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Never trust a megalomaniacal poet
Henze's "Elegy For Young Lovers'
Steve Cohen
A performance of a major work by a revered contemporary composer is always a significant event. In a well-sung and well-played production, Hans Werner Henze's 1961 composition, Elegy For Young Lovers, lived up to its advance hype. The drama, alas, did not.
Elegy concerns a megalomaniac poet, Mittenhofer, who has been plagiarizing the autobiographical confidences of an elderly woman. He's also been treating everyone around him arrogantly. Both traits culminate in tragedy when he allows his godson and a young woman to die together in a blizzard on an Alpine mountain, partly so he can use their demise as a subject for an elegiac poem about two dead young lovers.
W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman may be respected literary figures, but their arch and obscure libretto distances us from any humanity that might exist in its characters. At times, characters are presented comically, and at most other times the script is a maudlin soap opera.
It seems to aim at satirizing the romantic idea of the artist as hero, as in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, and indeed Henze's score contains allusions to Strauss's operas. In fact, Henze dedicated this Elegy to Strauss's librettist, Hugo von Hoffmanstahl. But the story line and characterizations fall short of such an intention.
Downward mobility
Personalities and plot lines are undeveloped. The poet's secretary, for example, is referred to as grafin (countess), but we're never shown how or why she left this lofty position to become the servant of a nasty celebrity. It's intimated that she and the poet have a long history, but of what does it consist?
The poet's personal physician travels with him, administering daily medications (like Michael Jackson's doctor), and the poet is godfather to the doctor's son, but we're never shown the substance of their relationship either.
A woman who lost her husband 40 years earlier has hallucinatory visions, then suddenly regains her sanity and sings that she knows the poet has been stealing her stories and publishing them as his own work. How did she learn of the poet's duplicity? Why doesn't she go public with her charges? Why doesn't he sue her for defamation? Who knows? The woman just waltzes off the stage and vanishes from the story as abruptly as she arrived.
To be sure, some public figures are frauds who abuse their employees. But in this case, the idea of a celebrity master who acts like a monster is a hook that fails to produce a significant catch.
Spectacular snowstorm
Elegy For Young Lovers deserves praise for its complex and colorful music. It's atonal, not anchored by traditional scales, but that doesn't mean it's ugly. Henze wrote lovely duets and ensembles and, especially, an enthralling orchestral score. Snatches of melody can grab your senses, and his orchestral details tantalize you.
Elegy is best enjoyed if you sit close to the orchestra pit so you can savor the playing of individual artists on the guitar, mandolin, harp, flute, saxophone, xylophone, viola and violin. Most of the time the orchestra's volume is subdued and the music functions like the underscoring in a movie.
A distinctive exception is a huge orchestral climax in the third act, leading into the snowstorm that strands and then kills the young lovers. Director Chas Rader-Schieber and designer David Zinn created a spectacular effect for the blizzard. Here, for a few minutes, was superb theater.
Student singers
The cast consisted entirely of Curtis students, but they performed like professionals. Julian Arsenault, as the poet, has a beautiful baritone voice, and with his shaved head he resembled the middle-aged man he's supposed to be.
Anna Davidson, as the old lady with stratospheric notes, and Jazimina MacNeil, as the abused secretary, didn't look nearly their scripted ages, but they sang superbly. Sarah Shafer and Joshua Stewart sang beautifully as the young lovers while Andrew Bogard displayed a solid bass voice as he coped with his odd role as the doctor.
George Manahan, the New York City Opera's music director for 12 years, led a virtuosic performance by members of the Curtis Orchestra.
Elegy concerns a megalomaniac poet, Mittenhofer, who has been plagiarizing the autobiographical confidences of an elderly woman. He's also been treating everyone around him arrogantly. Both traits culminate in tragedy when he allows his godson and a young woman to die together in a blizzard on an Alpine mountain, partly so he can use their demise as a subject for an elegiac poem about two dead young lovers.
W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman may be respected literary figures, but their arch and obscure libretto distances us from any humanity that might exist in its characters. At times, characters are presented comically, and at most other times the script is a maudlin soap opera.
It seems to aim at satirizing the romantic idea of the artist as hero, as in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, and indeed Henze's score contains allusions to Strauss's operas. In fact, Henze dedicated this Elegy to Strauss's librettist, Hugo von Hoffmanstahl. But the story line and characterizations fall short of such an intention.
Downward mobility
Personalities and plot lines are undeveloped. The poet's secretary, for example, is referred to as grafin (countess), but we're never shown how or why she left this lofty position to become the servant of a nasty celebrity. It's intimated that she and the poet have a long history, but of what does it consist?
The poet's personal physician travels with him, administering daily medications (like Michael Jackson's doctor), and the poet is godfather to the doctor's son, but we're never shown the substance of their relationship either.
A woman who lost her husband 40 years earlier has hallucinatory visions, then suddenly regains her sanity and sings that she knows the poet has been stealing her stories and publishing them as his own work. How did she learn of the poet's duplicity? Why doesn't she go public with her charges? Why doesn't he sue her for defamation? Who knows? The woman just waltzes off the stage and vanishes from the story as abruptly as she arrived.
To be sure, some public figures are frauds who abuse their employees. But in this case, the idea of a celebrity master who acts like a monster is a hook that fails to produce a significant catch.
Spectacular snowstorm
Elegy For Young Lovers deserves praise for its complex and colorful music. It's atonal, not anchored by traditional scales, but that doesn't mean it's ugly. Henze wrote lovely duets and ensembles and, especially, an enthralling orchestral score. Snatches of melody can grab your senses, and his orchestral details tantalize you.
Elegy is best enjoyed if you sit close to the orchestra pit so you can savor the playing of individual artists on the guitar, mandolin, harp, flute, saxophone, xylophone, viola and violin. Most of the time the orchestra's volume is subdued and the music functions like the underscoring in a movie.
A distinctive exception is a huge orchestral climax in the third act, leading into the snowstorm that strands and then kills the young lovers. Director Chas Rader-Schieber and designer David Zinn created a spectacular effect for the blizzard. Here, for a few minutes, was superb theater.
Student singers
The cast consisted entirely of Curtis students, but they performed like professionals. Julian Arsenault, as the poet, has a beautiful baritone voice, and with his shaved head he resembled the middle-aged man he's supposed to be.
Anna Davidson, as the old lady with stratospheric notes, and Jazimina MacNeil, as the abused secretary, didn't look nearly their scripted ages, but they sang superbly. Sarah Shafer and Joshua Stewart sang beautifully as the young lovers while Andrew Bogard displayed a solid bass voice as he coped with his odd role as the doctor.
George Manahan, the New York City Opera's music director for 12 years, led a virtuosic performance by members of the Curtis Orchestra.
What, When, Where
Elegy For Young Lovers. Opera by Hans Werner Henze; libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman; conducted by George Manahan; directed by Chas Rader-Schieber. Joint production of Opera Company of Philadelphia and Curtis Institute, March 14-18, 2012 at Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Sts. (215) 893-1999 or www.kimmelcenter.org.
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