I hated Birtwistle's Punch and Judy more than I knew I was capable of hating any opera, so naturally, I was keen to see more of his output--although I should note that I found this one posted online. I wasn't keen enough that I would've been willing to pay full price for it. Come ON.
So hey, you know that story? The one about the Minotaur? With Theseus? And Ariadne? Well, that's what this is, though obviously in a heavily deconstructed way. Theseus and Ariadne negotiate. The Athenian youths are slaughtered by the beast. The Minotaur, Asterios, dreams. And finally, he is killed by Theseus. Spoiler!
Yes. So actually, I thought this was fine. Not my all-time favorite thing ever, but a lot better than I would have expected from precedent. It probably helps that unlike that other one, this features some normal damn operatic singing. The music is modernistic, atonal stuff; not my absolute cup of tea, but it worked with the atmosphere of the piece. I liked the Minotaur scenes best; Theseus and Ariadne got a little...dull at times. They reiterate bits of the myth to not super interesting effect ("Theseus and Ariadne will set sail for Athens," he promises, and the phrasing seems very obviously problematic. We all know how that turned out from Ariadne auf Naxos). But seriously, whether he's killing people (precipitating the appearance of some terrifying Keres) or agonizing over his split identity...it's really impressively bleak. And his appearance is really ingeniously done: the singer, John Tomlinson, is wearing this sort of translucent bull head, so depending on how you happen to look at it, you may see it either as the beast or the man. It could hardly work better.
Yeah, man. I was concerned that this might turn out to be one of those perverse endurance tests, but it really wasn't. I wouldn't call myself the world's number one Birtwistle fan (that...would be a weird thing to call yourself), but I would not object to seeing more of his work. Regrettably, no more is currently available in recorded form. But if it becomes so...I'll see it! Whaddaya want from me?!?
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