#kurtveill

Most people's perception of 20th-century opera is that it's elitist and impenetrable. Modern operas break all the conventions of what has gone before. A lot of them are either atonal (Wozzeck, Le Grand Macabre), minimalist (Nixon in China, Satyagraha), or at the very least full of discords. Having a hummable melody was SO not going with the programme back then. Any self-regarding and progressive composer wouldn't go anywhere near them. Operas that have back-to-back tunes are called "musicals". We all know that.

But is that really true? I can think of quite a few 20th-century operas where the traditional concept of "aria" pervades. And they’re pretty tuneful arias at that too. Bernstein’s Candide, for example, has the wonderful "Glitter and Be Gay" – a coloratura roller-coaster. Here’s a performance of high camp by the Meryl Streep of the opera world, Diana Damrau:

That surely deserves a standing ovation!

In 1954 Aaron Copland wrote a sublime aria called "Laurie’s song" for his opera The Tender Land. Set in the Midwest during the Great Depression, and inspired by Walker Evans's evocative photographs, it was premiered at the New York City Opera (which was sadly declared bankrupt and closed its doors recently). Dawn Upshaw gives a wonderful performance here:

Before Kurt Weill became a Broadway sensation he wrote some wonderful opera in his native Germany – some are well known, others less so. This song, "Das Lied Des Lotterieagenten" is from his Der Silbersee (Silverlake) of 1933. It premiered just three weeks after the Nazis seized power. Der Silbersee is a story of guilt, greed, exploitation and the ultimately triumph of the good will within mankind. In the story a police officer wins the lottery. He is subsequently inspired to help a man he shot and crippled, whom he believe to be basically of good character. This is the song of the lottery agent. The seduction of money is expressed in the swaggering dance-like rhythms.

And as a final treat, here's "The Trees on the Mountain" from the operaSusannah by Carlisle Floyd. Susannah is a modern retelling of the Susannah and the Elders story (also depicted by Handel). Set in Tennessee, the story follows the heroine as she’s persecuted by her local small-minded church community, because she’s pretty.

The composer Carlisle Floyd was born in South Carolina, and this music, influenced by Appalachian folk songs, is Susannah’s lament for her innocence. You can see it as a modern update of the Willow Song fromOtello, full of sorrow and foreboding. Cheryl Studer gives a beautifully poignant performance here.