Page 178 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2019. Vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju - The Role of National Opera Houses in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 3
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vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
Stockhausen had almost to wait for our „postmodern“ period to dare to
return to the great lyrical form, with the monumental Licht (1977-2003),
which occupied almost all the end of his life. For Stockhausen, the issue
was not so political. The libretto affirmed his spiritual syncretism. Ligeti
only dared to compose one opera (Mysteries of the macabre, 1974-77), like
Messiaen. Let‘s focus, more precisely, on the case of Messiaen. Because this
case seems emblematic of the contemporary avant-gardes. It seems even
more exemplary, considering that Messiaen may have been the most fa-
mous postwar modernist composer11.
For Messiaen, composing an opera was even necessary that he was di-
rectly commissioned by the highest official of the French State. He dined at
the Élysée Palace with President Georges Pompidou. At the end of this very
official diner, at a point and in front of the president, Rolf Liebermann com-
missioned him an opera. Although a virgin to the great lyrical form, Mes-
siaen “could not refuse before the President of the Republic12”, he said. In
France, particularly until the 1970s, according to Pierre-Michel Menger, an
opera was a state affair, or at least a very serious matter, indexed to what it
cost13.
However, the aesthetic value – or even the success – let’s say the recep-
tion of St. Francis of Assisi (1975-83) still seems problematic. Unfortunate-
ly, notes Victoria Johnson: “few sociologists are interested in music in gen-
eral, and I will add that their number is even smaller in the particular case
of opera14”. The work is often commented15, re-programmed: “Messiaen
11 See the beginning of Jacques Amblard, Vingt regards sur Messiaen (Aix-en-Provence:
PUP, 2015).
12 “Il ne put refuser devant le Président de la République.” See Peter Hill and Nigel Sim-
eone, Olivier Messiaen (New Haven, Londres: Yale University Press, 2005), 304.
13 “In 1977, the Paris Opera accounted for 48.97% of the 284 276 957 frs of state expen-
diture in favor of music; music education accounted for only 11.79%” (“en 1977,
l’Opéra de Paris absorbait 48,97% des 284 276 957 frs de dépenses de l’État en faveur
de la musique ; l’enseignement musical ne comptait que pour 11,79%”). See Pierre-
-Michel Menger, La condition du compositeur et le marché de la musique contempo-
raine (Paris: La documentation Française, 1980), 140.
14 “Peu de sociologues se sont intéressés à la musique en général, et j’ajouterai que leur
nombre est encore plus réduit dans le cas particulier de l’opéra.” See “L’organisation
de l’opéra comme »champ de l’entreprise«,” Musique et sociologie, ed. Anne-Marie
Green (Paris : L’Harmattan, 2000), 301.
15 For example, one can refer to the number of texts, according to the RILM, devoted
to a particular work. 47 articles are devoted to Messiaen’s only opera. The latter gen-
erated the largest number of texts. But the study is rarely that of partition. There is
what one would call a “literary effect”: the libretto alone “attracts” already music lov-
ers literature. 47 articles is certainly more than any other piece of Messiaen: but is
176
Stockhausen had almost to wait for our „postmodern“ period to dare to
return to the great lyrical form, with the monumental Licht (1977-2003),
which occupied almost all the end of his life. For Stockhausen, the issue
was not so political. The libretto affirmed his spiritual syncretism. Ligeti
only dared to compose one opera (Mysteries of the macabre, 1974-77), like
Messiaen. Let‘s focus, more precisely, on the case of Messiaen. Because this
case seems emblematic of the contemporary avant-gardes. It seems even
more exemplary, considering that Messiaen may have been the most fa-
mous postwar modernist composer11.
For Messiaen, composing an opera was even necessary that he was di-
rectly commissioned by the highest official of the French State. He dined at
the Élysée Palace with President Georges Pompidou. At the end of this very
official diner, at a point and in front of the president, Rolf Liebermann com-
missioned him an opera. Although a virgin to the great lyrical form, Mes-
siaen “could not refuse before the President of the Republic12”, he said. In
France, particularly until the 1970s, according to Pierre-Michel Menger, an
opera was a state affair, or at least a very serious matter, indexed to what it
cost13.
However, the aesthetic value – or even the success – let’s say the recep-
tion of St. Francis of Assisi (1975-83) still seems problematic. Unfortunate-
ly, notes Victoria Johnson: “few sociologists are interested in music in gen-
eral, and I will add that their number is even smaller in the particular case
of opera14”. The work is often commented15, re-programmed: “Messiaen
11 See the beginning of Jacques Amblard, Vingt regards sur Messiaen (Aix-en-Provence:
PUP, 2015).
12 “Il ne put refuser devant le Président de la République.” See Peter Hill and Nigel Sim-
eone, Olivier Messiaen (New Haven, Londres: Yale University Press, 2005), 304.
13 “In 1977, the Paris Opera accounted for 48.97% of the 284 276 957 frs of state expen-
diture in favor of music; music education accounted for only 11.79%” (“en 1977,
l’Opéra de Paris absorbait 48,97% des 284 276 957 frs de dépenses de l’État en faveur
de la musique ; l’enseignement musical ne comptait que pour 11,79%”). See Pierre-
-Michel Menger, La condition du compositeur et le marché de la musique contempo-
raine (Paris: La documentation Française, 1980), 140.
14 “Peu de sociologues se sont intéressés à la musique en général, et j’ajouterai que leur
nombre est encore plus réduit dans le cas particulier de l’opéra.” See “L’organisation
de l’opéra comme »champ de l’entreprise«,” Musique et sociologie, ed. Anne-Marie
Green (Paris : L’Harmattan, 2000), 301.
15 For example, one can refer to the number of texts, according to the RILM, devoted
to a particular work. 47 articles are devoted to Messiaen’s only opera. The latter gen-
erated the largest number of texts. But the study is rarely that of partition. There is
what one would call a “literary effect”: the libretto alone “attracts” already music lov-
ers literature. 47 articles is certainly more than any other piece of Messiaen: but is
176
