Wagner De-Teutonized

The question of opera in English was quite a live issue in this country for a period ending about 20 years ago, and lots of energetic experimentation went on—not only in provincial opera houses, but even at our vaunted Metropolitan Opera. (I refer, of course, to operas translated into English from Italian, French, German, Burmese, or whatever.) And who can hear the Met’s English version of Mozart’s Cosί Fan Tutte (recorded in 1952 and now, happily, reissued by Odyssey, Y 3 32670) and dismiss the whole project as so much American philistinism? Yes, the translation could be better, and is sometimes downright laughable; but this is a comic opera, after all, and without the intended laughter it is only half itself.

If you are one of those people who say, “I don’t know Italian, but Mozart’s music is so sublime that the libretto is relatively unimportant,” then you are quite simply kidding yourself. That sublime music and this is my favorite opera naturally loses its whole point unless you understand the libretto the music is meant to elucidate. I don’t mean synopsis and a general idea of what the libretto is about; I mean an awareness of every sentence, and of its magnification in this miraculous music. To say that both libretto and singing lose something of their effect in translation is to ignore the more relevant loss that attends many an evening at the opera, when what was intended to be superb musical drama becomes, to the person unfamiliar with the libretto, merely a pleasant concert at best, or a sore trial at worst. And I do recommend this two-decade-old recording of Cost Fan Tutte as an introductory experience. Needless to say, the really serious opera lover will always be driven to some sort of familiarity with the original language; but I, for one, must protest that my memorable childhood acquaintance with this recording has not prevented my moving on to an intense love-hate affair with the Italian language.

RE

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Roger Evans

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The question of opera in English was quite a live issue in this country for a period ending about 20 years ago, and lots of energetic experimentation went on—not only in provincial opera houses, but even at our vaunted Metropolitan Opera. (I refer, of course, to operas translated into English from Italian, French, German, Burmese, or whatever.) And who can hear the Met’s English version of Mozart’s Cosί Fan Tutte (recorded in 1952 and now, happily, reissued by Odyssey, Y 3 32670) and dismiss the whole project as so much American philistinism? Yes, the translation could be better, and is sometimes downright laughable; but this is a comic opera, after all, and without the intended laughter it is only half itself.

If you are one of those people who say, “I don’t know Italian, but Mozart’s music is so sublime that the libretto is relatively unimportant,” then you are quite simply kidding yourself. That sublime music and this is my favorite opera naturally loses its whole point unless you understand the libretto the music is meant to elucidate. I don’t mean synopsis and a general idea of what the libretto is about; I mean an awareness of every sentence, and of its magnification in this miraculous music. To say that both libretto and singing lose something of their effect in translation is to ignore the more relevant loss that attends many an evening at the opera, when what was intended to be superb musical drama becomes, to the person unfamiliar with the libretto, merely a pleasant concert at best, or a sore trial at worst. And I do recommend this two-decade-old recording of Cost Fan Tutte as an introductory experience. Needless to say, the really serious opera lover will always be driven to some sort of familiarity with the original language; but I, for one, must protest that my memorable childhood acquaintance with this recording has not prevented my moving on to an intense love-hate affair with the Italian language.