possible for folks everywhere to get married
MONDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Okay, I think we've got something more like a post. There's still work to be done, notably the addition of texts, but for now, whew!
TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE: I wound up substantially rejiggering and in some aspects entirely reconstituting the Tristan and Meistersinger lineups, in addition to adding the promised texts for each, so progress is being made. I feel a keen need for fuller context-setting of the "days" dramatized in these excerpts, but fear that trying to plug the gap will lead to utterly exploding the post. Hmm. Still to come for sure: texts for
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: I've not only done the Tannhäuser texts but popped in as-brief-as-possible situation-setters for Tannhäuser, Tristan, and Meistersinger. At least for now, I think we're there, wherever "there" is, except for whatever cleanup of the wreckage I'm able to undertake.
by Ken
Last week we started talking about Operatic Bad Days ("On an operatic bad day you can sometimes see forever -- but oftentimes not"), looking first at the case of Sir John Falstaff (courtesy of Maestro Verdi), dragging himself out of the Thames to drown his sorrows at the Garter Inn. Sir John, I think we can agree, got what he deserved and deserved what he got, but not so much with the two OBD sufferers whose cases always crowd my mind. By way of setting the mood, while I struggle with what was supposed to be an "easy" post, here's a tease. [SUNDAY UPDATE: Now filled out a little more!]
WAGNER: Tannhäuser: Act III Prelude
Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, cond. EMI, recorded Oct.-Nov. 1961
Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded June 2001
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, cond. EMI, recorded Dec. 13-14. 1972
WAGNER: Tristan und Isolde: Act III Prelude
Symphony of the Air, Leopold Stokowski, cond. RCA, recorded 1960-61
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber, cond. Recorded during a live performance of the opera, Oct. 7, 1973
Staatskapelle Berlin, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. From a live performance of most of Acts II and III, Oct. 3, 1947
WAGNER: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Act III Prelude
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, cond. EMI, recorded January 1974
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, cond. From a broadcast performance of the complete opera, October 1967
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded during concert performances of the opera, Sept. 23-27, 1995
WAGNER: Parsifal: Act III Prelude
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, cond. EMI, recorded January 1973
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch, cond. Philips, recorded live at the 1962 festival
Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI, from a recording of the complete opera, June 1984
THEN AGAIN, IN CASE YOU THINK YOU'VE STARTED
TO SENSE A PATTERN HERE, THERE'S ALSO THIS
Lohengrin: Act III Prelude
Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, cond. EMI, recorded February-March 1960
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, cond. EMI, recorded c1991
No, not at all like out other Wagner Act III preludes, but then, it quickly dissolves into this. (And heck, without this, gazillions of folks wouldn't have been able to get married.)
Lohengrin: Act III Prelude and Bridal Procession
Prelude: The introductory music depicts the sumptuous splendor of the wedding feast.
The bridal chamber; in the middle background the richly adorned nuptial bed, a low couch under the open bay window. Music offstage; the singing is first distant, then it draws closer.
Bridal Song of the Men and Women
Faithfully guided, draw near
to where the blessing of love shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage, the reward of love,
joins you in faith as the happiest of couples!
Champion of virtue, proceed!
Jewel of youth, proceed!
Flee now the splendor of the wedding feast;
may the delights of the heart be yours!
[Doors are opened background left and right; women emerge from the right leading ELSA; men emerge from the left with the KING accompanying LOHENGRIN. Pages precede these carrying torches.]
Eight Women [after walking round them]
As God blessed you in happiness,
so do we bless you in joy.
[They walk round them a second time.]
Watched over by love's happiness,
may you long remember this hour!
[The KING embraces and blesses LOHENGRIN and ELSA. The pages give the signal to leave. The processions form once again and, as the following is sung, pass by the newlyweds, the men filing out to the right, the women to the left.]
Bridal Song
Faithfully guarded, remain behind
where the blessing of love shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage, love and and happiness
join you in faith as the happiest of couples.
Champion of virtue, remain here!
Jewel of youth, remain here!
Flee now the splendor of the wedding feast;
may the delights of the heart be yours!
[Both processions leave the stage; the doors are closed by the last pages as they go out. The singing recedes ever further into the distance.]
Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, cond. DG, recorded April 1971
Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Eugen Jochum, cond. Recorded live at the 1954 festival
Vienna State Opera Concert Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded Nov.-Dec. 1985, June 1986
THERE ARE ALSO THESE TWO, BUT I'M NOT
ENTIRELY SURE THEY COUNT (SEE BELOW)
WAGNER: Die Walküre: Act III orchestral opening ("The Ride of the Valkyries")
soloists; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded Aug., Sept., Dec. 1966
Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded Oct.-Nov. 1965
Philharmonia Orchestra, Yuri Simonov, cond. Collins, recorded August 1990
WAGNER: Siegfried: Act III orchestral introduction
Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded May and Oct. 1962
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded live, June-July 1992
Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI/Chandos, recorded live, August 1973
I say I'm not sure these should count because Die Walküre and Siegfried, as Days 1 and 2 of The Ring, weren't thought of as operas in their own right. Well, obviously they were and are -- a reminder that there is no such thing as a "Wagner Act III prelude formula." It all depends on, you know, what's happening in the opera. It happens, though, that on these other occasions the composer found reason to produce these hunks of his (or anyone's) most wrenchingly beautiful music.
SO WHAT ARE THOSE "WHAT'S HAPPENING"S?
Glad you asked. Let's listen a bit -- or in some cases quite a bit -- beyond the Act III preludes.
Tannhäuser
It's not shaping up as a good day in Thuringia for either Elisabeth, cherished niece of the Landgraf of Thuringia, or Wolfram von Eschenbach, the admired poet and "Minnesänger" at the Landgraf's court: Both have been standing vigil at this overlook of the valley in front of the Wartburg, where any day now the Thuringian contingent of pilgrims we heard setting out for Rome at the end of Act II, seeking absolution from the Pope, is expected to return. (Since the pilgrims have made the whole journey on foot, their ETA is necessarily approximate.) When we first heard the Rome-bound pilgrims in Act II, singing the famous Pilgrims' Chorus, one last penitent was added to their ranks, by order of the Landgraf himself: the incorrigibly iconoclastic Tannhäuser. The last-ditch hope-against-hope (a literal "Hail Mary"?) was that some way, somehow he might win redemption from his accumulated blasphemies and sins of the flesh.
Elisabeth's stake in Tannhäuser's return? What else? She's hopelessly in love with him. Isn't this how these things usually work out onstage (and not infrequently off)? While Wolfram too is anticipating Tannhäuser's return, since he is after all his best -- and at this point perhaps only -- friend, it might be fairer to say that his vigil is over Elisabeth's vigil, since he too is, as he has always been, deeply in love with Elisabeth. His miseries are vastly compounded by his loyalty and honor, which run so deep that he has never attempted to advance his own cause with Elisabeth, indeed has done everything in his power to make it possible for the two people he loves most in the world to be together.
TANNHÄUSER: Act III Prelude; Wolfram, "Wohl wusst'
ich hier sie im Gebet zu finden"; Pilgrims' Chorus
Valley in front of the Wartburg, as at the end of Act I, though now in the colors of autumn. Evening approaches.
Orchestral introduction: "Tannhäuser's Pilgrimage"
Scene 1: On the small ridge to the left, in front of the image of Our Lady, ELISABETH lies prostrate in fervent prayer. -- WOLFRAM descends from the forest above to the right. Halfway down he stops as he sees ELISABETH.
WOLFRAM: Well I knew I would find her in here in prayer,
as so often I do meet her when all alone
from woded hills I stray into the vale.
In her heart the death which he imparted,
prostrate in painful fervor
she pleads for his salvation day and night.
O holy love's eternal power!
She awaits the pilgrims coming back from Rome.
The leaves begin to fall, their homecoming is nigh.
Will he return with those whose sins have been forgiven?
This is her entreaty, this her prayer --
you saints aboe, may it be answered!
If yet the wound remains unhealed,
oh, if only some relief might be accorded her!
[As he is about to descend further, he hears in the distance the singing of the older pilgrims coming closer. He stops once again.]
VOICES OF THE OLDER PILGRIMS [as they sing they approach from a distance, then appear downstage left and walk along the valley in the direction of the Wartburg in before disappearing behind the mountain ridge in the background]:
Ful of joy I may now see you, native land,
and greet with joy your pleasant meadows.
Now shall I lay down my pilgrim's staff,
for, faithful to God, I inow have done my pilgrimage.
By atonement and penance I have propitiated
the Lord, in whom my heart delights,
who my contrition crowns with blessing,
the Lord, to whom my song resounds.
Mercy's salvation has on the penitent been bestowed,
he once will obtain peace and bliss!
He neither hell nor death does fear,
therefore in all my life God will I praise.
Alleluia forever!
Alleluia forever!
ELISABETH [arises, listening to the singing]:
This is their singing -- it's them, they are coming home!
You saints above, show me my office now,
that I may perform it with dignity!
WOLFRAM [while the singing slowly approaches]:
It's the pilgrims -- it is the reverent melody,
telling of mercy's salvation, which they have obtained.
O heaven, strengthen now her heart
for her life's most momentous choice!
[In great agitation ELISABETH, from her elevated vantage point, has been looking for TANNHÄUSER in the column of the pilgrims. The singing gradually dies away. The sun goes down.]
ELISABETH [calmly, though in pain:
He is not coming back!
PILGRIMS: Full of joy I may now see you, oh native land,
and greet with joy your pleasant meadows.
[Dying away] Now shall I lay down my pilgrim's staff . . .
-- English translation by Alfred Clayton
Eberhard Wächter (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Anja Silja (s), Elisabeth; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond. Philips, recorded live at the 1962 festival
Andreas Schmidt (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Cheryl Studer (s), Elisabeth; Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, cond. DG, recorded April 1988
George London (bs-b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Astrid Varnay (s), Elisabeth; Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe, cond. Live performance, Jan. 29, 1955
Heinrich Schlusnus (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Trude Eipperle (s), Elisabeth; Hessian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Kurt Schröder, cond. Live performance, 1950
Tristan und Isolde
Going into Act III, poor Tristan has had an even worse Act II than Tannhäuser, having been caught in flagrante by his uncle, Cornwall's King Marke, with the bride Tristan brought back for his uncle from Ireland, name of Isolde. Having been betrayed to the king by his dear friend Melot, Tristan purported to challenge Melot with his sword but in fact allowed Melot to run him through. As we will learn, Tristan's devoted sidekick Kurwenal then scooped him up and more or less literally carried him back to his ancestral home in Brittany.
Tristan und Isolde: Act III Prelude
and opening of the act
TRISTAN's castle in Brittany. TRISTAN lies asleep in the shade of a great lime tree; he is stretched out as if lifeless. At his head sits KURWENAL, bending over him in grief and listening to his breathing. The sound of a shepherd's pipe, sad and yearning, is heard.
THE SHEPHERD [softly]: Hey, Kurwenal!
Kurwenal, say!
Hear me, friend!
Has he not woken yet?
KURWENAL [shaking his head sadly]: Were he to wake,
it would be
only to leave us forever,
unless the healing lday,
she who alone can help us,
first appears.
Have you seen nothing yet?
No ship yet upon the sea?
THE SHEPHERD: You would hear
another tune then,
as merry as ever I can play.
Now tell me truly,
old friend,
what ails our master?
KURWENAL: Cease your questions,
for you can never understand.
Keep watch zealously,
and if you see a ship,
play out blithe and clear!
THE SHEPHERD: Öd und leer das Meer!
[This is the phrase immortalized by T. S. Eliot in The Wasteland, meaning "Deserted and empty the sea."]
TRISTAN [motionless, faintly]: The old tune,
why does it wake me?
KURWENAL starting in surprise]: Ha!
TRISTAN [opening his eyes and turning his head a little]: Where am I?
KURWENAL: Ha, that voice!
His voice!
Tristan! My lord!
My hero! My Tristan!
TRISTAN [with an effort]: Who's calling me?
KURWENAL: At last! At last!
Life, o life!
Sweet life,
to my Tristan given once again!
TRISTAN: Kurwenal -- you?
Where was I?
Where am I?
KURWENAL: Where you are?
In peace, safe and free!
Kareol, my lord!
don't you know
the castle of your ancestors?
TRISTAN: My ancestors?
KURWENAL: Just look around you!
TRISTAN: What was it I heard?
KURWENAL: The shepherd's tune
you heard once again;
down the hillsides
he tends your flocks.
TRISTAN: My flocks?
-- English translation (nearly all) by Lionel Salter
Erwin Wohlfahrt (t), Shepherd; Eberhard Waechter (b), Kurwenal; Wolfgang Windgassen (t), Tristan; Bayreuth Featival Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. DG, recorded live at the 1966 festival
Paul Franke (t), Shepherd; Josef Metternich (b), Kurwenal; Set Svanholm (t), Tristan; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe, cond. Live performance, Mar. 19, 1955
Peter Klein (t), Shepherd; Tom Krause (b), Kurwenal; Fritz Uhl (t), Tristan; Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded September 1960
SOME PERFORMANCES I WOUND UP KIND OF
SORRY I GOT INVOLVED WITH THIS WEEK
It's not that they're utterly useless; all have points of interest. But none of them seem to me to give us much of a picture of this chunk of Tristan. In innocent hope I forged ahead, adding to this pile of audio clips, thinking they might somehow be made to add up to, well, something -- something more than a pile of discards, that is. I suppose I could have included the 1973 Karajan-Salzburg Easter Festival performance, and/or maybe the famous Furtwängler-EMI recording, but no, they really aren't good enough. Still, there are points of interest throughout, and they may add up to more for you.
Karajan's 1973 live performance is better than the eerily affectless EMI recording he'd made with mostly the same cast, but not enough better. The 1952 and 1959 performances confirm some positive points and add bits to the picture but also have their own liabilities. I do enjoy hearing Gerhard Unger sing the Shepherd two decades apart; that said, though, it's not one of his most interesting role assumptions.
Gerard Unger (t), Shepherd; Walter Berry (b), Kurwenal; Jon Vickers (t), Tristan; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Live performance from the Salzburg Easter Festival, 4/17/1973
Murray Dickie (t), Shepherd; Gustav Neidlinger (bs-b), Kurwenal; Wolfgang Windgassen (t), Tristan; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Live performance, Apr. 30, 1959
Gerhard Unger (t), Shepherd; Hans Hotter (bs-b), Kurwenal; Ramón Vinay (t), Tristan; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Live performance, July 23, 1952
As for the Furtwängler-EMI Tristan, generally considered one of the great triumphs of recording history, I'm not going to go into my usual rant about the way so many Walter Legge-produced recordings seem to strip the performing life blood out of performances by so many of the 20th century's foremost (and seemingly strongest-willed) performers. Instead, let me just ask, this chunk of Tristan isn't very interesting or involving, is it? Compare the intensity and unstoppable forward movement of the 1947 Berlin performance we heard above of the Act III Prelude, through the Shepherd's piping. I would happily have included more of that performance, but unfortunately, the Shepherd-Kurwenal interchange and Tristan's whole awakening are omitted.
Rudolf Schock (t), Shepherd; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (b), Kurwenal; Ludwig Suthaus (t), Tristan; Philharmonia Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. EMI, recorded 1952
Then there are three Carlos Kleiber Tristans I kept thinking should yield more than the 1973 Vienna Act III Prelude we hear above. Luckily, I didn't let myself get sucked into playing with that, or a bunch of other recordings I considered.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
For shoemaker and devoted "mastersinger" Hans Sachs, possibly the most admired man in Nuremberg, Act III marks the Morning After -- after his memorably unfortunate Act II, a day he surely wishes he could forget but alas can't, culminating in a street riot right in front of his workshop-home, a riot of which he, the soul of reason, but rocked by his awful day, was the principal instigator.
DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG:
Act III Prelude and opening of the act
In Sachs's workshop. At the rear the half-open door to the street. At right a door to a chamber. At left a window onto the street with wildflowers in front of it, at the side a workbench. SACHS is seated in an armchair near the window, through which the morning sun pours in. He has a large folio on his lap and is absorbed in reading it.
DAVID comes along the street outside, peeps inside the door, sees SACHS, and then enters the room quietly. He has a basket in his hand, which he puts on the workbench near the door; he satisfies himself that SACHS has not noticed him and takes flowers and ribbons from the basket; finally, he finds a sausage and a cake. He prepares to eat some of the food when SACHS, who still does not look at him, noisily turns over one of the large pages of the folio.
DAVID [starting at the noise, hiding his food, and turning to SACHS] Coming, Master! Here! --
The shoes have been delivered
to Herr Beckmesser's quarters. --
I thought you just called me?
[Aside] He's pretending he hasn't seen me.
It means he's angry, when he doesn't speak.
[Gradually approaching, humbly
Ah, Master! Will you forgive me?
Can an apprentice be perfect?
If you knew Lena as I do,
you would forgive me for sure.
She is so good, so gentle to me,
and often looks at me so tenderly;
when you strike me, she caresses me
and smiles so sweetly the while!
If I'm made to fast, she feeds me,
and in every way is so lovely.
Only yesterday, when the knight sang his chances away,
I couldn't get her to give me the basket;
that hurt me; and when I found
someone standing before her window at night
and singing to her, and shouting like mad,
I gave him a real thrashing.
How could a big fuss arise from that?
And it's certainly helped our love:
Lena has just explained everything to me
and given me these flowers and ribbons for the festival.
[He bursts out in still greater anxiety.]
Ah, Master, speak just one word!
[Aside] If only I had put away the sausage and the cake first!
[SACHS, who has read on undisturbed, claps his book to. At the loud noise DAVID is so startled that he stumbles and falls on his knees unintentionally before SACHS. The latter gazes away beyond the book, which he still holds, beyond DAVID, who looks up at him timidly, and his eyes fall on the farther table.]
-- English translation (nearly all) by Peter Branscombe
[in English] Gregory Dempsey (t), David; Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. Chandos, live performance, Feb. 10, 1968
Deon van der Walt (t), David; Bavarian State Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond. EMI, recorded April 1993
Gerhard Stolze (t), David; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Josef Krips, cond. Live performance, 1961
I THINK WE CAN HEAR A BUNCH OF
OPERATIC BAD DAYS IN PROGRESS
One of them is the one we'll be targeting as part of our set of OBDs.
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