|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
Salzburg Premieres Penderecki's Die Schwarze Maske
| Article
# : |
11337 |
|
|
Section : |
THE ARTS
|
| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1986 |
925 Words |
| Author
: |
Andrew Clark
Andrew Clark is a broadcaster and critic living in Switzerland. |
The Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has written three operas, the latest of which-Die schwarze Maske-was the center of attention at this year's Salzburg festival. The work is half mystery play and half psycho-thriller, and it looks certain to join Penderecki's already extensive catalogue of popular success. But it tells us little about the composer that we do not know already.
Like The Devils of Loudun, completed in 1969 and first staged in Hamburg, and Paradise Lost, premiered in Chicago in 1978, Dae schwarze Maske is haunted by the theme of man's fall from grace into a state of helpless, hell-bent wickedness and destruction. There is plenty here to appeal to the modern imagination, including black magic, black comedy, blackmail, sex, and superstition; and by steering clear of the great issues of politics, philosophy, art, and religion, Penderecki works on a much more immediate level than many other contemporary opera composers.
But he has yet to convince us that he is a truly dramatic composer, able to lift the text onto a new psychological and atmospheric plane through the medium of music. What Dze schwarze Maske amounts to, therefore, is a veiled form of musical sensationalism -like a weak relative of the Salome of Richard Strauss-in Which Penderecki takes us through his usual spectrum of musical styles and tricks, and winds up with a succession of noisy climaxes.
These were transmitted with predictable accuracy and skill by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Woldemar Nelsson. The quality of orchestral playing, the showcase nature of the Salzburg Festival, and its resources for casting and staging have
... (1996 of 5785 Characters)
Read Full Article
|
|
