Lessons in Love and Violence
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| Title: | Lessons in Love and Violence |
Marcus Stone : Edward II and Gaveston, 1872 |
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| Shape: | Opera in two parts |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | George Benjamin |
| Libretto : | Martin Crimp |
| Literary source: | Christopher Marlowe : Edward II |
| Premiere: | May 10, 2018 |
| Place of premiere: | Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ½ hours |
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Lessons in Love and Violence (German: "Lessons in Love and Violence") is an opera in two parts by George Benjamin (music) with a libretto by Martin Crimp . It premiered on May 10, 2018 at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London.
action
The opera deals with the homosexual love of the unnamed English King Edward II for the upstart Piers Gaveston and his downfall in the conflict with the army leader Mortimer . The king lives only for pleasure and neglects his suffering people and Queen Isabel . This enters into a relationship with Mortimer, who then has Gaveston executed and forcing the king to abdicate in order to use his son as his successor. The king is also killed. His two children witness what is happening in every scene. You learn from these "lessons": The young king has Mortimer killed in front of his mother.
First part
Scene 1. Mortimer accuses the king of wasting money on his friend Gaveston, even though his country is poor and people are starving. The king doesn't want to hear about it. He invokes his royal dignity and accuses Mortimer of murdering him and trying to reach for the crown himself. He himself never harmed anyone. His wife Isabel confirms this. When the king asks Gaveston whether he has ever hurt him, the latter becomes enraged and attacks Mortimer. The king deprives Mortimer of all his possessions, his land and his name.
Scene 2. Mortimer leads a group of ragged figures in front of the royal family to show him how much the people suffer from poverty. As witnesses, three of them tell their sad stories, according to which the king and Gaveston are personally to blame for their misery through their wastefulness. Isabel has a cup of vinegar brought to her and dissolves a precious pearl in it in front of the witnesses. Then she gives them money and throws them out. The boy wants to know from his mother Isabel why the witness lied. This is ready to support Mortimer in destroying Gaveston. But nothing should happen to her husband.
Scene 3. The King and Gaveston discuss their love. The king asks Gaveston how he might kill him. He can read it from his hand. The Queen appears with a group of people to perform a musical play about the killing of Saul and his son Jonathan . Mortimer interrupts the play and has Gaveston arrested. The king tries in vain to have Mortimer arrested in return.
Scene 4. The king learns of Gaveston's execution. He is desperate and accuses his wife of turning away from him. He vows to destroy everyone involved in the crime. Isabel decides to separate from him and bring her son to Mortimer. The king seeks comfort in his daughter.
Second part
Scene 1. The queen and her son have moved in with Mortimer. There Mortimer prepares the boy for his future role as king. He lets in a madman who thinks he is king himself. Have the boy check him out. When he questions the madman, the absurdity of his assertion quickly becomes clear. Mortimer explains that this amounts to a death sentence and has the execution carried out immediately in front of the horrified children and their mother. Isabel sends the children into the garden and begins to seduce Mortimer.
Scene 2. Mortimer has the king thrown in jail and forces him to abdicate with the promise that his son will be the next king. A stranger in the form of Gaveston appears. It is death himself that calls the king to him.
Scene 3. The boy is now king himself. He tells his mother, who demands music, that he has banned music. Instead, he wants to show him a play, a “pleasure”, in which a man and a woman murder a king in a pit and put the woman's child on the throne to appease the people - the child, however, understands the context. The audience arrives and the boy puts on the crown. He has Mortimer brought in and brutally executed.
layout
Neither King Edward II nor his son are named in the opera. The king generally stands for the "neglect of duty of the love-drunk" and the "disregard of the authorities towards the people". While indulging in luxury himself, he ignores the suffering of the impoverished population.
Crimps' dense writing style reminded the critic of the Telegraph of the English playwright Harold Pinter . Every sentence of the brief conversations contained threats and ambiguities. The atmosphere is ominous. There are outbreaks of extreme violence, but also moments of calm. Aside from a few excursions into extreme soprano registers, Benjamin's music often uses a gentle conversational style. Compared to Benjamin's previous opera Written on Skin, there are more lyrical passages (especially in the love duets of the king with Gaveston), more vocal counterpoint and more orchestral bravura pieces in the interludes. He noted influences from Benjamin Britten and Claude Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande .
Although the execution of the king is not shown directly, according to the FAZ reviewer , the "haunting symbiosis of word and music [...] " simmers with violence and sensuality. Delicate, wandering passages merge in glowing coloring with exotic cimbalom sounds, strange chirping harps and nervous, tone painting crescendos. "
The theater-within-the-theater scene in which the son forces the mother to attend a "conversation" depicting the murder of her lover is reminiscent of a similar scene in Shakespeare's Hamlet .
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (both also piccolo ), two oboes , Eb clarinet , two clarinets (1st also alto clarinet and Eb clarinet, 2nd also alto clarinet and basset horn ), bass clarinet , three bassoons (3rd also contrabassoon)
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets (both also piccolo trumpet ), two trombones , bass trombone, double bass trombone
- Drums (four players): two crotales , six tubular bells , two gongs , four timpani , two bongos , two snare drums , talking drum , two tombaks , two tenor drums , two tumbas , bass drum , claves , five temple blocks , three triangles , two Tambourines , three hanging cymbals , whip, two pairs of machine castanets , two vibraslaps , four Güiros
- two harps
- Celesta
- Cimbalom
- Strings (suggested number): ten violins 1, eight violins 2, eight violas , eight cellos , six double basses with an extension to the low C.
Work history
George Benjamin's third opera Lessons in Love and Violence was created, like the two previous operas, in collaboration with the librettist Martin Crimp . It was commissioned by the Royal Opera Covent Garden London, the Nationale Opera Amsterdam, the Hamburg State Opera , the Opéra National de Lyon , the Lyric Opera of Chicago , the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona and the Teatro Real Madrid, which together also produced the world premiere . It was clear from the start that the same team would be responsible for direction and set design as for the world premiere of Benjamin's extremely successful predecessor opera Written on Skin . The singers were also determined before the composition, so that Benjamin could tailor the music directly to their voices.
The content is inspired by Christopher Marlowe's drama Edward II (completely: The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second , German: Die unelige Herrschaft und die pitiful death of King Edward II ), but does not name this king. In the premiere production, the action took place in the “here and now”.
The world premiere took place on May 10, 2018 at the Royal Opera House, London. The production was by Katie Mitchell and Joseph Alford, the set by Vicki Mortimer and the lighting by James Farncombe. The composer was the musical director. The actors were Stéphane Degout (King), Barbara Hannigan (Isabel), Gyula Orendt (Gaveston / Stranger), Peter Hoare (Mortimer), Samuel Boden (boy, then young king), Ocean Barrington-Cook (girl), Jennifer France ( Witness 1 / singer 1 / woman 1), Krisztina Szabó (witness 2 / singer 2 / woman 2) and Andri Björn Róbertsson (witness 3 / madman). A recording from May 26, 2018 was made available on the Internet at Arte Concert . According to the director, the opera should originally take place in five different locations, including a castle and a dungeon. Ultimately, she moved all the scenes to the king's bedchamber in order to intensify the plot and make it visible from different angles.
The critic of the world was “a bit disappointed at a high level” after the advance praise . He wrote: “The opus is subtly built, composed, staged, played and sung. But it picks up speed late, stays cool, gets lost in the (too) large room. ”The Telegraph reviewer valued the qualities highly enough for another success at the level of Written on Skin. The opera is fascinating, has music of exquisite beauty and an effective narrative, and has been flawlessly executed. But now the creative possibilities of this team have been exhausted. Despite all the perfection, the authors would hardly have moved from Written on Skin . The work lacks the “magical element of surprise”. The critic of The Stage praised the work without restrictions. It again shows the composer's opera championship. The Guardian reviewer found the orchestral style less “radiant and beguiling” than in the previous opera, although there are also remarkable colors and effects. He also found the vowel lines of Isabel and the boy extraordinary. The music of the other male characters, on the other hand, is more functional than lyrical. Often the drama seemed to be driven more by the orchestra than the singing.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e Gina Thomas: Opera in London: Message from the royal bedchamber. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , May 15, 2018, accessed on June 14, 2018.
- ^ A b Rupert Christiansen: Lessons in Love and Violence review, Royal Opera: a potent and beautiful account of Edward II's downfall. In: The Telegraph , May 11, 2018, accessed June 14, 2018.
- ↑ a b Lessons in Love and Violence (2017). Work information from Fabermusic, accessed on June 14, 2018.
- ^ A b George Hall: Lessons in Love and Violence review at the Royal Opera House, London - 'operatic mastery'. In: The Stage, May 11, 2018, accessed June 14, 2018.
- ↑ Lessons in Love and Violence ( Memento from June 16, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) at Arte Concert , video no longer available.
- ^ Andrew Male: Katie Mitchell on ROH's brutal new opera: 'There is optimism - for 10 seconds'. In: The Guardian , May 6, 2018, accessed June 14, 2018.
- ↑ Manuel Brug: School lesson in exercise of power: George Benjamin's "Lessons in Love and Violence" premiered in London. In: Die Welt , May 11, 2018, accessed June 14, 2018.
- ↑ Andrew Clements: Lessons in Love and Violence review - soaring tale of a brutal royal downfall. In: The Guardian , 11./12. Retrieved June 14, 2018.