Elegy for Young Lovers

"Elegy for Young Lovers" (in German, "Elegie für junge Liebende") is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman.

Background

The opera was first performed in a German translation by Ludwig Prinz von Hessen at the Schwetzingen Festival on 20 May 1961, conducted by Heinrich Bender. The first performance using the original English text was in Glyndebourne, also in 1961. The Juilliard Opera Theater produced the opera in New York City in 1965, with the composer conducting. [cite journal | url=http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/LVII/1/141 | last=Keats | first=Sheila | title="Current Chronicle" | journal=The Musical Quarterly | volume=LVII | issue=1 | pages=141–148 | date=1971 | accessdate=2007-10-26] Henze revised the opera in the 1980s, and this revised version received its first performance on 28 October 1988 at the La Fenice Theatre, Venice, with Markus Stenz conducting.

According to Ann Saddlemyer in her book "Becoming George", the poet is partially based on W. B. Yeats, and his wife "George" (Georgie Hyde-Lees) was the inspiration for both the secretary and the woman with visions. The librettist Auden was a friend of Ezra Pound, who in turn was a friend of Yeats. David Anderson has noted that the poet also portrays Auden as well.Anderson, David E., Review of "W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman: Libretti and Other Dramatic Writings by W. H. Auden, 1939-1973" (March 1995). "Notes" (2nd Ser.), 51 (3): pp. 948-949.] Robert Henderson has summarized the thesis of the opera as follows:

"Elegy for Young Lovers"....is a bitter indictment of the Romantic notion of the artist as hero, feeding remorselessly on those around him both in the name of art and to satisfy his own monstrous and inhumanely egotistical appetites." [Henderson, Robert, "Hans Werner Henze" (July 1976). "The Musical Times", 117 (1601): pp. 566-568.]

Auden and Kallman described this opera as their equivalent of Richard Strauss' opera "Arabella". The dedication of the opera is to the memory of Hugo von Hofmannsthal. [Weisstein, Ulrich, "Reflections on a Golden Style: W. H. Auden's Theory of Opera" (Spring 1970). "Comparative Literature", 22 (2): pp. 108-124.]

Henze quoted material from the aria "My own, my own" in his Fifth Symphony, completed in 1962.

Roles

ynopsis

The opera is set in an inn called "Der Schwarze Adler" in the Austrian Alps in 1910. The plot concerns a poet, Gregor Mittenhofer, his faithful seceretary and a hysterical woman who has visions. Mittenhofer manipulates the people in the inn to provide inspiration to his work. [cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827016,00.html | title=Surprise at Schwetzingen | publisher="Time" | date=2 June 1961 | accessdate=2007-09-07] [cite news | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2D81430F932A2575BC0A96E948260&n | title=A Dominion of Words | publisher="New York Times" | author=Bernard Holland | date=1988-08-11 | accessdate=2007-09-07]

References

ources

"Elegy for Young Lovers" by Andrew Clements, in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7

External links

* [http://www.schott-music.com/shop/1/show,16802.html Schott Music, sheet music page on "Elegy for Young Lovers"]