Magyar News, 1998. szeptember-1999. augusztus (9. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1998-11-01 / 3. szám
Gusztáv Oláh ’s design of the stageset for “Bluebeards Castle. A MEMORABLE RE-VISIT OF EluebearcTs Castle Bela Bartók's "Bluebeard’s Castle" (Kékszakállú Herceg Vára) was written in 1911. The world premier was in 1918 at the Royal Hungarian Opera. Although appreciated by the younger members of the audience, the performance was not an immediate success. The work was redrawn from public performances for a period of time; the Hungarian public did not understand or appreciate the opera and proceeded to ignore it for a number of decades. Finally, in October 1936, the Royal Hungarian Opera House restaged "Bluebeard", and the premiere proved to be a tremendous success: Bartók had to appear before the curtain more than ten times. "Bluebeard's Castle" its now regarded as the greatest masterpiece of Hungarian opera. Actually it is not an opera in the traditional sense, rather it its a mystery play , or to use a more appropriately correct description: it is a ballad adapted to stage. The opera has only two characters: Bluebeard and his new bride, Judith. The main musical role is assigned to the orchestra. The instruments; relate everything: description of the visual spectacles behind the doors and the drama of conflicting , almost agonizing emotions manifested by the protagonists. The orchestral writing portrays the drama of the eternal conflict between Man and Woman, the drama of the human soul. The opera contains all the musical elements that had determined Bartók's art until 1911: it is characterized by synthesis of Hungarian folk music, romantic musical effects and impressionistic influences. Having achieved a remarkable musical goal, it is obvious that Bartók is searching for an entirely new musical language, at the same time. The action takes place in Bluebeard’s castle where Bluebeard has just returned with his new bride. Judith finds the place to be too dark, too dank and foreboding. She demands that the doors she had discovered be opened one by one; she demands to get the seven keys to the seven doors. Bluebeard resists for a while but eventually gives the keys to Judith. Judith discovers the secrets of Bluebeard’s past : the treasury with stains of blood, the torture chamber, the lake of tears among these. Even the garden behind one of the doors has flowers dripping with blood. Bluebeard's glory is revealed when Judith opens the fifth door; she finds a vast, majestic Kingdom stretching to the horizon; the orchestral writing depicting this scene is truly overwhelming and powerful. The seventh door reveals Bluebeard’s most guarded secret: the apparition of his three previous wives. Judith has to join these Poster for the World Premier of Béla Bartók's Opera, the “Bluebeard's Castle” in May 24, 1918, in Budapest. women, doomed to exist in eternal darkness. Early this year a group of us was treated to a remarkable cultural experience when Prof. Imre Földes and Miss Katalin Hegedűs /Gönczi/ visited us in Cheshire. Professor Földes gave a thorough analysis and evaluation of "Bluebeard's Castle”. He illustrated this remarkable musical journey with excerpts from the 1956 recording of Bartók’s opera. (The roles in this recording are sung by Mihály Székely and Klára Palánkay.) Professor Földes, a professor of music history at the Ferenc Liszt Academy, proved to be fluent, witty and inspiring teacher-lecturer. He realized that his audience did not include many musically trained individuals; consequently, his approach was populist in character; at the same time, he maintained persistently high standards in his conclusions. Miss Hegedűs Gönczi, an academy-trained musician-pianist, provided remarkable musical accompliment, impromptu comments on the piano. Professor Földes painstakingly analyzed the musical elements of struggle between Judith and Bluebeard; his presentation was most entertaining at the same time. He shared the opinion of many excerpts regarding the fink "Bluebeard’s Castle” offered to psychoanalysis. The attempt to discover the secrets of an individual's past, frequently at unpredictable risk, is remarkably portrayed in Bartók's opera, in effective musical form. We are indebted to Professor Földes and Miss Hegedűs for sharing their musical knowledge, scholarship and experience with us. We expressed our gratitude to them during the time we had spent with them, repeatedly. This cultural event proved to be a lasting experience for all present; for many of us it became an amazing "eye-opener." Balázs B. Somogyi ■ Kezdet«» 7 AraRor. ■ Page 7
