Essays on Opera – Egon Wellesz

Essays on Opera – Egon Wellesz

Essays on Opera – Egon Wellesz

‘I think it is a mistake to underrate the social strength of opera. Wherever operas are performed care must be taken that the performances do not take place in isolation from the life of the town, and that the whole complex, the opera house as an institution, the works performed, and the artists who perform them, should not be regarded as an occasional luxury. Given this, only a few years are needed for opera to become an essential part of a town’s, or even of a nation’s, artistic life, and this is doubly true to-day when the wireless provides a means of enormously increasing the sphere of influence.’

This quote from the book is very admirable and a lot of why Germany still has so many opera houses in comparison to other parts of the world. Seems the argument of Opera being able to survive has been around for a while – ‘wireless provides a means…’ – it’s really been around for longer than that and I refer to another quote to give a better answer for the future than I can:

‘Now, I should like to try to give some kind of answer to the question which must have occurred to many. Opera has been a living thing in the past and is living to-day, but has it really a future? In spite of the activity of composers and the efforts of theatre managers are we not at the end of a development? If I have been able to express what I wanted to express you will know that I believe. Opera, I think, is not in its nature a narrow and limited field. A glance at its history shows that it’s whole nature and form is, and always has been, extremely flexible. Whenever in the past external or internal circumstances have brought it to the end of a particular line of development, a path has always been found which has led to a new flowering. Even in its most modern developments the path of opera has branched in several directions, some of which may well prove blind alleys, but one of which may become the high road of the future. Another point which I hope I have made clear is that opera cannot play the role of a casual visitor in the life of a nation. Wherever opera has flourished, it has been accepted as an important factor in the nation’s spiritual life. Every effort has been made to give it a permanent place among the activities of the human spirit which are the justification of our civilization. Another thing I hope to have made clear is that the action on the stage in an opera must be intelligible to the public, or the music will fail to hold their interest. Opera in England, therefore, must be sung in English. Only then will it be possible for the whole audience to be united in the action, and to experience, as in the theatre, the emotions of the drama. But opera as an institution cannot hope to arouse real interest unless it is concerned with the works of living men. In every place where opera was and is an essential element of the spiritual atmosphere, there is a line of connection between the past and the present. But it is the present which fulfils the promise of the past and in the works of the present resides the vitality of opera.’

So there is always hope for the future, as long as there are people willing to work on it. I enjoyed reading this book and it gave me some nice new insights into the history of opera and anyone wanting to see a different perspective would do well to read this book. I would add that the last 2 chapters on his own works, didn’t interest me much and not sure they really added much to this collection.

To round off with a lovely quote on composition ideals:

‘A comparison with painting will make this clear. Poussin, speaking of the artist’s task, says that in the first place it depends on the choice of a fitting subject, in the second on the composition, in the third on the way in which the material is treated, and last of all on the colours. The same order holds for opera, but it often seems as if composers relied above all on the colours, the scoring, as if they made no fundamental distinction between the treatment of a serious and a comic subject, as if the principles of structure were almost unknown to them, and they were mainly concerned with the choice of the most effective rather than the most suitable subject.’

Placido Domingo

PLACIDO DOMINGO by CORNELIUS SCHNAUBER

[This blog post has been created from Jemma Gross’ inspiring blog on how she was clearing her living and decided to read some of the books in it.  I am currently traveling round the world, starting in Canada, but I, too, had to clear my house out, so discovered a stack of books, which I decided to take with me and read.  Jemma’s post inspired me to write about these books and let you know what I think.]

Placido Domingo by Cornelius Schnauber

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I opened this book, as the edition I have was last published in 1997 and I feared that it would be very much of it’s time.  I was pleasantly surprised and have gained a lot more respect and admiration for this tenor, as a result of reading this book.

It has been translated very well by Susan H. Ray, with the odd ‘und’ out of place in the text.  I did find the comparisons of recordings, live performances a bit tedious, but I just kept reminding myself, that this book was written to be more of an analysis of Domingo at that time in his life and career, rather than an overall biography.  As I am someone who doesn’t listen to other singers all that much, I wasn’t all that interested in this comparison, but I have a long standing respect and love of Domingo’s work.  This book just added depth to that, plus answered a lot of questions why I was so drawn to his work right from the early days of my own performing studies/career in opera singing.

I’m not sure I would give this book a highly recommend, due to it’s rather specialised audience, that’s not because Domingo is not someone that everyone can appreciate, but the books audience really does seem to be more directed at a German reader and one that knows a lot about the in’s and out’s of the industry and Domingo.  There is an assumed knowledge that would go over the average listener or fan of Domingo.  I am glad I read it and for any singer who is working or wanting to work in the industry, it does give a very refreshing insight into Domingo’s career at this time – which I have to be honest, I do feel was his height, so it’s a great window into that time.  Plus, highlights what he was able to see long before anyone else in the industry saw and how he helped to bring about a lot of the current changes in the industry, plus, I really got a sense, he is someone who was destined to have the success he has.  Due to his even temperament, his wonderful training and his very fortunate musical up bringing.

Excerpt from Placido Domingo book

For me, I was so excited when I read that Domingo was trained in the Stanislavsky Method, as that is what I realised has always drawn me to Domingo’s work is his ability to portray the character through the acting and the voice.  As someone, who has also trained in Meisner (a derivative of the Stanislavsky Method) I was so pleased to realise the connection and unconscious understanding of what this type of approach brings to a performance

Another point I wanted to state was Domingo’s approach to contemporary settings to older plots, for example, modern settings of ‘the Marriage of Figaro’.  I quote from a quote in the book: ‘He feels, first and foremost, that a stage director “would do well to avoid interpretations that are so intellectualized and abstruse that the audience needs a book to understand what is happening.”….For Domingo historical validity, and if not that then at least historical consistency, is absolutely essential.  Put another way, historical logic is more important than adherence to historical truth.’   I love this description of this approach which I wholeheartedly agree with and couldn’t say better myself, so thanks, Cornelius for writing this book, this one phrase was worth finding, if not all the other discoveries I found in this book.

References of interest

Placido Domingo’s website

Operalia website a competition which Domingo started for up and coming young opera singers between the ages of 18 and 32.