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R§b tit PtllakLyric Revival Of Beethoven OperaSpotlights Its Weakness/StrenghtPOLLAKLudwig van Beethoven mastered all musical forms, but wrote only one opera, Ftueiu,. Like other composers of grand opera, he had plenty of libretto trouble and once even con -sidered doing a music drama on “The Foundingof Pennsylvania. He finally settled on a Frenchtext by one Jean Bouilly, the story of a wife dressed as a man who rescues her husband from a damp dungeon and a nasty prison governor.•Leonora, or Conjugal Love was manhandled over a period of nine years by Joseph Sonnleithner,Stephan van Breuning and Frederick Treitschke, all very minor poets indeed.From 1805 until 1814 Beethoven struggled with score and libretto, quarreled with his producers and resisted sensible suggestions for alterations, but somehow the opera struck the popular imagination and has remained in the German repertoire ever since its third premiere, May 23, 1814 in Vienna. An Italian audience would have howled down an opera in which the leading tenor doesn’t appear til 1 the show is half over. The Teutons have never objected.The Lyric Opera's brilliant revival of ■Fidelio spot-lighted all its weakness arid allits strength. As drama it is notably static, except for the impressive second act dungeon scene. Beethoven wrote more mediocre music than any other great composer, and “Fidelio” has more than its share of commonplace. It is only in the great arias, Leonora’s “Komm, Hoffnung” and her fettered husband’s marvellous song at the opening of Act II that we feel the might of the man who composed the “Eroica,” the piano sonatas and the late quartets.•Fidelio is curious in other respects. Beethoven was fascinated by the dramatic overture and he wrote four for “Fidelio two of which are generally performed. The best one, the “Leonora Overture No. 3,” a stapleof the symphony halls, is usually used as a climax instead of a prelude. It brought downthe house on Wacker Drive, and well it might since it is a psychological musical drama all by itself, gigantic in stature, revealing more of the true nature of *Fidelio” thanthe opera with the curtain up.The Lyric performance added anotherjewel to the company’s crown. With the exception of Hans Hotter (Don Pizarro, the heavy) whose acting style and upstairs tremolo were uncomfortably like Bert Lahr’s, the cast was a Honey. Birgit Nilsson (Leonora), William Wildermann (the basso jail-warden), Irmgard Seefried (the warden's daughter), Jon Vickers (the unhappy tenor prisoner), sang like a band of angels. Peter Maag, the conductor subbing for the stricken Andre Cluytens, held the piece together handsomely although the pit orchestra, especially in the brass department, sometimes did him wrong. Young Mr. Vickers, by the way, is a tall, handsome and heroic tenor who sounds like the Melchior of twenty-five years ago.' * * *Second City reinforces its claim to be a national institution with •Alarums and Excursions, the latest satirical revue on North Wells. Although the show is strangely uneven in quality, it has more ups than downs. You will like especially “The Tailor and the Model, a perceptive and touching little sketch; *An Interview with'Col. Clevis, a dig at right-wing brass; “Die Konzert, a killingly funny satire of avant garde composers, and “Old Friends, a humorous yet mournful encounter between a Babbit and a perpetual student.The incumbents, all very skillful, are Bill Alton, M.C. and general handyman, Avery Schreiber, Bob Camp, Del Close, Anthony Holland (a young man to watch) and JoanRivers, a bright comedienne whether on script or improvising. As usual William Mathieu provides a dandy musical background.Private note to producer Paul Sills: Leave us stop kidding around about the atom bomb. The big joke has become stale and we only laugh because we are nervous.
Newspaper Details
Hyde Park Herald
Hyde Park, Illinois, US
Wed, Nov 22, 1961
Page 28
Full Page
Clipped by
Loyola U.
IL, USA 30 Mar 2020
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Hyde Park Herald
