Lyric's 'Lulu' not happy but moving nonetheless
When Lyric Opera of Chicago first presented "Lulu" in the 1987-88 season with Catherine Malfitano in the title role, the opera created a sensation. Rarely had the Lyric's audience experienced music and visual drama so bold and hard-edged.
"Lulu" is back this month in a new production directed by Paul Curran and designed by Kevin Knight, and Alban Berg's dramatic, highly charged tale of sex, lies and murder will likely arouse the same disparate reactions of Chicago audiences as it did two decades ago.
Yes, this is not music that wraps itself around you like a warm blanket. Berg's musical language, a result of his mentor-student association with Arnold Schoenberg, is not always easy on the ears. Yet, this is music of great creativity, chamber music-like when need be and appropriately dramatic in the opera's more grisly moments. In the second scene of Act 2, the emaciated Lulu's reaction to being back home after two years in prison, "O Freiheit! Hergott im Himmel" ("O freedom! Thank God in heaven!") is set to late-romantic music reminiscent of that of Richard Strauss. Also, the love duet between Lulu and Alwa (tenor William Burden) that closes Act 2 is another example of Berg's romantic touch.
This is a powerful and at times very moving drama, as Lulu, twice widowed during the course of the opera, descends into prostitution and meets her ultimate fate at the hands of Jack the Ripper. There are no winners in this story, no happy Hollywood ending. But if you stick it out for the duration, you will not fail to be moved.
German soprano Marlis Petersen is terrific in the title role, one of opera's most tragic heroines, described by Lyric Opera dramaturge Roger Pines as "amorally innocent, but innocent nonetheless." Lulu's uncertain future is set forth in the canzonetta "Auf einmal springt er auf," when she slowly realizes that her first husband has suffered a fatal attack. And this is only the first act: Lulu's emotional and physical descent has just begun.
Also standing out is German bass-baritone Wolfgang Schöne, who plays both Dr. Schön (Lulu's lover and eventual husband), and the notorious Jack the Ripper, Lulu's "client" in the opera's closing scene. Berg's score calls for a "heroic baritone" voice, and Schöne most assuredly brings that quality to his performance.
Also not to be overlooked is the contribution of mezzo-soprano Jill Grove as Countess Geschwitz, who also falls victim to Jack the Ripper in her vain attempt to save her beloved friend Lulu. Grove's Geschwitz really dominates the final scene, climaxed by her dying words "Lulu! My angel! Appear once more to me, for I am always near. For evermore!" which brings the opera to an unforgettable close.
"Lulu" is presented in its full three-act version, the final act completed by Friedrich Cerha from Berg's sketches several decades after the composer's death in 1935 and world-premiered in Paris in 1979. Lyric Opera music director Sir Andrew Davis draws from his orchestra all the power and drama found in Berg's epic score.
Just think of "Lulu" as the equivalent of a German-language Shakespearean tragedy set to great music, and you will not fail to be moved by its overall theatrical experience.
"Lulu"
Where: Ardis Krainik Theatre, Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive.
When: Additional performances at 7 p.m. Nov. 10, 15, 19, 22 and 25; 2 p.m. Nov. 30
Tickets: Call (312) 332-2244, Ext. 5600, or visit lyricopera.org, for availability and reservations; major credit cards accepted.
At a glance:
Opera in three acts by Alban Berg, with libretto by the composer based on Frank Wedekind's tragedies "Earth Spirit" and "Pandora's Box."
Paul Curran, stage director; Kevin Knight, set and costume designer; Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
Starring:
Marlis Petersen as Lulu
Wolfgang Schöne as Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper
Jill Grove as Countess Geschwitz
Scott Ramsay as the Painter and Black Man
William Burden as Alwa
Artur Korn as Shigolch
With Jan Buchwald, Craig Irvin, Rodel Rosell and Buffy Baggott