The Most Perfect Opera Ever Written
08 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in About Opera
It has been said that ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ is “the most perfect opera ever written” and there is certainly a very good case to be made in support of this statement; catchy tunes, an enticing story, great characters; and when produced really well (here I’m thinking of David McVicar’s 2006 ROH production, http://operagurl.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/mozart’s-‘le-nozze-di-figaro’-royal-opera-roh/) it is utterly delightful. I dare say you could not ask for more, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was widely and critically true that for 150 years or so after it was written it really was “the most perfect opera ever written”.
However, in the last 100 years music has changed a lot, as have our attitudes towards the issues of class raised in ‘Le nozze di Figaro’, and I can’t help wondering if maybe it’s just a little bit outdated, that we have perhaps outgrown it.
Of course Mozart will always have his place in music and ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ is definitely one of his finest pieces (in my mind rivaled only by his ‘Requiem’), but surely in an age when composers like Stravinsky have already been and gone, we need something more. Surely our tastes have expanded enough that “the most perfect opera every written” needs to be musically interesting as well as charming.
Despite my own darker tastes I am not about to suggest something by Berg, or even Britten as “the most perfect opera”. Instead I have been considering Janácek, and in particular, ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’. Although it seems that most consider ‘Katja Kabanova’ to be his operatic masterpiece, I personally find that when composers become too sentimental or romantic the music loses something (credibility perhaps), and I think that ‘Katja Kabanova’ has that flaw. Whereas ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ is simply a life story, which we must accept as perfect in it’s imperfections. It is not overdramatic or romanticised, it’s just told simply and honestly. While some may crave the comedy and light-hearted romance of ‘Le nozze di Figaro’, with all it’s prettiness and cases of mistaken identity, it is exactly the simplicity and truth of ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ that to me would mean a wider appeal. Quite understandably there are bound to be those who find a story about animals to be somewhat immature or unappealing, but I would answer that problem with two points. First of all the animals are extremely human and it certainly draws a parallel between the animal kingdom and the world of men. Furthermore, the human characters take up a large proportion of the action anyway and their story is equally enjoyable in and of itself.
All the characters, animal and human, are extremely well drawn. Vixen Sharp-Ears is the perfect young girl; idealistic, cunning – of course – a little naïve, light-hearted and utterly lovable. As I say, the animals are very anthropomorphic and thus a lot more relatable anyway. In my opinion it is the character of the Forester who is the most well-rounded. Right from the beginning, he has a wonderful wholeness to him; the forester and hunter who contemplates his relationships with his family, the loves lost and, of course, the animals in he forest, Vixen Sharp-Ears in particular. And despite our love of Vixen Sharp-Ears herself we cannot truly hate the Forester for his treatment of her; he is doing his job and clearly has problems of his own, as well as being unaware of her consciousness in the way we, the audience, are.
And all this before we even come to the music!
And before we do, let me make one small confession; I do not speak, nor understand Czech and therefore the libretto is an aspect of ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ which I am unable to fairly assess. However, if the translation on my English recording (recorded in 2003 at the Royal Opera House, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, with Thomas Allen and Gwynne Howell: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Janácek-Covent-Garden-Royal-Orchestra/dp/B0000C83YR/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1283936212&sr=1-5) is anything to go by, the libretto is delightful. As far as I can tell it is simple, fast-paced and comical, but with the space for sadness and quiet reflection, all of which is supported and enhanced by the music.
My first contact with ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ was at the Royal Opera House about six months ago. From the first few notes I was quite overcome by the beauty of the music. The tunes are simple enough to be catchy but not expected and every note seems perfectly placed. The vocal lines are fluid and unpredictable and Janácek has a wonderful talent for causing clashes and jarring notes which are still beautiful rather than uncomfortable to listen to. The other thing which he is exceedingly good at is keeping his singers quiet when necessary and letting the orchestra fill those spaces with the most exquisite music. This is particularly poignant at the Forester’s house when Vixen Sharp-Ears has been tied up. Suddenly the auditorium is filled with the sweetest melodies. There really is nothing quite like it; so full of hope and optimism, and yet the music still allows us to enjoy the silence. It is very difficult to describe how the music affects me. It makes me almost breathless and I often find myself welling up, my stomach doing somersaults, my heart in my mouth. That sounds almost melodramatic and oversensitive, but as I say it is hard to describe the feeling exactly. Needless to say, music makes me far more emotional than most things, and ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ is no exception.
The other thing this opera does extremely well is include children in a way that is both enjoyable for the audience and suitable for the children participating. Far too often operas seem to exploit children, using them as crowd-pleasing sensationalism or giving them roles which are entirely unsuitable. Despite my love of both the opera and the part, I cannot deny that the role of Miles in Britten’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’ is really far too adult for the nine to twelve-year-olds who must sing it. On the other side we have children’s choruses who sing in operas like ‘Carmen’. There never seems to be a real reason for their presence other than it being crowd-pleasing, and I am always painfully aware that they are acting. By comparison ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ gives children roles as animals who all have their own short solo parts. In this way the children are never given too much to do and they are also not hidden in a chorus which, as I say, always makes me see them as actors rather than the parts they are singing. The music of ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ is, overall, a little too complex for children, but the parts they are given are actually appropriately simple and rather lovely, and do not detract from the wonderful complexities of the rest of the music.
It is for all these reasons that I believe Janácek’s masterpiece should be named “the most perfect opera ever written”. Of course this term must be applied loosely anyway as art is largely subjective and it is near impossible to say that something is completely ‘perfect’. Furthermore, many pieces of music draw their brilliance from the fact that they are imperfect, thus it would be incredibly presumptuous of me to say it is “the best opera ever written”. However, if we apply the same criteria to ‘The Cunning Little Vixen” that we must assume was applied to ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ when it was dubbed “the most perfect opera”, we can see why ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ might be a good replacement. It has the same overall light-heartedness with space for sadness and tragedy when needed. The music is (in my humble opinion) far more beautiful than Mozart’s somewhat outdated opera, and the characters are just as interesting; vivid and entertaining. I have great respect for both composers and love both pieces of work a great deal, but for me it is ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ that makes me want to cry with happiness for the sheer beauty of it.
