is alive and well. This work is extraordinary and deserves a listen by any fans of opera generally, and of course by fans of modern opera or of the composer.

The work is an historical tragedy based on the life of the title character, Finland’s first notable nationalist author. The work shows how he was tormented by both personal issues and by literary opponents, in this case another author named August Ahlqvist. The work freely moves between time periods, between the young Alexis and the old (?) Aleksis (he died at 38), showing how he descends into alcoholism and madness. Two singers play the lead character, one baritone for the young Kivi, another for the old, and both convey the nature of their character well. Gabriel Suovanen plays the younger Kivi and has a wonderful voice: his extended passages are just tremendous. Using this type of split character allows Rautavaara to use a unique and powerful device: he has Kivi sing a duet with himself near the end. Rautavaara also makes the Ahlqvist a speaking role to underscore how unpoetic he is, in contrast to the poetic Kivi. The other roles are all filled with singers very well suited to their roles.

The music demonstrates the possibilities of atonal music: this is melodious dodecaphony, to paraphrase the composer. Most of the score is relatively subdued, serving to support the generally excellent libretto – also written by Rautavaara – but in a few spots the orchestra is unleashed in unique fashion. The hallucinatory music of the later portions of the opera is quite remarkable. The music definitely sounds like Rautavaara. The sound quality is exemplary. In fact, I have only one (very) minor quibble: the voices are miked a little too closely at times. Beyond that, this is a stunner. It makes me want to investigate Rautavaara’s other six operas. Highly recommended.

May I suggest as the most unusual opera Oliver Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are. It is based on the iconic children's book by Maurice Sendak, who also wrote the libretto. As far as I know, only recording was on Unicorn Records released in the mid-eighties with the cast of the Glyndebourne performances. Beautifully recorded with the Wild Things sung as a barbershop quartet!

Giles

Giles,

there's a Deutsche Gramm 20/21 recording of 'Where the Wild Things Are', combined (on a second cd) with Knussen's other kiddie opera 'Higglety Pigglety Pop!'

It's with the London Sinfonietta, Knussen directing and singers like Lisa Saffer, Cynthia Buchan, David Wilson-Johnson.

It's in a lavishly produced box. Knussen is one of DG's favored contemporary composers / conductors. Salonen (who just left Sony) will be another one.

Herman

When I started this thread, I never thought that I’d write about an opera by Richard Strauss. But here we are. As a needed diversion from the events of the day, I borrowed a copy of one of his operas that I had never heard of or read about: Die Liebe der Danae. Strauss’s penultimate opera doesn’t appear to be a great ticket or record selling title. This fable on the subject of wealth and happiness involves the love between King Midas and Danae, and the unrequited love of Danae by Jupiter. When the gold loving Danae is forced to choose between the King and the God, she chooses the King. A pissed off Jupiter then banishes the couple to Syria (what an asshole!) to live as mere mortals in poverty. That suits the both of them just fine.

This seems to have all of the ingredients of a successful Strauss opera. Except one. The libretto is “after” Hofmannsthal, not by Hofmannsthal. Joseph Gregor’s writing simply is not up to the task. There are worse librettos out there, but for a composer of Strauss’s genius, only the best will do. Perhaps due to the lackluster libretto, perhaps due to old age, perhaps due to all of the niceties in Central Europe of the time, or perhaps due to a desire to just collect a paycheck, Strauss seems to be punching the clock. Of course, Strauss merely punching the clock in opera means some extraordinary music is involved. Indeed, from first note to last there is an ease to the musical flow, a level of achievement that lesser composers would kill for. Oh, sure, the work sounds quite conservative, as though Strauss merely decided to copy and transfigure ideas from earlier works, but there are still a number of exquisitely crafted passages and some moments of breathtaking beauty. This is a weak Strauss opera, but it is still reasonably good. If it fails to reach the same dazzling heights of Elektra or Die Frau Ohne Schatten, it does offer an entertaining evening of music.

The recording I heard is Leon Botstein’s 2000 live recording with the American Symphony Orchestra on Telarc. (The only other complete recording I could find on the net is Clemens Krauss’ live 1952 recording on Orfeo.) The orchestra play quite well, but none of the singers captured my imagination. I have serious doubts as to whether Botstein is really the best conductor for this piece. Perhaps Wolfgang Sawallisch could still record it. Maybe Christian Thielemann. Anyway, someone better acquainted with Strauss is needed to lead a recording, and better singers are desperately needed. The sound is good but not particularly great.

As to the Knussen works, I've seen the two opera set on DG and have been tempted to buy it, if for no other reason than to encourage my son's interest in opera. In fact, today I will be listening to Hansel und Gretel with him. He loved the Solti version, and I even liked it. (Solti's conducting that is. The music is fine.)

The news about Salonen is great. He is one of the better young(ish) conductors out there and Sony has not utilized him well enough. Maybe he will rerecord The Rite of Spring. Let's hope so.

I know, I know, I'm calling Strauss a genius whereas I used to describe him as a clod. But hey, that was based mostly on hearing Don Juan and Also sprach Zarathustra a gajillion times on the radio while never listening to his operas. My mistake.

One opera I’ve wanted to hear for a while is Zoltan Kodaly’s Hary Janos. I figured that I like the suite well enough that the rest of the music should be worth a listen. And so it was and is. I borrowed the Janos Ferencsik led recording of an all Hungarian cast and orchestra on Hungaroton. No matter the quality of the work or the performance, at least I was guaranteed an idiomatic performance.

This really is not an opera at all, but just a collection of folk-tunes – real and imagined – relaying the heroic deeds of good old Janos. Since the work is meant to accompany a play, listening to just the “opera” leaves out quite a bit. I don’t think I’ll be having too many opportunities to attend the entire work as written. Anyway, the music and the songs are all good, if not especially inspirational. At a brief 85 minutes, at least the work does not tax one’s patience. The singing on this recording is as fluent and natural as one could hope for, though the sound is a bit bright and glassy. I might buy this work if I can find the Istvan Kertesz recording on the cheap. I give this work a definitive OK rating

Not an opera, but since you mention music accompanying a play - have you heard the complete Peer Gynt, [Jarvi / DG being the only recording I am aware of] with dialogue & songs? From what you've said of Harry Janos [not that I've heard it, but will be certainly on the lookout] similarly it expands something one thinks of as a corny lollipop into another dimension entirely. Rimsky Korsakov might be another candidate. Christmas Eve [the only opera of his I've seen] is well worth investigation, and I want to check out the Philips sets of some of the others.

throb

I've never heard the entire Peer Gynt, but I may very well buy it. I've heard the two suites, of course, and there is some fine music in the piece. Grieg is one of those composers who I generally don't listen to too often, but every time I do I am more impressed than I remember being the last time. I just listened to Gieseking play some of the lyric pieces last week and was astonished at the diversity and musical accomplishment of the pieces.

Todd,

It looks like you've now done opera. Time to move on to something else - Country and Western perhaps?

David

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Originally posted by David Hobbs-Mallyon:

Time to move on to something else - Country and Western perhaps?

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David, this is by far the most offensive post I've yet read in over three years on the Naim forum. I will be notifying the moderators.

Apologies Todd (before I get zapped by Richard Dane).

Drum and Bass?

I'll give you 2 weeks.

I had a hankering for a good, lush, French opera, but what to listen to? I found Paul Dukas’ Ariane et Barbe-Bleue and decided to give it a shot. Like Pelleas, this opera is based on a play by Maurice Maeterlinck. Which composer builds a better opera out of the author’s material? Well, the answer is obviously Debussy, but Dukas’ work is excellent and worth a listen.

I cannot say that the libretto is as impressive as for Pelleas, nor can I say the roles are quite as impressive nor as diverse. Firstly, Bluebeard the minotaur only sings in one short scene. (He appears later tied up.) Secondly, Ariandne is in every scene and whoever fills the role must sing the entire work through. If one does not especially like the mezzo filling the role, it could make for a long two hours. The story, too, is not the most compelling thing around: it basically revolves around Ariadne’s struggle with Bluebeard, her conquering him, and her attempt to “save” his wives, which include Melisande! The opera is very heavy on the female characters, with only Bluebeard and a male chorus adding heft to the singing. Think of this as the contra-Britten opera.

So what do I like about the work? The score. It is glorious, filled with beautiful, luxurious passages. Dukas very clearly mastered the art of orchestration and could make the orchestra sound as lovely as any other Frenchman. Since he was apparently a friend of Debussy, he borrows Melisande’s theme from Debussy’s opera when the she is first introduced. This is one of those operas where I wouldn’t mind just listening to the score without the singing included! It is just gorgeous.

The version I listened to was the 1983 recording with Armin Jordan directing the Radio France Philharmonic with a bevy of singers I’ve never heard of. Despite its early digital vintage the sound is quite good. Not too many versions are out there, but I will probably end up buying one at some point.