Birtwistle's Gawain rides to Salzburg's rescue

One of the perils of presenting brand-new operas is that the composer might not come up with the goods in time for the show. So the Salzburg Festival's Intendant Alexander Pereira, routinely bashed for his conservatism, was actually rather brave in commissioning five world premieres for the next five festivals. 

Of course the inevitable has happened, and György Kurtág's opera, based on Beckett's Endgame, won't be ready in time. The good news is that the well-heeled patrons of the Festspiele will be tapping their toes in time to Sir Harrison Birtwistle's challenging and rarely-seen Gawain instead. Here's what happened when the Royal Opera House first staged it, back in the '90s:

Comments

[Operaramblings.wordpress.com]

Excellent! Maybe this time it will make it to DVD. I saw this on TV first time round and would really like to see it agin. Any idea who is singing?

[Rannaldini]

Was this from a BBC series called "The House?"

Does anyone know if its "you tubed" in-full anywhere. I can't find anything. I'd love to see it again. Now that I'm older and know a little bit more, I think i'd get more from it.

Thanks!!

[Justin Chapman]

Great news. I remember the excitement of being at the first night (I think those fucktards and their incense-waving retardness were protesting at the first revival, and wanted their ridiculous faces and ideas about music on TV) and the BBC broadcast one of the performances, so a tape must be lying around somewhere. It's an important historical document so should be released on DVD as a matter of urgency. This will be the opera's second-only production but this, and the rumoured Pierre Audi staging of The Mask of Orpheus at the Holland Festival, are indeed cause for celebration. I for one can not wait for the revival of The Minotaur at the Garden in January...

[FC]

Wow...so a 2013 production is only now being determined? That doesn't really help Gawain's chance for success considering the short amount of time a conductor, cast, and director need to be brought together (assuming that the Kurtág team cannot transfer lockstep).

Follow up question: tickets go on-sale in December correct? When generally does the official announcement of production/cast/etc. occur?
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Intermezzo replies - Firstly I'm not 100% sure that, given the circumstances, it will happen in 2013 (might be 2014). Secondly, although the news has only leaked today, the decision may have been taken quietly some time ago.

Tickets go on sale in December and the official programme announcement is mid-November. Some of the opera details have been unofficially released: http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2012/08/salzburg-festival-2013.html

[Manou]

The complete Minotaur has been uploaded on YouTube (in 10 parts).

[Henry Holland]

"the rumoured Pierre Audi staging of The Mask of Orpheus at the Holland Festival"

That's a must-go for me, "The Mask of Orpheus" is on my shortlist of operas to experience in a theater before I die.

I went to the second ever performance of "Gawain" and as much as I love Birtwistle's music, I thought the end of the first act, with the repetitions of the seasons, was mind-numbing. It's nice to know he did a revision that cut most of that out, I assume that's the version that Salzburg will be using.

[sjt]

The revival at the ROH in January 2000 (in the new, current house) was of the revised version, the last time it's been seen locally to date. Personally, I thought the sacrifice of some of the deliberately slow-paced cycle of the seasons sequence was unnecessary, not least because the stage picture accompanying it all was so breathtakingly beautiful. But it did, I suppose, make for a tauter piece of music-drama.

If the ROH's Opus Arte label can find room to release Maw's Sophie's Choice, then I don't see why they shouldn't do the same for Gawain in its original version (it was the 1994 revival that was televised).

But though I'd certainly turn out for an ROH revival, I'd rather Glyndebourne revived Burt Whistle's The Last Supper, which was absolutely astonishing as a piece of visual theatre.