Tippett Midsummer Marriage

[Ein Heldenleben]

Well, clearly it's a subjective matter. I hear what you say, but I also heard from those who felt the dances held up the plot. I feel much the same about solo encores by concerto soloists. I feel like shouting in my best Kenneth Williams voice 'Aww, ged on with it!'

Depends whether you think opera is all about plot. I think making Tadzio a dancer was an example of Britten’s genius . It is possible to drive plot through Dance - e.g. Swan Lake .

[smittims]

True, and , of course, The Midsummer Marriage, act two. I've never felt those dances are too long, though they occupy most of the act.

[Master Jacques]

True, and , of course, The Midsummer Marriage, act two. I've never felt those dances are too long, though they occupy most of the act.

Indeed so, and 'Fire in Summer' (Dance 4) crowns Act 3, before the magical epilogue. The dances in Midsummer Marriage are central, even as early as the Temple Dance of Act 1.

In fact, thinking about it, these dance sequences are crucial to all three operas. In Gloriana this is the only time we see Elizabeth I "at work", with the focus on how she accepts the Norwich tribute, while revealing rather deftly the multiple aspects of English life which she has come to symbolise.

More obviously, the 'Olympic games' sequence of Death in Venice is the focal point of the 'Apollonian' justification for Aschenbach's love, in (as he foolishly allows himself to believe at first) its classical purity. Its sweetness and light counterpoints the sweaty, dark Dionysian dream-dance sequence of Act 2. The opera would be meaningless without the dance elements, just as completely as anything by Rameau.

In all three cases, the dances are the plot! There's a danger some critics fall into, of confusing plot (=dramatic theme) with mere 'storyline'.

[smittims]

Thanks. I appreciated that view of things.