The Traveller (multiple role)
Voice of Apollo
Tadzio, a Polish youth
His mother
Synopsis of the plot
Setting: Munich and Venice; 1911
ACT I At home in Munich Aschenbach is weary and disillusioned with his work and unable to write. He decides to travel south to Venice, to try and regain his creative powers. On the boat Aschenbach is surrounded by several young, lighthearted passengers, among whom, incongruously, is an elderly man with rouged cheeks and dyed hair. At his hotel on the Lido, Aschenbach notices a Polish family, including Tadzio, a boy of immense physical beauty to whom he is immediately attracted. On a trip into Venice, Aschenbach finds the city suffocating and claustrophobic, and he decides to cut short his stay. But when his luggage is mistakenly sent to Como instead of back to Germany, he changes his mind and agrees, not unhappily, to stay on. Aschenbach slowly becomes obsessed with Tadzio, barely able to take his eyes off him as he plays games on the beach, and finally admitting to himself that he loves the boy.
ACT II Aschenbach hears rumours of a fever in Venice, but the hotel barber is evasive, and Aschenbach is anxious to conceal the truth from Tadzio’s family in case they leave. As the rumours grow more insistent, Aschenbach’s behaviour becomes more bizarre as he starts to follow Tadzio’s family wherever they go. At last the cholera epidemic is generally acknowledged and the visitors are advised to leave before the city is sealed off. Still Aschenbach does not tell Tadzio’s family; all he cares about is that they will not leave. His thoughts become more heated and intense; he convinces himself that Tadzio understands and even returns his love. To make himself more attractive he has his hair dyed and his face rouged in a ghastly travesty of youth. By now the hotel is almost empty and Aschenbach learns that the Polish family are about to leave. He goes to the beach one last time to watch Tadzio. When the boy falls during a game, Aschenbach calls out his name in anguish before he collapses, dying, in his chair.
Music and Background
This is Britten’s last opera, written with extraordinary refinement for the specific vocal qualities of Peter Pears in the final stage of his singing career. The central role is all-important, rivalled only by that of the baritone who, in a virtuoso performance, takes on seven different characters – all of them agents in the process of advancing Aschenbach towards his death. The orchestration is especially striking: economical, precise but deep-dyed with exotic oriental colouring inspired by the sound of Javanese gamelan music and used to suggest the fatal allure of the boy Tadzio.
Highlights
The power of Death in Venice is cumulative rather than dependent on ‘big’ moments; but the Beach-games Scene at the end of Act I is peculiarly evocative, and the Dream Scene in Act II a disturbing example of stage-trauma. Listen for the rocking, barcarolle motif that literally ferries Aschenbach to his grave.
Did You Know?
Recommended Recording
Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk, James Bowman, English Chamber Orchestra/Steuart Bedford. The original cast recording made in 1974 after the premiere at Snape Maltings, Suffolk.
FORM: Opera in three acts; in English
COMPOSER: Benjamin Britten (1913–76)
LIBRETTO: William Plomer; after Lytton Strachey’s biography
FIRST PERFORMANCE: London, 8 June 1953
Principal Characters
Elizabeth I
Earl of Essex
Frances, Countess of Essex
Lady Penelope Rich, Essex’s sister
Lord Mountjoy
Sir Walter Raleigh, captain of the guard
Sir Robert Cecil, secretary of the council
Synopsis of the Plot
Setting: London and Norwich; the later years of Elizabeth’s reign
ACT I The queen is at a tournament when Essex, hot-blooded and ambitious, provokes a quarrel with Mountjoy, the tournament victor, whom he sees as a rival for the queen’s favour. Elizabeth is displeased at this and urges them to become reconciled. Later, Robert Cecil cautions the queen about showing too much affection for Essex, who is trying to persuade Elizabeth to let him go to Ireland to repress the Tyrone rebellion.
ACT II Elizabeth is making a state visit to Norwich, attended by Essex, who seems impatient of the ceremonials. He is still anxious to set off for Ireland and complains to his wife, Frances, of the queen’s unwillingness to let him go. Frances urges caution, but Essex is confident that he has Elizabeth’s affection and that his power and influence will increase accordingly. Once more in London, Essex instructs his wife to attend a ball in her most extravagant dress, even though Frances knows that this will antagonise the queen. Elizabeth orders some energetic dancing, after which the ladies retire to change their linen. When Frances returns she is in a much more subdued outfit, complaining that her dress has been stolen. And when Elizabeth next appears it is clear who stole it – but the dress is much too small for her and she looks grotesque. Essex’s anger mounts higher and higher at this insult, but the queen mollifies him by finally agreeing that he can go to Ireland as the Lord Deputy.
ACT III Essex has failed to quell the Irish rebellion and is trying to put the blame on his enemies at court. Cecil tells the queen that Essex is stirring up revolt in England and, reluctantly,