Committed Opera: Gottfried von Einem's ‘The Visit of the Old Lady’

Extract

The visit of the old lady, after the play of the same name by the Swiss dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt (who also wrote the libretto), is Gottfried von Einem's fourth opera. It was performed for the first time in 1971 at the Vienna State Opera, and after being mounted on several German stages in quick succession, it was given its American première in San Francisco last year. Von Einem's first opera, Dantons Tod (after Georg Büchner), won much praise as the major novelty of the 1947 Salzburg Festival. Six years later, also in Salzburg, came Der Prozess (after Franz Kafka); after which there was another pause, of almost ten years, before the next opera, Der Zerrissene (after Johann Nestroy), had its première in Hamburg. Von Einem had up to that time also written five large ballets, a quantity of instrumental music (including several pieces commissioned by leading European and American orchestras) and some vocal music: all in all, therefore, a respectably sizable body of work, especially when one takes into account that self-critical reserve to which his somewhat slow rate of production can be attributed. His consistency, at least in those works that have been repeatedly tried and tested, must perhaps today be counted as one of his most outstanding characteristics.