European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

Boston Lyric Opera's Production of Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle Uses Universal Edition's Excellent New Reduction

Mar. 30, 2023

The Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) presented Béla Bartók's opera, Bluebeard's Castle in an exciting new arrangement for reduced forces by Eberhard Kloke, published by Universal Edition. Directed by Anne Bogart and conducted by David Angus, the production also included four songs by Alma Mahler which served to provide greater insight into the character of Blubeard as seen through the eyes of his wife. Thanks to Eberhard Klocke's masterful arrangement of Bartók's opera, which calls for significantly smaller orchestral forces, BLO's production was intimate and allowed for a deep connection to blossom between the singers and the orchestra, positioned behind the singers in this case. Klocke explains the benefits of the new edition:

"The focal concern in making a transcription of Bartók’s Bluebeard for soprano/mezzo-soprano, baritone and small orchestra was to provide a practical alternative for performance, while fundamentally retaining his score. The putative loss of “large-scale opera” is countered by a radical, compositional sonic substance in the sense of fine tuning between the soloists and the markedly reduced orchestra.

In the foreground are technical advantages in the variable casting alternatives in terms of lighter voices, which benefits textual comprehensibility and transparency and thus also fundamentally corresponds to the musical-theatrical design. Furthermore, extension and compression of the sound is achieved by the variable deployment of several instruments (the woodwinds in particular) for one player each.

The orchestra is compressed to the size of a small one. The focus of the orchestration is on the winds, with the addition of harp, celesta, nuanced percussion and an economically and expressively deployed string quintet. 

The notation basically follows conventional practice, whereby accidentals apply for the duration of a bar. The notation (accidentals) is simplified where it seemed possible. Bartók’s practice of frequently using double sharps and flats has been retained since it seemed absolutely necessary because of the harmonic structure.

With a view to a continuative performance practice, additional theatrical concentration and compression was achieved by eschewing the classic separation of stage and audience; the small orchestra can be positioned on, beside or behind the stage – at the least, the orchestra pit could also be dispensed with, to the benefit of variable orchestra positioning."


Highlights from Bluebeard's Castle/Four Songs at Boston Lyric Opera


To learn more about Béla Bartók, visit: universaledition.com.

Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle (1911)
opera in one act
libretto by Béla Balázs
reduced version by Eberhard Kloke (2019)
2.2.3.2-2.1.1.0-2perc-hp.pno.str(min. 2.2.2.2.1, max. 6.6.4.3.2)
60'

News