WNO Moses Und Aron

[Conchis]

Surprised there's been no comment on this.

Saw it in Brum on Wednesday. A great privilege to see this opera in its original language in the provinces!

It's being given it's German language London premiere atCovent Garden soon. Anyone going?

[french frank]

Hello Conchis!

Hope you enjoyed it. As usual the really interesting ones don't come to Bristol (we do get Moses in Egypt some time in the autumn, though!). I expect Il Grande Inquisitor will be going to ROH next month. The critics seemed to have liked it.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

What a week you're having! Moses on Weds, Gotterdammerung today - utter envy here.

A great performance of a formidable masterpiece that takes as much toll on its performers and listeners as it did on the composer itself. I just hope he got as much out of the effort as we do - mind-blowing, grainy and unrelenting, but so rewarding. And that superb, haunting opening; the pastoral second scene; the facile optimism of the people in scene three ... (and with both operas in such close proximty, you might notice how much the Music of Schönberg's "Four Naked Maidens" in the Dance Round the Golden Calf owes to Wagner's Rheinmaidens) ... all the way through to that agonised expression of failure at the very end - a searing melodic line for all the violins in unison in counterpoint to the anguished speaking voice of the wonderful John Tomlinson. Marc leBrucq pretty astonishing in the near-impossible role of Aron, too, and a superb overview of the whole work from Lothar Koenigs.

Christopher Cook's introductions better than what's become the norm recently, too.

Yep - definitely jealous.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

I expect Il Grande Inquisitor will be going to ROH next month. The critics seemed to have liked it.

Indeed I am. Our man in Cardiff liked it: http://bachtrack.com/review-moses-ar...inson-may-2014


Sadly, WNO's House of Usher double bill seems to have bombed.

[doversoul1]

I found a pdf booklet (33 pages) that included the libretto in the original and an English translation. I listened to the broadcast with the libretto in front of me but I am terribly ashamed to say that my concentration was exhausted by the end of act one, so intense (and unfamiliar to me) the work was. I shall try act 2 before it disappears.

[Honoured Guest]

As usual the really interesting ones don't come to Bristol (we do get Moses in Egypt some time in the autumn, though!). I expect Il Grande Inquisitor will be going to ROH next month.

Bristol hasn't been snubbed. WNO mounts three seasons each year but can afford to do just two full tours each year with its present ACE touring grant. For the last several years, the summer season plays at home in the WMC and then tours only to Birmingham. (This exceptional ROH jaunt is separately financed as an extra activity).

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I found a pdf booklet (33 pages) that included the libretto in the original and an English translation. I listened to the broadcast with the libretto in front of me but I am terribly ashamed to say that my concentration was exhausted by the end of act one, so intense (and unfamiliar to me) the work was.

I don't think it is a matter of any "shame" at all in saying this, dovers - it is (one of) the most intense and concentrated works of Art ever written: all you are saying is that you gave the Music the attention it requires and deserves and rewards. I know and adore this Music as much as any, and it still drains me by the end.

I shall try act 2 before it disappears.

[Conchis]

I listened to the Solti recording three times before watching the production. It was good preparation.

The WNO production seems to set in the council chamber of a middle eastern country that is trying to become a democratic state. The concept held up reasonably well until it came to the 'Golden Calf' scene, where the chamber was turned into a cinema and the chorus just sat down to watch films. I think the idea was to depict an orgy of passivity. Fair enough but Schoenberg's music calls for something visceral. There was a rather risible attempt to depict cunnilingus, which had two old ladies in front of heading for the exit but, all told, it didn't work. Those fortunate enough to have seen the Solti-Hall production will have felt cheated, I expect.

All told, though, the opera survived thanks to superlative work by Koenigs (who, I'm guessing, ver much warned to programme this work) and his chorus.

[David-G]

The WNO production seems to set in the council chamber of a middle eastern country that is trying to become a democratic state.

It really makes me despair. If this opera was performed frequently, then fair enough. But given the extreme rarity of productions, why can't we have it set in biblical times with a proper golden calf?

[Roehre]

It really makes me despair. If this opera was performed frequently, then fair enough. But given the extreme rarity of productions, why can't we have it set in biblical times with a proper golden calf?

This type of directors changing/ignoring the composer's/librettist's instructions has now definitely stopped me spending my money on live opera

[Steerpike]

I felt the same Roehre - and one of the worst was the Moses und Aron I saw in Vienna a few years ago. But immunised by that experience I'm giving this one a go at Covent Garden. Performances are just too rare to miss

[amateur51]

I found a pdf booklet (33 pages) that included the libretto in the original and an English translation. I listened to the broadcast with the libretto in front of me but I am terribly ashamed to say that my concentration was exhausted by the end of act one, so intense (and unfamiliar to me) the work was. I shall try act 2 before it disappears.

Any chance of a link to the translated libretto please, dovers?

Later: I have it! Analysis by Milton Babbitt too

http://93.81.250.215/BLOG/Schoenberg%20-%20Rosbaud/Moses_und_Aron_booklet.pdf

[Don Basilio]

Just come back from ROH. More fascinated by the theology than the music, but the chorus worked hard! (As did John Tomlinson.)

[David-G]

I saw this last night. I am afraid that the music is not for me. I did not understand it at all. The whole thing was static; sparks of drama were few and far between. Much of this may have been down to the production, which largely seemed to consist of an audience looking at us while we looked at them. The large heavy set was handsome but killed the drama. Not infrequently in solo pieces I found it impossible to identify among the crowd who was singing. Certainly, for most of the characters on the cast list, I had absolutely no idea who they were on the stage. Such drama as I found lay in the words; and it was very hard to read the titles because of the backlighting on the stage. For me, I am afraid, a great disappointment.

[Don Basilio]

Any chance of a link to the translated libretto please, dovers?

Later: I have it! Analysis by Milton Babbitt too

http://93.81.250.215/BLOG/Schoenberg%20-%20Rosbaud/Moses_und_Aron_booklet.pdf

I can't get it to work.