AustLit

Operetta.

Australian-born composer George Clutsam raised his standing within British light opera circles when this collaboration with composer Hubert Bath and librettist Basil Hood premiered in 1916. The story concerns the patriotism and love, of spirit and adventure, of several famous names associated with England during the reign of Elizabeth I. Although a number of Australian newspapers reported on the London premiere in the week that followed, most were based on the brief information cable by their respective London correspondents. The par below, published in the Register (Adelaide) is typical of these reports:

A PATRIOTIC OPERA. LONDON, December 24. Mr. Basil Hood's patriotic three-act light opera, Young England, the music of which was written by Mr. Hubert Bath and Mr. G. Clutsam, has been given an enthusiastic reception at Daly's Theatre. The newspapers pronounce it a great success, and describe the opera as characerized by the breezy spirit of the old English romance. It introduces Admiral Drake and other Elizabethan heroes, also Good Queen Bess herself. The piece includes some stirring airs and dainty love songs. The [London] Referee describes the score as' of high scholarly quality, and says the music is "charmingly tuneful and graceful, the nearest thing to the late Sir Arthur Sullivan we have had for years" ("Patriotic Opera," p.9).

An extensive selection of songs from the opera appeared on gramophone records at the time, with the better known songs being : 'Sweethearts and Wives,' arguably the opera's biggest success ; 'I Love a Man' (Betty) and 'The April of My Heart' (George). The Age critic, writing of the 1928 Melbourne production, says in relation to the music : Extremely bright and skilfully designed, [it] has been composed... [by] two musicians who [know] how to be intelligible without being weak' ("Young England: Pleasing," p.11).

Opera.

Adapted by Rudolf Lothar from his own play, King Harlequin was given its world premiere in Berlin, Germany under the title König Harlekin. The little that Australians new about this opera during the early 1910s came from a Sydney Morning Herald column, "Music and Drama" (21 December 1912) which published comments forwarded to its office by ex-Sydney resident Viola Agnew (then living in Europe). Her correspondence also includes extracts published in several Berlin newspapers. According to one critic the opera is 'a riddling satire,' which explores the 'blind acceptance of an impostor as a blue-blooded monarch.' In this regard 'King Harlequin exposes the hollow nature of all worldly status and countenances the wildest democracy.'

The libretto, described as having been written in the romantic opera tradition of The Prisoner of Zenda, deals with the friendship between a witty court jester, Harlequin, who is in love with the maiden Columbine, and Bohemund, next in line to the throne of Lusitania, who strangely resemble each other. Upon the death of the king, and amidst the crisis of state that is caused, Harlequin discovers that his friend is also in love with Columbine. They fight, and Harlequin accidentally kills Bohemund. To save himself, he assumes the role of the Prince, and informs the court that he has killed the jester in a quarrel. His deception is aided by the fact that the queen is both blind and grief-stricken. Columbine, too, is grief-stricken, as she was also in love with Harlequin, and now believes him dead at the hands of the new king. The opera ends when the new, inexperienced, court jester fails to entertain the court in the proper manner. The impostor King shows him how it should be done, to the astonishment of the court. Only Columbine recognises the truth, however. Harlequin thus philosophises: 'Over all things exist ends and boundaries, only in love not. When man for love dies, begins man first to live' (p4).

With regard to the music, Miss Agnew writes : 'A great sensation has been caused in English musical circles by the remarkable success accorded to Mr George Clutsam... on the performance of his opera King Harlequin... The German critics have metaphorically shaken Mr Clutsam by the hand. The Tageblatt, for example, comments on "the fine instrumentation, the musical adaptation of sound with event [and] the whole agile adjustment." Another critic, writing for the Berliner Zeitung, is quoted as having said : "Mr Clutsam's intimate study of Puccini, Strauss and Debussy have molded his work... it is piquant, yet classical and withal original... The cynical force permeating the whole work of [librettist] Lothar finds an echo in the strength and virility of the composer"' (p.4).

Not surprisingly, New Zealand accorded Clutsam's achievement more coverage. The Press newspaper, for example, published an article on the opera in December 1912. In it the paper's London Correspondent provides a synopsis of the libretto and some background on the creation of the work, as well as some responses by the Berlin music critics:

New Zealand will, indeed, be unworthy of her sons if she fails to do honour to Mr George H. Clutsam, whose achievement in Berlin is something of an international musical event. After numerous postponements Mr Clutsam's opera King Harlequin, was produced at the handsome new Kurfursten Opera House in Berlin on Friday night, and to the Aucklander belongs the distinction of being the first British composer to have a serious opera produced for the first time in the German capital for many years. Great credit is due to the Director of the Kurfurstcn, Herr Palfly, for his courage, for musical Germany - and particularly musical Berlin - is inclined to guard its frontiers somewhat jealously. Berlin is apt to look coldly on opera from abroad, especially from England, so that the cordial reception given to the composer at the close - he was called three times before the curtain - may be regarded as an unusual compliment to the merits of the production ("New Zealander's Triumph," p.10).

Interestingly, although the opera was well-received by the German critics, King Harlequin has never been performed in Britain. No performances have yet been located in New Zealand or Australia either.

Operetta.

Taken from one of the Heptameron tales - a collection of 72 short stories written in French by Marguerite, Queen of Navarre (1492-1549) - A Summer Night is set in Tuscony. The story begins at sunset and ends at dawn and concerns five characters, Facio, a farmer ; his friend Niccolo ; Toni, a peasant muleteer ; Lucretia, Facio's wife ; and Lisa, a servant to Facio who is betrothed to Toni. The action revolves around Facio and Niccolo's attempt to see whether or not Lisa might make herself available to one of them. Niccolo wagers he will that night obtain from her proof that she is accessible - the proof being the wedding ring that Facio presented her as a wedding present. Facio arranges a meeting with the young girl under the chestnut tree when it is dark and Niccolo takes his place. Lisa consents to the meeting but then confides in her mistress, Lucretia, who, unaware that the men have swapped places, takes the girl's place in the dark. A confusion of events ensues - Facio discovers in the morning that Niccolo has secured not Lisa's ring but his wife's, and Lucretia discovers that it was her husband's friend who made love to her. A happy ending is found in the early morning, but not before recriminations and mutual discoveries are exposed.

The Pall Mall Gazette critic indicates that the plot, although containing a quality of amusement that redeemed it, nevertheless seemed to suffer in its translation from the page to the stage. 'One [feels, however], that the opera as a whole [is] lacking in cohesion... it was not until the climax of the action occurred that the attention was properly held' (p4). The Times viewed the production similarly, suggesting that several incidents were not fully explained, and indeed, became somewhat confusing in their presentation. Both critics also agreed that Clutsam's music, while not setting new standards or inviting new directions, did on the other hand carry 'the business of the scenes with complete success' (Times 25 July 1910, p13). The Pall Mall Gazette records in this regard that 'the music occasionally seemed to lack grip [dramatically]... but from the general view is without doubt a very clever piece of work... essentially melodious, harmonically fanciful and married throughout by a thorough and complete attention to detail, while the scoring... [shows] an admirable knowledge of true effect' (p4). A report in the Brisbane Courier quotes on London critic as saying: 'Mr Clutsam's scoring is pointed, fanciful to a degree, picturesque, even humorous when occasion requires, and above all things, it comes off' (24 September 1910, p12). A few weeks earlier the Sydney Morning Herald suggested that 'being a modern opera, A Summer Night contains scarcely anything of the set air variety, but a great deal of genuine melody, well assisted by the composer's unfailing orchestral source' (10 September 1910, p4).