The Silent Woman

...Die Schweigsame Frau did not altogether disappear during those dark years, some foreign productions were mounted...

...As for trios, Die schweigsame Frau has one-for soprano, tenor and bass -at the close of the second act Although unlike the Rosenkavalier trio, it is not a set piece, m its quieter way it is a moonlit marvel-with Henry holding his own gentle Aminta in his arms while "guarding" his uncle's door against the wild new bride At one magical point, the floating top and the hovering bottom lines are a full four octaves apart...

...Then Henry, his long-lost nephew, bursts into the room over the objections of the housekeeper Unheard from since he abandoned his studies in Italy, he has joined an Italian opera company that has come to London to perform in the famous theaters of Haymarket When Morosus discovers that Henry's friends are a troupe of singers, not troops of soldiers, and that Henry is not only a singer himself but married to a singer as well, his joy turns to outrage He disinherits his nephew and orders Cutbeard to find a silent woman to be his wife and sole heir Against Henry's extravagant professions of loyalty to his friends, Cutbeard reveals the extent of the Morosus fortune and hatches apian He will introduce Henry's wife Aminta to Morosus as the retiring Timida, the marriage will be performed by disguised members of the company, and once Timida has made the old man's life a hell, Henry will "rescue" him and be reinstated as heir To the satisfaction of all, the scheme works its magic...

...The title role is at once among the loveliest and fiercest in the lighter Strauss canon It calls for a singer who can spin an arching lyric phrase, yet is unfazed by florid displays and stratospheric tessitura, the tone throughout her range must be of melting sweetness and purity, yet of sufficient weight to dominate massed vocal and orchestral ensembles Where is such a singer...

...The circumstances of the premiere were not auspicious The year was 1935, and Stefan Zweig, Strauss' new librettist (Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the Austrian poet who collaborated with the composer on such masterpieces as Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Frau ohne Schatten, had died in 1929) was Jewish Against Strauss' express demands, Zweig's name was deleted from the first-night program, and the poet refused to work with the composer ever again Hitler, who was expected at the Dresden gala, did not appear After a few more performances, the opera was withdrawn-passed over, as it were, in silence and not released for revival there until 1945...

...Alas, Jeanette Scovotti does not altogether fill the bill But for its delicate inflections, silvery sound and dramatic truth (both in serenity and rage), her performance is one to admire If at times the letter of the score taxes her, she is not out of touch with its spirit...

...Many of the ensembles are more boisterous-for example, when the opera troupe, done up as sailors, barge in to bring the retired captain their rowdy congratulations Still, those pages of the score are straightforward compared to the opening of the third act, where Tirnida is in full swing bossing workmen about and punishing her new husband's eardrums with an exuberant singing lesson The scene is a miracle of busyness and carefully plotted cacophony, including a speaking role for a parrot who pierces the general clatter with rhythmic cries of "Kora Kora Kakadu ". The Singing Master-henry in disguise-announces that Madame will perform "the aria from Monteverdi's Incoronazione di Poppea," and the libretto and score both offer the helpful note that a second selection, a duet, comes from another Venetian opera of the 17th century, Legrenzi's Eteocle e Polinice These indications seem to be mere acknowledgements of debts, yet Strauss is not borrowing If his use of Legrenzi (who remains obscure) is as willful as his use of Monteverdi, the setting for the old text is as good as wholly original For the so-called aria from Poppea is, in Poppea, no aria at all, it is the beginning of the delightful buffo duet, "Sento un certo non so che " Strauss departs from its simple melody within the first line, tossing in a wild leap to a high C-sharp, after that the distortions of text, phrase and rhythm deviate so spectacularly from Monteverdi that the old song vanishes altogether behind the limpid grace of the new one...

...The new recording of Die schweigsame Frau originates m Dresden, the city that once served as the center of the Strauss tradition Unfortunately, times have changed and the Staatskapelle Dresden is no longer the fine-tuned instrument the composer knew Under Marek Janowski, who is by no means insensitive to the work's wealth of shifting moods, the orchestra provides a clear sense of the sweep of the score but fails to convey its beautifully textured craftsmanship Nor is the singing all on the high level the work demands...

...The action is set in a London suburb around 1780, where Sir Morosus, a former captain in the Royal Navy and a man of great wealth, lives in retirement Although he can bear no noise, he somehow cannot keep peace and quiet inside his own four walls His talkative housekeeper of 17 years has matrimonial designs on him, and as the curtain rises, tries unsuccessfully to persuade Cutbeard, his barber, to put the idea into the old man's head During the row that ensues, Morosus enters in his usual dudgeon against noise-makers Cutbeard urges him to replace the chatterbox housekeeper with a young, silent wife Morosus, after succumbing to the daydream of domestic bliss, quickly returns to the conviction that his age precludes any such union...

...On Music THE SILENT WOMAN BY M. ANATOLE GUREWITSCH Richard Strauss' delightful Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman), the joke is on one Sir Morosus, an elderly gentleman who cannot stand any noise Minutes after signing a marriage contract, Tirnida, the shy creature he has taken for a wife, explodes into song, and the court refuses to grant the poor victim a divorce The tale is taken from Ben Jonson's Epicoene, or The Silent Woman, a learned comedy of savage brilliance The opera is brilliant, too, though not savage, its genial sparkle and conciliatory eloquence should by now have won a place in the international repertoire...

...Brava, brava'" cries Henry, "Ma piu mosso, piu passionate'" ("But more movement, more fire'") Timida obliges with more elaborate flights than before, spangling Henry's melting restatement of her most lyric passage with flashing coloratura Morosus breaks in to plead on his knees for silence The singers take no notice of him When they reach the end of their first selection, Timida launches straight into another, unfurling her phrase in the few beats of orchestral truce like a banner of war The meter shifts from the even 4/4 of the first piece to an ardent 3/4 The frenzy increases, and Timida's pitch soars higher and higher Only the arrival of the counterfeit officials of the court, led in by Cutbeard to dissolve the marriage, puts an end to this dizzying tornado...

...But the opera never did manage to overcome its false start and earn a proper recognition Today, only Munich puts it on with much frequency (cities have performing traditions as distinctive as their architecture) Long ago, I saw an unforgettable production in Zurich, starring the American soprano Joan Carroll, who at the time was making a name for herself in the grueling title role of Berg's Lulu In this country I have watched for it in vain, until the appearance of the newly issued world-premiere recording on Angel (SZCX-3867...

...In the gruff passages of the Morossus role, the bass Theo Adam is not bad, he gives a good account of his horror of church bells But the old man is affectionate at heart, his misanthropy stems from loneliness, and much of his music is very tender, notably the final monologue where he is once more in tune with life Adam, regrettably, growls these sections, too Eberhard Buchner, who sings Henry, is slightly better What his firm, well-focused tenor lacks in sheen he partly makes up for with his commendable expressiveness Vanuzzi, the head of the troupe, is performed by Werner Haseleu, whose eerie churchyard bass is deployed to excellent effect in his magisterial judicial pronouncements, particularly the one set to a strain from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (This borrowing, unlike the operatic ones previously mentioned, is straight) But the most polished male performance is baritone Wolfgang Schone's as the barber, a latter-day Figaro of great agility and rakish charm...

...The musical language of Die schweigsame Frau is especially varied and rich, combining the spoken word, the patter of quick parlando, arioso, and rhapsodic lyric effusion with a seamlessness rare even in Strauss A particular glory of the score, however, are the many ensembles, both for their dramatic aptness and their expressive range Indeed, the virtually unknown sextet that follows the signing of the false wedding contract can justly be compared to Strauss' more famous-vet no more divinely inspired-trio ensemble from the final act of Rosenkavalier, and it is less perilously set for the singers The three sopranos in the Rosenkavalier do not climb higher than a B-natural, it is true, while Aminta sails way up to a sustained high E-flat But the radiance of Aminta's line (provided she has an easy E-flat) is offset by the darker color of an alto and four male voices, effectively eliminating the glaring competition of soprano against soprano in very close quarters that routinely mars the execution of the Rosenkavalier ensemble, moreover, the wider range of voices in itself is a pleasure to the ear...