A Village Romeo
and Juliet is generally regarded
as the best of Delius’s six operas (although
Delius termed this work ‘a lyric drama
in six scenes’). It was composed in
1900-01 and first produced in Berlin
in 1907, reaching London, with Beecham
conducting, three years later.
The source of the libretto
was Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe,
a story in a collection entitled Die
Leute von Seldwyla by the Swiss
writer Gottfried Keller (1819-90). The
action is set in nineteenth-century
Switzerland. It tells how a quarrel
over disputed waste land set between
two farms precipitates financial ruin
and near fatality, blighting the lives
of Sali and Vreli, the children of the
two rival farmers.
Delius’s score is haunting
and lyrical. It requires a large orchestra
which Delius uses sparingly and tellingly
to magical effect. A significant proportion
of the work is purely orchestral – much
more than in a conventional operatic
production. Nature is a major influence,
so too is a theme which increasingly
obsessed Delius – the transience of
life and love.
This production was
first issued in 1990 as a purely audio
recording on the Decca Argo label (430
275-2), made in Vienna with British
soloists, the Austrian Radio Symphony
Orchestra and a Vienna-based choir.
This Argo recording was the soundtrack
of Petr Wiegel’s film that was released
not long afterwards. The medium of film
freed the work from the constraints
of the opera house to allow maximum
freedom of expression in natural outdoor
surroundings.
This new DVD incarnation
offers enhanced pictures and sound -
5.1 Surround and Stereo Sound – scene
selection and subtitles in five languages.
It is useful to have the English language
subtitling because it uses Delius’s
final English text not the version used
in the earlier Meredith Davies recording.
EMI’s fine 1973 Meredith Davies recording
with soloists Elizabeth Harwood, Robert
Tear and John Shirley Quirk is now available
on CD as EMI CDZB 75785.
Regarding first, the
visual aspects of Weigel’s film. The
natural beauty of mountains and meadows
is colourful and convincing, the change
in the fortunes of the quarrelling farmers
is dramatically underlined by the derelict
state of Marti’s farm as compared to
its prosperity evident at the beginning
of Scene 1; the dream wedding sequence
is delightfully innocent, the fairground
scene nicely natural and the walk to
the Paradise Garden quite enchanting.
The vagabonds at the inn are rather
overdrawn in their brashness for my
taste and surely the Dark Fiddler should
make his entrance in this scene standing
away from the vagabonds watching the
last glow on the high mountains rather
than be seen with painted vagabonds
draping themselves over him? The ending
disappoints, the hay barge (a raft in
the film) just drifts down the river,
there is no suggestion that it is slowly
sinking, just the superimposition of
a subsequent newspaper item proclaiming
that the two young lovers have drowned.
Thomas Hampson, as the Dark Fiddler,
shows just how brilliant and expressive
an actor he is, conveying a real sense
of mystery and menace, yet tenderness
and understanding too. The two farmers
are well characterised, but Michal Dlouhy’s,
for the most part, bland inexpressive
face does not engender much sympathy
for the character of Sali. Dana Moravkova’s
Vreli is more persuasive in suggesting
innocence and naivety giving way to
a realisation of the way of the world
and passionate love.
To the music. I reviewed
the recording when it was first released
in 1990 and compared it with the celebrated
Meredith Davies version. I have not
changed my opinion significantly so
I will repeat what I wrote then:
‘Davies and Mackerras’s
readings differ. Mackerras favours a
darker view underlining the tragedy
whereas Davies opts for a somewhat brighter
treatment. For example, ‘The Walk to
the Paradise Garden’, which is a fairly
regular concert item on its own, takes
ten and a half minutes under Mackerras
and, despite a thrillingly poignant
climax, tends towards being halting
and a tad lugubrious. Davies is shorter
by about two minutes; and is more tender
and romantically wistful.
‘Sali’s and Vrenchen’s
wedding dream sequence also illustrates
the differences though both versions
are attractive in their ways. Mackerras
introduces it with muted colours; deep-sounding
rather solemn bells; and a recessed
choir. Davies’s wedding is more optimistic
with brighter bells and a more forward
and sharply-lit choir. You can feel
that Elizabeth Harwood is thrilled and
ecstatic at the thought of her wedding.
On the other hand, Helen Field, although
having purity of tone and high agility
might just as well have been going to
Sunday Matins.
‘Robert Tear, as Sali,
in the Meredith Davies recording, is
ardent and passionate; but so too is
Arthur Davies and he sounds younger.
John Shirley Quirk seemed rather uncomfortable
as the enigmatic Dark Fiddler (is he
a representation of Death, Fate, or
Nature, or all three?); Thomas Hampson
is more successful, providing more light
and shade in a difficult role. The Decca/Argo
recording is warm with a wide dynamic
range and broad perspectives. The orchestral
interlude at the end of Scene II successfully
conjures up remote vistas and high mountains
and the final scene is well-realised
(in sound) with its thrilling Puccini-like
duet before the lovers drift off on
their sinking barge, choosing death
rather than life apart.
‘On balance, the Davies
set, which was blessed with a very good
recording, by the award –winning team
of Christopher Bishop and Christopher
Parker, is my choice.’ [Interestingly,
the 1973 EMI recording had many now
well-known artists in the early days
of their careers including: Stephen
Varcoe and Martyn Hill, and it featured
Benjamin Luxon as the farmer, Manz].
A brief final note
before turning to the bonus feature:
as with the original Argo box set, this
new DVD includes the same brilliant
analytical notes by the late and still
lamented Christopher Palmer.
Bonus Feature: "Discovering Delius"
This film biography
by Derek Bailey was made in 1992 and
has never been previously issued on
general release. It is a worthy if all
too brief look at the life and works
of Delius featuring Eric Fenby in what
was probably his last recorded interview,
and Tasmin Little, Charles Mackerras,
Felix Aprahamian, and Robert Threlfall.
The film includes many musical examples
and some ravishing photographic locations
in Florida, Norway and especially the
Delius house and garden at Grez-sur-Loing.
A beautiful and often
moving visualisation of Delius’s finest
opera. The bonus feature on the life
and works of the composer makes this
a compulsive purchase for all Delians.
Ian Lace
Arnold Schönberg –Chor and ORF Symphonieorchester/Sir
Charles Mackerras 
DECCA
DVD Video 074 177-9 [Opera: 112 mins. Feature:
59 mins]