''Elegy for Young Lovers'' (German: ') is an opera in three acts by

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...

to an English

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

and

Chester Kallman Chester Simon Kallman (January 7, 1921 – January 18, 1975) was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for collaborating with W. H. Auden on opera librettos for Igor Stravinsky and other composers. Life Kallman was born in ...

Background

The opera was first performed in a German translation by

Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine (''Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig'', 20 November 1908 – 30 May 1968) was the youngest son of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse by his second wife, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich. He was a great ...

at the

Schlosstheater Schwetzingen Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (Schwetzingen palace theater) is a court theater in Schwetzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The historic building, opened in 1753, is part of Schloss Schwetzingen and since 1952 the principal venue of the Schwetzing ...

at the

Schwetzingen Festival The Schwetzingen Festival (German: Schwetzinger Festspiele, now Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele) is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany. In 1952, the broadca ...

on 20 May 1961, conducted by Heinrich Bender. The first performance using the original English text was in

Glyndebourne Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundr ...

, also in 1961. The Juilliard Opera Center produced the opera in New York City in 1965, with the composer conducting. Henze revised the opera in 1987, and this revised version received its first performance on 28 October 1988 at the

La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice beca ...

, Venice, with

Markus Stenz Markus Stenz (born 28 February 1965, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a German conductor. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Volker Wangenhein and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. Stenz has ...

conducting. According to Ann Saddlemyer in her book ''Becoming George: The Life of Mrs. W. B. Yeats'' (2002), the poet is partially based on

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

, and his wife "George" (Georgie Hyde-Lees) was the inspiration for both the secretary and the woman with visions. 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 Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * Notes (album), ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) sho ...

'' (2nd Ser.), 51 (3): pp. 948–949. Robert Henderson has summarised 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.

Auden and Kallman described this opera as their equivalent of

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

' opera ''

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the Dr ...

''. The dedication of the opera is to the memory of

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...

. Henze quoted material from the

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

''My own, my own'' in his Fifth Symphony, completed in 1962.

Roles

Synopsis

The opera is set in an inn called ''Der Schwarze Adler'' in the Austrian Alps in 1910. The plot is centred on a poet, Gregor Mittenhofer, who manipulates the people in the inn to provide inspiration to his work, his faithful secretary, his doctor, his young "muse" Elisabeth and a hysterical woman who lost her husband to the mountains decades before and has visions. When a young man arrives who attracts Elisabeth, Mittenhofer lets her go but does not act to prevent the young lovers' death in a snowstorm in the mountains, using the tragedy as the inspiration for a final "Elegie" of pure music, sung without words.

Recordings

* Liane Dubin (Elisabeth Zimmer),

Catherine Gayer Catherine Gayer (born 11 February 1937) is an American coloratura soprano, violinist, musicologist, and academic voice teacher. She made a career in Germany. A member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin for more than four decades, she is known for her p ...

(Hilda Mack),

Martha Mödl Martha Mödl (22 March 1912, Nuremberg – 17 December 2001, Stuttgart) was a German soprano, and later a mezzo-soprano. She specialized in large dramatic roles such as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and particularly Kundry, and is considered, along with ...

(Carolina Gräfin von Kirchstetten),

Loren Driscoll Loren Driscoll (April 14, 1928 – April 8, 2008) was an American tenor who had an active international career from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. Driscoll was particularly noted for his performances in contemporary operas and sang in many w ...

(Toni Reischmann),

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...

(Gregor Mittenhofer), Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Henze conducting, in German, 1963 DGbr>
* Richard Lloyd-Morgan (Mittenhofer), Regina Schudel (Hilda Mack), Aurelia Hajek (Carolina), Silvia Weiss (Elisabeth), Bruno Fath (Toni Reischmann), Orchestra of the Berliner Kammeroper, Brynmor Llewelyn Jones, conductor, 1989 Deutsche Schallplatten DS (live in Berlin)Elegie für junge Liebende
on operone website (in German) *

Lisa Saffer Lisa Saffer (born June 3, 1960) is a soprano singer of opera, particularly Bach, Handel and modern works. She also teaches voice at the New England Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory. Early life and education Saffer originates from ...

(Hilda Mack), Rosemary Hardy (Elizabeth Zimmer), Mary King (Carolina von Kirchstetten), Christopher Gillett (Toni Reischmann), Roderick Kennedy (Dr. Wilhelm Reischmann),

David Wilson-Johnson David Wilson-Johnson (born 16 November 1950, in Northampton) is a British operatic and concert baritone. Career David Wilson-Johnson was educated at Wellingborough School, and studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine's College, Cam ...

(Gregor Mittenhofer), Adrian Brine (Josef Mauer), Schönberg ensemble, Live recording Concertgebouw Amsterdam, 27 September 2000, conductor:

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer and conductor. Early life Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a ...

. 2CD is part of the Schönberg Ensemble Edition box (a century of music in perspective).

References

External links

Work details, sheet music

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...