| A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera) |
Article Index for A Midsummer |
Website Links For Midsummer Nights |
Information AboutA Midsummer Night's Dream (opera) |
|
Britten skillfully delineated the three tiers of characters, the rustics being given folk-like "simple" music, the lovers a more noble sound-world and the fairies being represented in a very ethereal way. Almost all of the action now takes place in the woods around Athens , and the fairies inhabit a much more prominent place in the drama. The comic performance by the rustics of '' Pyramus And Thisbe '' at the final wedding takes on an added dimension as a parody of nineteenth century Italian opera. Among the opera's notable innovations are these: a countertenor lead(Oberon), a chorus of boy trebles, and the role of Puck being spoken throughout. The plot of the opera follows that of the play, with several alterations. The whole of Shakespeare's Act 1 is cut, compensated for by the opera's only added line: "Compelling thee to marry with Demetrius." Therefore much greater precedence is given to the wood, and to the fairies. This is also indicated by the opening Portamenti strings, and by the ethereal countertenor voice that is Oberon, the male lead. The opera opens with a wonderful chorus, "Over hill, over dale" from Tytania's attendants, represented(as said above)by boy trebles. Other highlights include Oberon's beautifully florid aria,"I know a bank"(inspired by Purcell's "Sweeter than roses", which Britten had previously arranged for Pears to sing), Tytania's equally florid "Come now, a roundel", the chorus's energetic "You spotted snakes", the hilarious comedy of "Pyramus and Thisbe", and the final trio for Oberon, Tytania and the chorus. The part of Oberon was created by Alfred Deller.Britten wrote specifically for his voice, which, although ravishingly lyrical, was weak in the high notes. Listen carefully and you will note that Oberon almost never has to sing both high and forte. The original play is an anomaly among Shakespeare's works, in that is very little concerned with character, and very largely concerned with psychology. Britten follows this to a large extent, but subtly alters the psychological focus of the work. The introduction of a chorus of boy-fairies means that the opera becomes greatly concerned with the theme of purity. It is these juvenile fairies who eventually quell the libidinous activities of the quartet of lovers,as they sing a beautiful melody on the three "motto chords"of the second act:"Jack shall have Jill/Naught shall go ill/The man shall have his mare again/And all shall be well." Sung by boys, this goes beyond irony, and represents an idealized vision of a paradise of innocence and purity that Britten seems to have been captivated by throughout his life. Britten could not, of course, have written the opera without paying attention to the play's central motif: the madness of love. Curiously, however, he took the one relationship in the play that it is utterly grotesque(that of Tytania and Bottom)and placed it literally in the centre of his opera(in the middle of Act 2). In an opera full of luscious music, perhaps the most luscious is devoted to the affair between the fairy queen and the weaver. Britten also parodied operatic convention in less obvious ways than "Pyramus and Thisbe". Like many other operas, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" opens with a chorus, but it is a chorus of unbroken boys' voices, singing in unison. After this comes the entrance of the prima donna and the male lead, who is as far away as possible from Wagner's heldentenors, and as close as it is possible to get to Handel's castrati of the 18th century. Britten's treatment of Puck also suggests parody. In opera, the hero's assistant is traditionally sung by baritones, yet here we have an adolescent youth who speaks, rather than sings. The opera originally received an extremely mixed critical assesement: one reviewer labelled it "dreadful", while many others praised it to the skies. Now it is widely accepted as one of Britten's masterworks. It is often performed, including in the November of 2005 at London's Royal Opera House. The operatic festival at Glyndebourne will perform the work in the summer of 2006. There are many different recordings available, including one with Deller himself as Oberon and Peter Pears as Lysander, with the composer himself conducting. |
|
|