Listings
An opera in three acts sung in the original English
First Broadcast Performance in this country
The action takes place in a mountain inn
ACT 1
A spring morning in 1910
THE title of Hans Werner Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers, this year's eagerly awaited Glyndebourne novelty, is also that of the poem which, at the end of the opera, the callous, egocentric Gregor Mittenhofer declaims on his sixtieth birthday before a distinguished audience.
But the words of the poem are never heard, for at this point W. H. Auden's and Chester Kallman's English libretto leaves the composer the task of realising it by purely musical means. Thus the opera culminates in a wordless sextet in which Mittenhofer's baritone vocalisations are joined by the unseen voices of the expendable humans who, throughout the opera, have circled in dutiful orbit around his poetic sun.
These comprise: Hilda (coloratura), a widow, the imagery of whose visions the poet uses in his work; Caroline (contralto), his titled, wealthy, and unpaid secretary on whom he sponges, materially and spiritually; Dr. Reischmann (bass), his equally devoted personal physician; and Elizabeth (soprano), the poet's young mistress.
The resisting satellite is Toni (tenor), the doctor's young son, who falls in love with Elizabeth. Tragedy-set in motion by Mittenhofer-overtakes the romance between the lovers, and inspires the Elegy.
The scene of the opera is set, in the early spring of 1910, at an inn in the Austrian Alps.
Contributors
Libretto by:
W. H.
Auden
Libretto by:
Chester
Kallman
Music By:
Hans Werner
Henze
Orchestra:
Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra
RSO Leader:
Raymond
Cohen
Conducted By:
John
Pritchard
Producer:
Günther
Rennert
Head of Music Staff:
Jani
Strasser
Hild Mack, a widow (soprano):
Dorothy
Dorow
Carolina Gräfin von Kirchstettem, Mittenhofer's Secretary (contralto):
Kerstin
Meyer
Dr. Wilhelm Reischmann, a physician (bass):
Thomas
Hemsley
Toni Reischmann, his son (tenor):
André
Turp
Gregor Mittenhofer, a poet (bass-baritone):
Carlos
Alexander
Elizabeth Zimmer (soprano):
Elisabeth
Soderstrom
Jisef Mauer, an alpine guide:
(spoken part): John
Kentish
A review of books of verse recently published in the U.S.A. by Robert Creeley , J. V. Cunningham Robert Francis. Galway Kinnell Denise Levertov. John Logan
John Frederick Nims. Charles Olson Anne Sexton and Gilbert Sorrentino with selected poems arranged and introduced by DONALD HALL and read by Donald Hall
Marvin Kane , and Sylvia Plath
Mr. Hall reiects the view that possum walked backwards,' that T. S. Eliot betrayed the literary revolution in the 1920s by becoming a member of the English Establishment; but he believes that the widespread acceptance of this view helps to explain the division of contemporary American poets into academics and wild men, ' palefaces and redskins.'
Contributors
Unknown:
Robert
Creeley
Unknown:
J. V.
Cunningham
Unknown:
Robert
Francis.
Unknown:
Denise
Levertov.
Unknown:
John
Logan
Unknown:
John Frederick
Nims.
Unknown:
Charles
Olson
Unknown:
Anne
Sexton
Unknown:
Gilbert
Sorrentino
Introduced By:
Donald
Hall
Read By:
Donald
Hall
Read By:
Marvin
Kane
Read By:
Sylvia
Plath
Unknown:
T. S.
Eliot
Divertimento (K.439b No. 3)
Jost Michaels (clarinet) Hartmut Stute (clarinet) Albert Hennige (bassoon) on a gramophone record
Contributors
Clarinet:
Jost
Michaels
Clarinet:
Hartmut
Stute
Bassoon:
Albert
Hennige
An early Chinese story from Ballads and Stories from Tun-huang translated by Arthur Waley
Read by Michael Aldridge
Introduction by Arthur Waley Produced by David Thomson
: third broadcast followed by an interlude at 7.65 app.
Contributors
Translated By:
Arthur
Waley
Read By:
Michael
Aldridge
Produced By:
David
Thomson
by Andrew Forge
Some reflections occasioned by the exhibition of paintings and drawings by Daumier at present on view in London at the Tate Gallery.
: second broadcast
ACT 3: Scene 1: The next morning Scene 2: A lecture hall, some time later
HENRIQUE MINDLIN , one of the architects engaged in the designing of Brasilia, talks with J. M. RICHARDS , Executive Editor of the Architectural Review, about some of the architectural and economic factors which have influenced this imaginative and spectacular creation of an entirely new capital for Brazil.
: second broadcast
Contributors
Unknown:
Henrique
Mindlin
Unknown:
J. M.
Richards
A piano work in three movements played by Ronald Smith
The composer and title of the work wiU be announced after the performance.
Contributors
Played By:
Ronald
Smith