Lulu

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008)

Operas by Alban Berg
Wozzeck (1925) Lulu (1937)
v • d • e

Lulu is an opera by the composer Alban Berg. The libretto was adapted by Berg himself from Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist (Earth Spirit, 1895) and Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora's Box, 1904).

Conception and composition

Berg first saw Die Büchse der Pandora in 1905 in a production by Karl Kraus, but did not begin work on his opera until 1929, after he had completed his other opera, Wozzeck. He worked steadily on the score until 1935, when the death of Manon Gropius, the daughter of Walter Gropius and Alma Mahler, prompted him to break off work to write his Violin Concerto.

Berg completed the violin concerto swiftly, but the time he spent on that meant he was unable to complete the opera before his death later in 1935 – he had completed the work up to bar 268 of Act III, Scene 1, leaving the rest of the work in short score with indications of instrumentation for much of it.

The opera was first performed by the Zurich Opera in an incomplete form in 1937.^[1] Erwin Stein made a vocal score of the whole of Act III following Berg's death, and Helene Berg, Alban's widow, approached Arnold Schoenberg to complete the orchestration. Schoenberg at first accepted, but upon being sent copies of Berg's sketches he changed his mind, saying that it would be a more time-consuming task than he had thought. Helene subsequently forbade anybody else to complete the opera, and for over forty years only the first two acts could be given complete, sometimes with parts of Berg's Lulu Suite played in place of Act III.^{[citation needed]} The last recording made of the original two-act version —Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, with Anja Silja in the title role (Decca/London, recorded 1976 and released 1978)— presented it in this form.

Director Heinz Ruckert shot the silent film featured at the midpoint according to Berg's exacting specifications. The film wordlessly depicts Lulu's arrest, trial, incarceration, and ultimate liberation thanks to the cunning of the Countess Geschwitz. Like the music for this sequence (and the opera as a whole), the film has a palindromic structure. The original film is lost save for four stills which remain in the Zurich Stadtarchiv.^[2] Each successive production requires a new film to be shot with the stage actors.

In its two-act form plus sketches of the third act, Lulu made its American debut at the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico during the 1963 season, with the American soprano Joan Carroll in the title role. However, the Opera's innovative general director, John Crosby, had attempted to negotiate an arrangement whereby Santa Fe would stage the American premiere of the full three-act opera, but it did not materialize at that time.^[1]

Helene's death in 1976, just six months before the Metropolitan Opera was due to present the American premiere^[1], paved the way for a new completed version to be made by Friedrich Cerha. Published in 1979, this version premiered on February 24 of the same year at the Opera Garnier and was conducted by Pierre Boulez, with Teresa Stratas singing the lead role; the production was a sensation and the recording won the Gramophone Award for 1979. The Santa Fe Opera's John Crosby had previously negotiated with the opera's publisher, Alfred Kalmus of Universal Editions, to present the American premiere of the complete version and "on July 28th 1979, nearly forty-four years after Berg's death, Lulu was finally performed in its entireity in this country" ^[1].

Sopranos who have sung the extremely demanding title role include Anja Silja (who later sang the Countess Geschwitz), Julia Migenes, Teresa Stratas, Evelyn Lear, Nancy Shade, Karan Armstrong, Christine Schäfer and Marlis Petersen.

Roles

Synopsis

Prologue

A circus ringmaster introduces the various animals in his menagerie. The last is Lulu herself, who is carried on stage and introduced as a snake, tamed by human reason.

Act 1

Scene 1 In a painter's studio

Lulu, the wife of Dr. Goll (who addresses Lulu as Nelly), an elderly doctor, is having her portrait painted. Dr. Schön, a newspaper editor, is also present. Alwa, a musician and Dr. Schön's son, arrives. He excuses himself because he has to leave for rehearsal, and he and Dr. Schön leave. Alone with Lulu, the Painter makes heavy passes at her; she rejects him initially but then agrees to have sex. Dr. Goll unexpectly walks in, and finding Lulu alone with the Painter, suddenly collapses and dies of a heart attack. The Painter goes to call a doctor, Lulu is left with the corpse of her husband and reflects that she is now rich.

Scene 2 In Lulu's apartment

Lulu has now married the Painter (who addresses Lulu as Eva), who has been very successful since their marriage. She receives several pieces of mail from various admirers (one of them a woman) and a telegram announcing Dr. Schön's engagement, which seems to trouble her. She is visited by Schigolch, a tramp who seems to have featured in her past in some unspecified way and may even be her father (He is the only one who addresses Lulu by her name, since all men in her life call her as they wish). Dr. Schön arrives, referring to Schigolch as Lulu's father. He has come to ask Lulu to stay out of his life from now on, since he is now engaged and it would be scandalous for them to see each other socially. She is unmoved by his request and leaves after her husband, the Painter, arrives because they were engaging in a heated discussion. Dr. Schön tells the Painter about their affair (he reveals that he has known her since she was 12 years old and that he rescued her from the gutter and that he addresses her as Mignon but that he actually does not know her real name). Schön reveals that he is the only reason for the Painter's success, since he has been purchasing all his paintings to afford Lulu a comfortable life, and insists he confront his wife about it. The Painter leaves, ostensibly to confront Lulu, but instead, he slits his own throat in the bathroom. Alwa arrives, revolution has broken in Paris and the newspaper is trying to cope with the information that is coming, he helps Dr. Schön open the bathroom door. Lulu appears to be unmoved by this suicide, and simply tells Dr. Schön "You'll marry me all the same", as the police arrives.

Scene 3 In Lulu's dressing room

Lulu is now working as a successful dancer. She is sitting in her dressing room with Alwa. The two discuss various things, including a Prince who is in love with Lulu and wants to marry her. Lulu leaves to take the stage, Alwa contemplates writing an opera based on Lulu's life but as he draws out the scenes he comes to the conclusion that they are too gruesome. Suddenly the alarm goes off and Lulu returns after having "fainted" on stage, but she actually refuses to go on because Dr. Schön and his fiancée are in the audience. Dr. Schön comes in to try to convince her to perform. When the two are left alone, she tells Schön that she is thinking of leaving with the Prince for Africa. Dr. Schön realises that he cannot live without her and is convinced by Lulu to write a letter to his fiancée breaking off his engagement, which Lulu herself dictates. Lulu then calmly continues with the show.

Act 2

Scene 1 In Lulu's house

Lulu has now married Dr. Schön, who is full of jealousy over her many admirers. One of them, the lesbian Countess Geschwitz (the only other character who addresses Lulu by her name), visits her to invite her to a ball, but leaves in the face of Dr. Schön's disapproval. Lulu tries to convince Schön to go out for a stroll but he refuses, because it is his day at the Stock Exchange. When the two go out, the Countess returns and hides. Dr. Schön also comes back and hides in a different place. Two other admirers, the Acrobat and the Schoolboy, also enter, and all begin to talk to Lulu when she returns. An usher announces the return of Dr. Schön, all but Lulu hide, but it is Dr. Alwa Schön who arrives. They begin having lunch and Alwa declares his love for Lulu (whom he addresses as Mignon). Dr. Schön "returns" and spots the Acrobat and begins a long argument with Lulu, during the course of which he discovers the other admirers. He gives Lulu a revolver, and orders her to kill herself, but when the Schoolboy comes out from under the table he is distracted and she shoots Schön instead. The police arrive to arrest Lulu for the murder despite her pleas to Alwa to let her remain free.

Interlude

The interlude consists of a silent film (accompanied by Berg's palindromic score). In it, we see Lulu's arrest, trial, conviction and imprisonment. Then we see her deliberately contract cholera and be transferred to hospital. The Countess Geschwitz visits her, and gives her her clothes, so that Lulu can escape disguised as her.

Scene 2 The same place as Scene 1, some years later

The Countess Geschwitz, Alwa and the Acrobat are awaiting Schigolch, who will take the Countess to the hospital. She is going to sacrifice her own freedom by taking Lulu's place so that nobody will discover she has escaped until it is too late. The Acrobat says he is going to marry Lulu and move with her to Paris where the two will work in an act together. Schigolch arrives and asks for a breath (he is asthmatic) before she leaves Alwa offers the Countess a lot of money to cover her expenses but she refuses, she leaves with Schigolch. Alwa and the Acrobat discuss about the former's offer but are interrupted by the Schoolboy who has just come out of prison and has also devised a scheme to free Lulu. Alwa and the Acrobat lie to him by saying that Lulu is dead, he leaves heartbroken. Lulu arrives but seems very ill from her disease that the Acrobat abandons his plan and goes off saying that he will summon the police instead. Schigolch goes to buy train tickets, and left alone with Alwa, Lulu seduces him again, they declare their love for each other and agree to go away together. She passingly remarks that they are making love on the very sofa where Dr. Schön bled to death.

Act 3

Scene 1 In Lulu's luxurious house in Paris

The scene is a party in a casino. Lulu is being blackmailed by the Acrobat and a Marquis who wants to sell her to a Cairo brothel; she is still wanted for Dr. Schön's murder in Germany and they will turn her in if she does not do as they say. Schigolch arrives, asking for money. She convinces the Countess to lure the Acrobat away to a hotel where Schilgolch will murder him. The Marquis has left for the police. After they have gone, news arrives that shares in the railway, which the party guests all owned and had so much confidence in, have crashed. The party quickly breaks up, and in the confusion, Lulu manages to change clothes with a young waiter. She escapes with Alwa just before the police arrive to recapture her.

Scene 2 In Lulu's room in London

Lulu and Alwa are now living with Schigolch in poverty and are on the run. Lulu is working as a prostitute. She arrives with a client, a creepy professor (played by the same actor as Dr. Goll, Lulu's first husband). The Countess Geschwitz then arrives with the portrait of Lulu which she has brought from Paris. Alwa hangs it on the wall. Lulu goes out and returns with another client, the Negro (played by the same actor as the Painter, Lulu's second husband). He refuses to pay in advance and kills Alwa in a struggle. Schigolch removes the body while Geschwitz contemplates suicide, an idea she gives up when she realises that Lulu will not be moved by it. Eventually, Lulu goes out and returns with a third client (played by the same actor as Dr. Schön, Lulu's third husband). He haggles over the price and is about to leave when Lulu decides she will sleep with him for less than her usual fee. This client, who is actually Jack the Ripper, murders Lulu, and then on his way out kills the Countess as well, who swears her love to Lulu as the curtain falls.

Structure

The large-scale structure of Lulu is often said to be like a mirror — Lulu's popularity in the first act is mirrored by the squalor she lives in during Act III, and this is emphasised by Lulu's husbands in Act I being played by the same singers as her clients in Act III.

This mirror-like structure is further emphasised by the film interlude at Act II at the very centre of the work. The events shown in the film are a miniature version of the mirror structure of the opera as a whole (Lulu enters prison and then leaves again) and the music accompanying the film is an exact palindrome — it reads the same forwards as backwards. The centre-point of this palindrome is indicated by an arpeggio played on the piano, first rising, then falling (shown here on the top staff):

The tone rows

Although some of Lulu is freely composed, Berg also makes use of his teacher Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique. Rather than using one tone row for the entire work, however, he gives each character his own tone row, meaning that the tone rows act rather like the leitmotivs in Richard Wagner's operas.

Berg's Lulu basic tone row^[3] on C

This is the tone row associated with Lulu herself: B♭, D, E♭, C, F, G, E, F♯, A, G♯, C♯, B

Berg's Lulu Alwa tone row^[3] on C

From this one tone row, Berg derives tone rows for some of the other characters. The tone row associated with Alwa, for example, is arrived at by repeating Lulu's tone row over and over and taking every seventh note, like this: This results in the following tone row: B♭, F♯, E♭, G♯, F, B, E, D, A, C, C♯, G

Berg's Lulu Dr. Schön tone row^[3] on C

Similarly, the tone row associated with Dr. Schön is arrived at by repeating Lulu's tone row (as in the previous example) and taking the first note, missing one note, taking the next, missing two, taking the next, missing three, taking the next, missing three, taking the next, missing two, taking the next, missing one, taking the next, missing one, taking the next, missing two, taking the next, and so on, like this: This results in the following tone row: B♭, E♭, G, G♯, D, F, E, A, B, C, F♯, C♯

Berg's Lulu Schoolboy tone row^[3] on C

References

External links

• Erik Andersen. "Lulu", Alban Berg.
• (German) Discography