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Cambridge Opera Handbooks
Alban Berg: Lulu (Cambridge Opera Handbooks)
This book is a guide to Berg's second opera, Lulu, written in non-technical language and intended for those students and music lovers wishing to become familiar with one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century music. Jarman presents a clear and concise introduction to the musical language and to the intricate musical and dramatic structure of Berg's opera. The volume also examines the literary background, the genesis, composition, and tortuous posthumous career of the work. The final chapters survey the performance history and suggest a possible interpretation of this complex and challenging composition. An important feature of the book is the inclusion of source documents and critical responses to the opera. Illustrated with photographs from the premiere and from recent productions, the volume also includes a synopsis, bibliography, and discography.
- GenresMusic
172 pages, Paperback
First published February 22, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 18, 2021
Don’t let the apparent brevity of this "Cambridge Opera Handbooks" entry (132 pages plus notes and index) fool you: Douglas Jarman manages here to give a very detailed and thoroughly satisfying overview of Alban Berg’s second opera.
All facets of the work are presented here: the original theatre plays by Frank Wedekind that served as its basis, how Berg adapted the plays into a single three-act opera, the intricate formal strategies that he used to create the music, and the opera’s performance history after Berg’s death. The orchestration of Act III of Lulu was never finished, nor would the composer’s widow allow a completion, leading to only the two-act torso being performed until the late 1970s. Friedrich Cerha was finally able to complete the third act, but many fans have wondered just how much work was left to be done, and if Cerha had to create any new, original material on his part. Jarman covers this entire episode and notes precisely what Cerha had to fill in (not much at all, it turns out).
Jarman has some harsh words for Regietheater productions of Lulu, i.e. the infamous modern stagings that choose to throw out the original stage design and stage directions from the 1930s in favour of some new theatrical vision, a choice these directions often excuse by claiming that it reveals more closely the composer’s vision. Jarman notes that Berg was unusually specific about how he wanted this work staged, and this design and action interfaces very closely with his music, so any production that alters the composer’s plans is really robbing audiences of part of the opera.
Most of this book is written in a very friendly tone and with non-technical language. However, in his analysis of the music itself, Jarman naturally cannot help but be very technical as he elucidates how the individual characters have distinct vocal lines derived from the twelve-tone serial system, how Act I follows sonata form, how the closing scene recapitulates key themes, etc. But as a reader capable of reading this section, I found that it vastly deepened my appreciation of the opera. Lulu is really one vast world of music, with powerful connections between its parts. So, any reasonably bookish fan of this opera would benefit greatly from Jarman’s handbook.
All facets of the work are presented here: the original theatre plays by Frank Wedekind that served as its basis, how Berg adapted the plays into a single three-act opera, the intricate formal strategies that he used to create the music, and the opera’s performance history after Berg’s death. The orchestration of Act III of Lulu was never finished, nor would the composer’s widow allow a completion, leading to only the two-act torso being performed until the late 1970s. Friedrich Cerha was finally able to complete the third act, but many fans have wondered just how much work was left to be done, and if Cerha had to create any new, original material on his part. Jarman covers this entire episode and notes precisely what Cerha had to fill in (not much at all, it turns out).
Jarman has some harsh words for Regietheater productions of Lulu, i.e. the infamous modern stagings that choose to throw out the original stage design and stage directions from the 1930s in favour of some new theatrical vision, a choice these directions often excuse by claiming that it reveals more closely the composer’s vision. Jarman notes that Berg was unusually specific about how he wanted this work staged, and this design and action interfaces very closely with his music, so any production that alters the composer’s plans is really robbing audiences of part of the opera.
Most of this book is written in a very friendly tone and with non-technical language. However, in his analysis of the music itself, Jarman naturally cannot help but be very technical as he elucidates how the individual characters have distinct vocal lines derived from the twelve-tone serial system, how Act I follows sonata form, how the closing scene recapitulates key themes, etc. But as a reader capable of reading this section, I found that it vastly deepened my appreciation of the opera. Lulu is really one vast world of music, with powerful connections between its parts. So, any reasonably bookish fan of this opera would benefit greatly from Jarman’s handbook.
December 1, 2018
Good and enough serched guide. Berg's note give us the opera is very hard structured .
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews