Powder Her Face
Encyclopedia
Powder Her Face is a chamber opera
in two acts, Op. 14 (1995) by the British
composer Thomas Adès
(b. 1971), with an English
libretto by Philip Hensher
. The opera is 2 hours 20 minutes long. It was commissioned by the Almeida Opera, a part of London's Almeida Theatre
, for performances at the Cheltenham Music Festival
.
The subject of the opera is the "Dirty Duchess", Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, whose sexual exploits were the stuff of scandal and gossip in Britain in 1963 during her divorce proceedings. The opera is explicit in its language and detail.
It was first performed on July 1, 1995 in Cheltenham
, with Jill Gómez in the leading role. Reviews were generally good, but the opera became notorious for its musical depiction of fellatio
: British radio station Classic FM
considered it unsuitable for transmission.
, Igor Stravinsky
, and Benjamin Britten
to Kurt Weill
and the tangos of Ástor Piazzolla
in a witty, camp, and highly individual manner.
Describing the overall impact of the libretto and the theatricality of the entire production, Alex Ross notes:
performances at the Almeida Theatre.
On June 8, 2006, there was a concert performance at the Barbican Centre
, London, with the London Symphony Orchestra
, conducted by the composer.
From 11 June to 22 June 2008, it was performed at the Linbury Studio Theatre in the Royal Opera House
, London, with the Southbank Sinfonia
conducted by Timothy Redmond, and Joan Rodgers as the Duchess.
and shown on Christmas Day 1999. The film was released on DVD
in the UK for Christmas
2005; the DVD includes a documentary film about Adès by Gerald Fox made at around the same time.
Chamber opera
Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
in two acts, Op. 14 (1995) by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
composer Thomas Adès
Thomas Adès
Thomas Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor.-Biography:Adès studied piano with Paul Berkowitz and later composition with Robert Saxton at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London...
(b. 1971), with an English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
libretto by Philip Hensher
Philip Hensher
Philip Michael Hensher FRSL is an English novelist, critic and journalist.Hensher was born in South London, although he spent the majority of his childhood and adolescence in Sheffield, attending Tapton School. He did his undergraduate degree at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford before attending...
. The opera is 2 hours 20 minutes long. It was commissioned by the Almeida Opera, a part of London's Almeida Theatre
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
, for performances at the Cheltenham Music Festival
Cheltenham Music Festival
The Cheltenham Music Festival is one of the oldest music festivals in Britain, held annually in Cheltenham in June/July since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 2004....
.
The subject of the opera is the "Dirty Duchess", Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, whose sexual exploits were the stuff of scandal and gossip in Britain in 1963 during her divorce proceedings. The opera is explicit in its language and detail.
It was first performed on July 1, 1995 in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, with Jill Gómez in the leading role. Reviews were generally good, but the opera became notorious for its musical depiction of fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
: British radio station Classic FM
Classic FM (UK)
Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
considered it unsuitable for transmission.
Style
The music of the opera combines influences ranging from Alban BergAlban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, and Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
to Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
and the tangos of Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
in a witty, camp, and highly individual manner.
Describing the overall impact of the libretto and the theatricality of the entire production, Alex Ross notes:
- "Hensher seized the opportunity to create the first onstage blow job in opera history, but he also twisted the story into something more generalized and expressionistic: Margaret becomes a half-comic, half-tragic figure, a nitwit outlaw. There were clear parallels with Alban Berg’s epic of degradation, LuluLulu (opera)Lulu is an opera by the composer Alban Berg. The libretto was adapted by Berg himself from Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora .-Composition history:...
[...] The libretto reads like a nasty farce, but it takes on emotional breadth when the music is added. With a few incredibly seductive stretches of thirties-era popular melody, Adès shows the giddy world that the Duchess lost, and when her bright harmony lurches down to a terrifying B-flat minor he exposes the male cruelty that quickened her fall. Adès’s harmonic tricks have a powerful theatrical impact: there’s a repeated sense of a beautiful mirage shattering into cold, alienated fragments".
Performance history
After the premiere there were five LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
performances at the Almeida Theatre.
On June 8, 2006, there was a concert performance at the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
, London, with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, conducted by the composer.
From 11 June to 22 June 2008, it was performed at the Linbury Studio Theatre in the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, London, with the Southbank Sinfonia
Southbank Sinfonia
Southbank Sinfonia describes itself as "Britain's Newest Orchestra and one of the most exciting projects in music for decades."...
conducted by Timothy Redmond, and Joan Rodgers as the Duchess.
Roles and premiere cast
- Four singers and an ensemble of 15 players (clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, percussion, harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, string quintetString quintetA string quintet is a musical composition for a standard string quartet supplemented by a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola or a second cello , but occasionally a double bass. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who favoured addition of a viola, is considered a pioneer of the form...
).Premiere, July 1, 1995
(Brad Cohen)Duchess dramatic soprano SopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...Jill Gomez Jill GomezJill Gomez is a Trinidadian and British soprano of Hispanic origin.She was born in Guyana to a Trinidadian father and British mother; was raised in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; and has made her career primarily in the United Kingdom. After studying briefly at St...Hotel Manager, also Duke, Laundryman, Other guest bass Roger Bryson Electrician, also Lounge Lizard, Waiter, Priest, Rubbernecker, Delivery Boy tenor TenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...Niall Morris Niall MorrisNiall Morris, born in Dublin, is a well-known Irish classical singer. He studied music at Trinity College and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He completed his studies at the National Opera Studio in London....Maid, also Confidante, Waitress, Mistress, Rubbernecker, Society Journalist high soprano Valdine Anderson
Plot synopsis
- Scene 1 – 1990 (The hotel). An electrician and a maid are discovered by the Duchess in her suite, ridiculing her. The scene closes with the entrance of a male figure.
- Scene 2 – 1934 (A country House). The Duchess’s confidante and a lounge lizard discuss her recent divorce. The Duke makes an impressive entrance.
- Scene 3 – 1936. The Duke and Duchess’s wedding is described in a fancy aria by a waitress.
- Scene 4 – 1953. The Duchess stays at the hotel and seduces a waiter. The waiter accepts a tip and reveals the recurrence of the Duchess’s deeds.
- Scene 5 – 1953. The Duke visits his mistress. They flirt and she suggests that the Duchess’s serial seductions are the talk of London.
- Scene 6 – 1955. Two rubberneckers comment extravagantly on the divorce case. The judge denigrates the Duchess's morals.
- Scene 7 – 1970. The Duchess is interviewed by a society journalist. Her bill is delivered.
- Scene 8 – 1990. The hotel manager tells the Duchess to leave the hotel, since she is unable to pay her bills. She attempts to seduce him but with no success. She departs.
- Epilogue. The electrician and the maid surface from beneath the bed and destroy the hotel room.
Critical responses
- "...an opera about an arresting, beautiful, inwardly inadequate, and finally tragic woman, whom [Adès and Hensher] imagined as 'all cladding powder, scent, painting, furs, nothing inside', whose life finally crumbles about her. The form of the work might be described as 'cabaret-opera'..." (Andrew Porter, The programme note)
- "The harp is the Duchess's particular instrument, 'swathing' her with perfume, jewels, rich fabrics, all the trappings of decorative exterior" (Andrew Porter, The programme note)
- "Journalist and writer Paul GriffithsPaul GriffithsPaul Griffiths may refer to:* Paul J. Griffiths , professor of Catholic Thought* Paul Griffiths , Welsh writer, theatre critic and director* Paul Griffiths , British music critic, novelist and librettist...
called the music of Powder Her Face ‘the music of the future’, written by one who has ‘the panache of a great opera composer’." (Andrew Porter, The programme note)
- "Camp, spiteful, sneering little opera unworthy of Thomas Adès' talent. This bitchy little piece is based on the infamous Duchess of Argyll (she of the 'headless man' sex photos), seen in her last impoverished days, mocked by hotel staff and presumably smart-arse literati looking for a target for their adult wit. This performance is announced as 'semi-staged'; whether that includes the blow-job that's written into it is about the only point of interest in this arid little piece of superannuated adolescent exhibitionismExhibitionismExhibitionism refers to a desire or compulsion to expose parts of one's body – specifically the genitals or buttocks of a man or woman, or the breasts of a woman – in a public or semi-public circumstance, in crowds or groups of friends or acquaintances, or to strangers...
. The composer conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in his pointlessly nifty score, with a cast led by the expert Mary Plazas and Valdine Anderson." (review in Time Out, London, June 8, 2006)
Film version
Powder Her Face was made into a motion picture by Britain's Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and shown on Christmas Day 1999. The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the UK for Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
2005; the DVD includes a documentary film about Adès by Gerald Fox made at around the same time.
Recordings
- Audio CD: Conducted by the composer with the Almeida Ensemble and performed by Jill Gómez, Valdine Anderson, Niall Morris, and Roger Bryson. Recorded 1998, released 1 October 1999. (EMI: CDS5566492)
- DVD: Directed by David Alden, conducted by the composer with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and performed by Mary Plazas, Heather Buck, Daniel Norman, and Graeme Broadbent. Released in 2006 in the U.S. (DC10002).
External links
- Further information
- Adès biography (to 2000) at EMI Classics
- Fox, Christopher, "Tempestuous Times: the Recent Music of Thomas Adès", Musical Times, Autumn 2004 (short article)
- Ross, Alex, "Roll Over Beethoven: Thomas Adès", The New Yorker, November 2nd, 1998
- EMI Classics press release on the issue of the CD