View source for The Midsummer Marriage

{{Short description|1955 opera by Michael Tippett}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox opera
| name = The Midsummer Marriage
| composer = [[Michael Tippett]]
| image = 
| image_upright = 
| caption = 
| librettist = Tippett
| language = English
| based_on = {{based on|''[[The Magic Flute]]''|[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]}}
| premiere_date = {{start date|1955|01|27|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]], London
}}
'''''The Midsummer Marriage''''' is an opera in three acts, with music and libretto by [[Michael Tippett]]. The work's first performance was at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]], on 27 January 1955, conducted by [[John Pritchard (conductor)|John Pritchard]]. The reception of the opera was controversial, over confusion as to the libretto and Tippett's use of symbols and psychological references.<ref>Dickinson, A. E. F., "Round about ''The Midsummer Marriage'' (January 1956). ''[[Music & Letters]]'', '''37''' (1): pp. 50–60.</ref><ref>Spence, Keith, "''Midsummer Marriage'' and its critics: a topical retrospect" (1971). ''[[The Musical Times]]'', '''112''' (1535): p. 28.</ref> The opera has received at least 10 more productions, in England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Sweden and the United States, including two more at the Royal Opera House.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.schott-music.com/shop/show,156384.html?showOldPerformances=true|title=Shop – Sir Michael Tippett – ''The Midsummer Marriage''|publisher=[[Schott Music]]|accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref>

The premiere performance was recorded, and has been issued on compact disc. Covent Garden revived the work in 1968, conducted by [[Colin Davis]], with the Ritual Dances choreographed by [[Gillian Lynne]] and in 1970, when the production formed the basis of the first commercial recording.<ref>White, Eric Walter, "Recordings: Three English Operas Recorded" (1972). ''[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]]'' (New Ser.), '''98''': pp. 30–32.</ref> Tippett extracted the ''Four Ritual Dances'' from the opera as a separate concert work.

==Story background==
The story of ''The Midsummer Marriage'' was consciously modeled after [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[The Magic Flute]]''.<ref>C. M. (no full name given), "Reviews of Music: ''The Midsummer Marriage'' (January 1955). ''[[Music & Letters]]'', '''36''' (1): pp. 93–94.</ref> Both trace the path to marriage of one "royal" and one "common" couple: Jenifer and Mark correspond to Pamina and Tamino, the earthy Jack and Bella to Papageno and Papagena. King Fisher stands in for the Queen of the Night, the Ancients for Sarastro and his priests, and so on.

But the composer's first inspiration for the work was visual: Tippett recalled imagining "a wooded hill-top with a temple, where a warm and soft young man was being rebuffed by a cold and hard young woman to such a degree that the collective, magical archetypes take charge – [[Carl Jung|Jung]]'s ''[[anima and animus]]''."

The character Sosostris is named after "Madame Sosostris, the famous clairvoyante," in [[T. S. Eliot]]'s poem "[[The Waste Land]]", and King Fisher's name is inspired by the [[Fisher King]] character mentioned in the same poem. Tippett was first given the idea of attempting a verse drama by reading Eliot's plays, and he corresponded with Eliot with a view to collaboration, tackling the libretto himself when Eliot declined.

==Performance history==

The Royal Opera House has mounted three productions of ''The Midsummer Marriage'', in 1955, 1968 and 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/work.aspx?work=549 |title=Opera: Work details |publisher=Rohcollections.org.uk |date=1955-01-27 |accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> The 1996 production was revived in 2005, to mark the centenary of Tippett's birth.<ref>{{cite news|author=Tom Service|author-link=Tom Service|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/nov/02/theatre1|title=''The Midsummer Marriage'', Royal Opera House, London|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2005-11-02|accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=2965|title=The Royal Opera – ''The Midsummer Marriage''|publisher=Classicalsource.com|accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> [[Barbara Hepworth]] effected the costumes and stage designs for the lavish original (1955) production. Choreography was by [[John Cranko]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.operascotland.org/opera/128/Midsummer+Marriage|title=Midsummer Marriage &#124; Opera Scotland}}</ref>

In 1976 [[Welsh National Opera]] staged a production<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1340050/Terry-Gilbert.html |title=Terry Gilbert |work=The Telegraph|date=2001-09-10 |accessdate=2013-09-02 |location=London}}</ref> designed by Annena Stubbs,<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O155017/costume-design-stubbs-annena/ Victoria and Albert Museum page on Annena Stubbs' work on WNO production]</ref> which toured in cities including Leeds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leodis.net/discovery/discovery.asp?page=20031110_356182278&topic=20031110_154781521&subsection=20031110_679348171&subsubsection=20031110_889217556|title=Discovering Leeds – Leeds Classical Music|publisher=Leodis.net|date=2003-03-25|accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> The cast included [[Felicity Lott]] as Jenifer<ref>{{cite web|author=Richard LeSueur |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/felicity-lott-mn0000012271 |title=Felicity Lott &#124; Biography |publisher=AllMusic |date=1947-05-08 |accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> and [[Helen Watts]], who had played the role in London in 1968, and recorded it in 1970, as Sosostris.<ref>{{cite news|author=Patrick O'Connor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/oct/15/helen-watts-obituary |title=Helen Watts obituary &#124; Music |work=The Guardian|date= 15 October 2009|accessdate=2013-09-02 |location=London}}</ref> [[David Cairns (writer)|David Cairns]] wrote that this production showed the opera "responds very readily to simple, imaginative staging, and that there were never any serious problems [with it] except in our attitude".<ref>"Tippett and ''The Midsummer Marriage''", David Cairns. Sleeve note essay for Lyrita SRCD.2217</ref>

Other British productions have been staged by [[English National Opera]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1734956.stm |title=UK &#124; Lesley Garrett: Doncaster's own diva |publisher=BBC News |date=2001-12-31 |accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> and [[Opera North]], both in 1985,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/10th-may-1986/45/opera-aida-the-midsummer-marriage-opera-north-wies |title=Opera Aida; The Midsummer Marriage (Opera North, Wiesbaden) » 9 May 1986 » The Spectator Archive |publisher=Archive.spectator.co.uk |date=1986-05-09 |accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://perso.wanadoo.es/crazylovejob/tifnov85.htm |title=Tippett in Focus |publisher=Perso.wanadoo.es |date=1986-01-26 |accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> and [[Scottish Opera]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.operascotland.org/opera/128/Midsummer-Marriage |title=Midsummer Marriage |publisher=Opera Scotland |accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref>

A production was filmed for television in 1984, directed by [[Elijah Moshinsky]], later released on [[VHS]], with [[David Atherton]] conducting the [[London Sinfonietta]] and [[Philip Langridge]] and [[Lucy Shelton]] in the lead roles.

Abroad, the opera has received at least five productions. The German premiere was on 29 September 1973, at the [[Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe]] with Lieselotte Rebmann as Jennifer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bayreuther-festspiele.de/fsdb/personen/7466/index.htm |title=Bayreuther Festspiele » Deutsch » Spielplan » Aufführungsdatenbank » Person |publisher=Bayreuther-festspiele.de |accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> Another German production was at the [[Bayerische Staatsoper]] in 1998. Other productions have been at Stockholm in 1982,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meirion-bowen.com/mbartmideno.htm |title=Articles |publisher=Meirion Bowen |accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> San Francisco in 1983, [[New York City Opera]] in 1993<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140219140018/http://articles.philly.com/1993-09-11/entertainment/25983917_1_midsummer-marriage-modern-opera-spiritual-journey Review of New York City Opera's production] in ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]''</ref> and the [[Lyric Opera of Chicago]] in 2005.<ref>[http://www.operanews.com/operanews/issue/article.aspx?id=1399&issueID=53 Long article] in ''[[Opera News]]'' on Tippett's operas in general and previewing the 2005 Chicago production</ref><ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-07-et-tippett7-story.html Review of Chicago production] in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''</ref>

Concert performances have been given at the 1977 [[London Proms]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2013/august-16/14622|title=Proms – Prom 45 Tippett – ''The Midsummer Marriage'' 2013|publisher=BBC|date=1970-01-01|accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> which was given by the forces gathered for WNO's 1976 production, and in Boston in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bmop.org/news-press/michael-tippetts-midsummer-madness|title=Michael Tippett's Midsummer madness|publisher=BMOP|date=2012-11-15|accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> [[Andrew Davis (conductor)|Andrew Davis]]'s concert performance at the [[BBC Proms]] in 2013 was rebroadcast on BBC Radio Three 23 July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_three|title=Radio 3 - Listen Live - BBC Sounds}}</ref>

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, premiere cast}}
|-
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast,<br />27 January 1955<ref>{{Almanacco|dmy=27-01-1955|match=The Midsummer Marriage}}</ref><br />Conductor: [[John Pritchard (conductor)|John Pritchard]]
!First studio recording (1970)<br />Conductor: [[Colin Davis|Sir Colin Davis]]
![[Welsh National Opera]] (1976)<ref>''The Midsummer Marriage'', programme book of the first performance by the [[Welsh National Opera]] at the [[New Theatre, Cardiff]], 22 September 1976</ref><br />Conductor: [[Richard Armstrong (conductor)|Richard Armstrong]]
|-
|Mark, ''a young man of unknown parentage''
|[[tenor]]
|[[Richard Lewis (tenor)|Richard Lewis]]
|[[Alberto Remedios]]
|John Treleaven
|-
|Jenifer, ''his betrothed''
|[[soprano]]
|[[Joan Sutherland]]
|[[Joan Carlyle]]
|[[Jill Gomez]]
|-
|King Fisher, ''Jenifer's father, a businessman''
||[[baritone]]
|[[Otakar Kraus]]
|[[Raimund Herincx]]
|Raimund Herincx
|-
|Bella, ''King Fisher's secretary''
|soprano
|[[Adele Leigh]]
|[[Elizabeth Harwood]]
|Mary Davies
|-
|Jack, ''Bella's boyfriend, a mechanic''
|tenor
|[[John Lanigan (tenor)|John Lanigan]]
|[[Stuart Burrows]]
|[[Arthur Davies (tenor)|Arthur Davies]]
|-
|Sosostris, ''a clairvoyante''
|[[contralto]]
|[[Oralia Domínguez]]
|[[Helen Watts]]
|Helen Watts
|-
|The She-Ancient, ''priestess of the temple''
|[[mezzo-soprano]]
|[[Edith Coates]]
|[[Elizabeth Bainbridge]]
|[[Maureen Guy]]
|-
|The He-Ancient, ''priest of the temple''
|[[bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Michael Langdon]]
|[[Stafford Dean]]
|Paul Hudson
|-
|Strephon, ''a dancer''
|silent
|Pirmin Trecu
|
|Hugh Spight
|-
|A voice
|contralto
|[[Monica Sinclair]]
|
|
|-
|Dancing man
|tenor
|Andrew Daniels
|Andrew Daniels
|John Harris
|-
|Drunken man
|bass
|Gordon Farrell
|David Whelan
|Gareth Rhys-Davies
|-
|An Ancient
|bass
|[[Frederick Dalberg]]
|
|
|-
| colspan="3"|''Mark and Jennifer's friends, dancers attendant on the Ancients''
|}

==Scoring==
2 [[Western concert flute|flute]]s (both doubling on [[piccolo]]s), 2 [[oboe]]s, 2 [[clarinet]]s, 2 [[Bassoon]]s, 4 [[French horn]]s, 2 [[trumpet]]s, 3 [[trombone]]s, [[timpani]] and two [[percussion]]ists playing: [[snare drum]], [[bass drum]], [[cymbal]]s, [[triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]], [[gong]], [[tubular bells]], [[harp]], [[celesta]] and [[string orchestra|strings]].

==Synopsis==
The opera is set in a forest clearing, with a group of buildings to one side. The buildings resemble a sanctuary, with a Greek temple in the middle. A set of spiral stairs leads off to the right and breaks off in midair. To the left, they lead down into the hillside. The costumes are contemporary, aside from the dancers and the Ancients.<ref>The synopsis is based on the Philips LP by the Royal Opera House and Colin Davis</ref>

===Act 1 (Morning)===
A group of young people enters the clearing, surprised by the strange buildings. They hide as Strephon leads the dancers and the Ancients out of the temple. Mark emerges and asks for a new dance in honor of his wedding day. The Ancients warn him of the dangers of thwarting tradition. To demonstrate the point, the He-Ancient trips Strephon as he dances. His bride Jenifer arrives, but she is distant, having run away from her father, King Fisher. She ascends the stone staircase and disappears.

King Fisher arrives, and Mark enters the cavern. King Fisher thinks Jenifer is with Mark, and he summons Jack to break down the gates after the Ancients refuse to let him inside. During the argument, a radiant Jenifer reappears. Mark returns as well, glowing blood red. Representing "starry heaven" and "fruitful earth", the two confront each other. Jenifer says her soul is free of earthly suffering, while Mark claims to have gained new appreciation for the miracle of mortality. Jenifer tries to show Mark his error in a mirror, but Mark causes the mirror to fall and shatter. The couple reverse their paths, and Jenifer descends into the hillside while Mark ascends the stairs and disappears.

===Act 2 (Afternoon)===
In the clearing, Jack and Bella meet and decide to marry. They walk into the woods, and Strephon emerges with his dancers to perform three rituals. In the first, a hound chases a hare, but the hare escapes. In the second, an otter chases a fish, who hurts himself on the root of a tree. In the third, a bird with a broken wing is captured by a hawk. Bella is terrified by the rituals. Jack comforts her as she recomposes herself. Reassured, they resume their playful interlude and run off into the woods.

===Act 3 (Evening and Night)===
King Fisher orders the group of young people to fetch Madame Sosostris, his clairvoyant. He is determined to thwart the Ancients, convinced that they are responsible for Jenifer's disappearance. The group returns with Sosostris, and King Fisher orders her to reveal Jenifer's location. She warns him against such inquiries into the dream world, but she reveals Jenifer to be lying in a meadow consorting with a winged lion who has the arms and face of a man. Enraged, King Fisher insists Sosostris is lying to him, and he attempts to unveil her.

As he peels away her veils, they begin to glow. When he has stripped all the veils away, he finds an incandescent bud, which blossoms to reveal Mark and Jenifer. King Fisher aims his pistol at Mark, but the couple break from their meditative state to confront King Fisher, causing his heart to fail. The crowd carries his body into the temple. Strephon emerges from the temple with his dancers to perform a fourth ritual, which celebrates carnal love by transforming it into the fire of divine love. The ritual concludes as the bud closes around Mark and Jenifer and bursts into flames.

When the fire subsides, Mark, Jenifer and the Ancients are gone. As the moonlight fades, Mark and Jenifer enter the clearing from opposite sides, dressed for their wedding. They head off down the hill with the crowd as the sun rises. The dawn reveals that the buildings were never more than ruins.

==Recording==
* Gala GL100.524 (1997): [[Richard Lewis (tenor)|Richard Lewis]]; [[Joan Sutherland]]; [[Adele Leigh]]; [[Edith Coates]]; John Lanigan; [[Monica Sinclair]]; [[Otakar Kraus]]; Covent Garden Chorus and Orchestra; [[John Pritchard (conductor)|John Pritchard]], conductor. Live recording of the 1955 premiere.
* Philips 6703.027 (1971, 3-LP set, recorded Wembley Town Hall, July 1970). Reissued on CD by Lyrita: SRCD.2217, 1995: [[Alberto Remedios]]; [[Joan Carlyle]]; [[Raimund Herincx]]; [[Elizabeth Harwood]]; [[Stuart Burrows]]; [[Helen Watts]]; Covent Garden Chorus and Orchestra; [[Colin Davis]], conductor<ref>Kemp, Ian, "Record Reviews: ''The Midsummer Marriage'' (May 1971). ''[[The Musical Times]]'', '''112''' (1539): pp. 454–455.</ref>
* LPO LPO0124 (2022): Robert Murray (Mark), [[Rachel Nicholls]] (Jenifer), [[Ashley Riches]] (King Fisher), Jennifer France (Bella), [[Toby Spence]] (Jack), [[Claire Barnett-Jones]] (Sosostris), [[Susan Bickley]] (She-Ancient), Joshua Bloom (He-Ancient), [[London Philharmonic Choir]], [[English National Opera]] Chorus, [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]], [[Edward_Gardner_(conductor)|Edward Gardner]]. Recorded live at the [[Royal Festival Hall]] on 25 September 2021.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lpo.org.uk/recording/tippett-the-midsummer-marriage/ | title=Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9370254--tippett-the-midsummer-marriage | title=Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Michael Tippett}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Midsummer Marriage, The}}
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:English-language operas]]
[[Category:Operas by Michael Tippett]]
[[Category:1955 operas]]
[[Category:Opera world premieres at the Royal Opera House]]