Kommilitonen!
Encyclopedia
Kommilitonen! is an opera
by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
. The libretto
is by David Pountney
, who was also the director of the premiere performances in March 2011.
, the principal of the Royal Academy of Music
in London, it was at a lunch to celebrate the appointment of Maxwell Davies to the Academy's staff that a suggestion was made that he might be interested in writing an opera for the students to perform. At first, the composer unequivocally declared that his days of composing opera or musical theatre
were over, but he soon changed his mind, with the provisos that:
Pountney's agreeing to write the libretto and direct the opera, and the agreement of the Juilliard School
's President, Joseph W. Polisi
, to the sharing of the commission, set the project in motion. The premiere, designed by Robert Innes Hopkins and conducted by the Academy's Director of Opera, Jane Glover
, took place at the college's Sir Jack Lyons Theatre on 18 March, 2011. The American premiere will take place at the Juilliard School in November 2011.
and his struggle to be admitted to the University of Mississippi
. The second, Die Weisse Rose
, deals with Hans and Sophie Scholl, students at the University of Munich who exposed Nazi
atrocities, and the third, Soar to Heaven, depicts students who were forced to denounce their parents during the Cultural Revolution
in China. This story is based on part of John Pomfret
's book Chinese Lessons
. The three stories come together at the end of the opera.
Act 2
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
. The libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
is by David Pountney
David Pountney
David Pountney is a British theatre and opera director and librettist internationally known for his productions of rarely performed operas and new productions of classic works...
, who was also the director of the premiere performances in March 2011.
Genesis
According to Professor Jonathan Freeman-AttwoodJonathan Freeman-Attwood
Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood BMus, MPhil, Hon RAM is the Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in the United Kingdom.He studied at Milton Abbey School, then University of Toronto and Christ Church, Oxford...
, the principal of the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
in London, it was at a lunch to celebrate the appointment of Maxwell Davies to the Academy's staff that a suggestion was made that he might be interested in writing an opera for the students to perform. At first, the composer unequivocally declared that his days of composing opera or musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
were over, but he soon changed his mind, with the provisos that:
- the opera must be about students,
- David Pountney must be involved, and
- the opera should be commissioned in collaboration with another college.
Pountney's agreeing to write the libretto and direct the opera, and the agreement of the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
's President, Joseph W. Polisi
Joseph W. Polisi
Joseph Polisi is the president of the Juilliard School, a position he has held since 1984 which he assumed upon the death of his predecessor, Peter Mennin. Son of William Polisi , he was instrumental in the construction of the Juilliard Residence Hall, and has focused his tenure on "community...
, to the sharing of the commission, set the project in motion. The premiere, designed by Robert Innes Hopkins and conducted by the Academy's Director of Opera, Jane Glover
Jane Glover
Jane Glover CBE is a British-born conductor and music scholar.-Early life:Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover MA TD,was headmaster of Monmouth School and it was through this connection that she was able to meet Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears...
, took place at the college's Sir Jack Lyons Theatre on 18 March, 2011. The American premiere will take place at the Juilliard School in November 2011.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
World Premiere cast, Royal Academy of Music Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas... 18 March 2011 (Conductor: Jane Glover Jane Glover Jane Glover CBE is a British-born conductor and music scholar.-Early life:Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover MA TD,was headmaster of Monmouth School and it was through this connection that she was able to meet Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears... ) |
American Premiere cast, Juilliard School Juilliard School The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905... 16 November 2011 (Conductor: Anne Manson) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Oxford Revolution | |||
| James Meredith | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Marcus Farnsworth | Will Liverman |
| Voice of Pokayne | baritone | Jonathan McGovern | Tobias Greenhalgh |
| Die Weisse Rose | |||
| Sophie Scholl Sophie Scholl Sophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans... |
soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Aoife Miskelly | Deanna Breiwick |
| Hans Scholl Hans Scholl Hans Fritz Scholl was a founding member of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany.-Biography:... , her brother |
baritone | Johnny Herford | Alexander Hajek |
| Willi Graf Willi Graf Willi Graf was a member of the White Rose resistance group in Nazi Germany.... |
bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
Frederick Long | Leo Radosavljevic |
| Christoph Probst Christoph Probst Christoph Hermann Probst was a German student of medicine and a member of the White Rose resistance group.-White Rose:... /The Evangelist |
tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Andrew Dickinson | Noah Baetge |
| Alexander Schmorell Alexander Schmorell Alexander Schmorell was one of five Munich University students who formed a resistance group known as White Rose which was active against Germany's Nazi regime from June 1942 to February 1943.-Early life:Schmorell's father, a medical doctor, was a German born and raised in Russia... /The Grand Inquisitor Grand Inquisitor Grand Inquisitor is the lead official of an Inquisition. The most famous Inquisitor General is the Spanish Dominican Tomás de Torquemada, who spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition.-List of Spanish Grand Inquisitors:-Castile:-Aragon:... |
bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
John-Owen Miley-Read | Aubrey Allicock |
| First Clerk/Prison Guard | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Irina Gheorghiu | Laetitia De Beck Spitzer |
| Second Clerk/Gestapo Officer 1/Janitor | baritone | Jonathan McGovern | Takaoki Onishi |
| Gestapo Officer 2 | baritone | Maximilian Führig | Tobias Greenhalgh |
| Soar to Heaven | |||
| Li Jingji (Mother) | mezzo-soprano | Irina Gheorghiu | Lacey Jo Benter |
| Wu Tianshi (Father) | baritone | Jonathan McGovern | Jeongcheol Cha |
| Wu (Son) | soprano | Katie Bray | Wallis Guinta |
| Li (Daughter) | mezzo-soprano | Belinda Williams | Heather Engebretson |
| Two Younger Children | sopranos | Hannah Bradbury, Annie Rago | |
| Zhou (Red Guard) | soprano | Ruth Jenkins | Karen Vuong |
| Red Army Officer 1 | mezzo-soprano | Belinda Williams | |
| Doctor/Red Army Officer 2 | mezzo-soprano | Laura Kelly | |
| Red Army Officer 3 | mezzo-soprano | Irina Gheorghiu | |
| Puppets | silent | Blind Summit Theatre | |
| Chorus of American, German and Chinese students and other citizens | |||
Synopsis
The opera, which has twenty-eight scenes, tells three true stories. One, The Oxford Revolution, is about James MeredithJames Meredith
James H. Meredith is an American civil rights movement figure, a writer, and a political adviser. In 1962, he was the first African American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi, an event that was a flashpoint in the American civil rights movement. Motivated by President...
and his struggle to be admitted to the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
. The second, Die Weisse Rose
White Rose
The White Rose was a non-violent/intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor...
, deals with Hans and Sophie Scholl, students at the University of Munich who exposed Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
atrocities, and the third, Soar to Heaven, depicts students who were forced to denounce their parents during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
in China. This story is based on part of John Pomfret
John Pomfret (journalist)
John Pomfret is an American journalist and writer. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in New York. He attended Stanford University, receiving his B.A. and M.A. in East Asian Studies. In 1980, he was one of the first American students to go to China and study at Nanjing University...
's book Chinese Lessons
Chinese Lessons
Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China recounts John Pomfret's experiences and perspectives about the then opening China during his attendance of Nanjing University in 1980, during one of the first student exchange programs between the United States and China.It was first...
. The three stories come together at the end of the opera.
Scenes
Act 1- Last Sortie (The Oxford Revolution)
- Stamps (Die Weisse Rose)
- Slogans I (Die Weisse Rose)
- Wall Painting (Die Weisse Rose)
- Slogans II (Soar to Heaven)
- My Father (The Oxford Revolution)
- Liederabend (Die Weisse Rose)
- Denunciation (Soar to Heaven)
- Directories (Die Weisse Rose)
- Envelopes (Die Weisse Rose)
- The First Leaflet (Die Weisse Rose)
- The Duplicator (Die Weisse Rose)
- The Train (Die Weisse Rose)
- Rabbits (The Oxford Revolution)
- Eyewitness I (Soar to Heaven)
- Eyewitness II (Die Weisse Rose)
- Wu Comes Home (Soar to Heaven)
- Naming of the Guard (Soar to Heaven)
Act 2
- Riot (The Oxford Revolution)
- The Grand Inquisitor (Die Weisse Rose)
- Quingming (Soar to Heaven)
- Arrest (Die Weisse Rose)
- Party (Soar to Heaven)
- Registration (The Oxford Revolution)
- Dream
- Epilogue
- Execution (Die Weisse Rose)
- Finale
Instrumentation
The opera requires:- about forty musicians in the pit (strings, piccolo, flutes, oboes, cor anglais, clarinets, bass clarinet, bassoons, contrabassoon, horns, trumpets, trombones, timpani, percussion)
- an on-stage marching band for some of the Chinese scenes (piccolo, oboe, cor anglaises, cornets, trombone, sousaphoneSousaphoneThe sousaphone is a type of tuba that is widely employed in marching bands. Designed so that it fits around the body of the musician and is supported by the left shoulder, the sousaphone may be readily played while being carried...
, percussion) - a backstage brass quintet (cornets, trombone, bass trombone, tuba, percussion)
- an on-stage Jazz trio (piano, drums, double-bass)
- an on-stage harp
- an on-stage erhuErhuThe erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
for some of the Chinese scenes
Reception
Some excerpts from reviews in British newspapers, March 2011:- Andrew Clements in The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
: "It commutes effortlessly between the narratives, Davies's music delineating each strand with remarkable clarity. His score is extraordinarily fluent: the vocal lines are perfectly judged and the instrumental writing full of wonderful touches, with marching band, jazz trio, solo harp and erhu players on stage. It is as good as any theatre score he has ever composed." - Rupert ChristiansenRupert ChristiansenRupert Christiansen is an English writer, journalist and critic, grandson of Arthur Christiansen and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen . Born in London, he was educated at Millfield and King's College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in English...
in The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
: "Sir Peter Maxwell Davies makes a splendid grumpy old man, and I am totally behind him over his recent stands against muzak in restaurants and on television documentaries. I only wish I could be so whole-hearted in support of his operas, but I have never found them of anything but superficial musical and theatrical interest. His latest effort, Kommilitonen! doesn't break the mould." - Kieron QuirkeKieron QuirkeKieron Quirke is an English writer, journalist, musician and theatre critic residing in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:Quirke was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and the Junior Royal Academy of Music where he won the Dame Ruth Railton Prize in 1997.Quirke attended Merton College,...
in the Evening StandardEvening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
: "Kommilitonen! is a glorious, heart-warming pageant of humanity." - Richard Fairman in the Financial TimesFinancial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
: "Running these tales simultaneously could have resulted in a confusing mishmash but Pountney has pinpointed the crucial elements of each so cleverly that everything is clear and the juxtapositions strike sparks off each other. Equally, the music works with exemplary theatrical skill; Maxwell Davies has coloured his score with snatches of American roots music, German art song and brassy Chinese marches without ever losing sight of the opera's unifying goal." - George Hall in The StageThe StageThe Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
: "Fast moving in its presentation, the production is a punchy piece of theatre that proves surprisingly topical, even if its overall look and naive stance – there are obvious heroes and villains, with nothing in between - recall 1970s agit-prop. So does much of the score, wide-ranging and effective though its use of pastiche is, and drawing on the techniques of the memorable music theatre works that first brought Maxwell Davies to notoriety. Visually, this is a fine realisation, purposefully conducted by Jane Glover, though ultimately its simplistic viewpoint and air of nostalgia tell against it." - Anna Picard in The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
: "Diverting as it is, the opera is simplistic. This would be understandable were it written by, not for, students. So much emphasis is placed on books in Pountney's staging that it is hard to escape the suspicion that he believes a well-stocked library confers moral grace. History is full of literate thugs, but you won't find them in Kommilitonen!. The Dostoevsky scene could have been lifted from The Producers, with the Evangelist (Stephen Aviss) in a white SS uniform and the Inquisitor (John-Owen Miley-Read) in a black SS uniform. Meanwhile, Max attempts to convey Meredith's strength of character in music that is a homespun hair's breadth from Porgy and Bess. Orchestrally, vocally, theatrically, the performance is a triumph, but one that is not without compromise."