The Death of Klinghoffer
Encyclopedia
The Death of Klinghoffer is an American opera
, with music by John Adams to an English-language libretto
by Alice Goodman
. First produced in Brussels
and New York
in 1991, the opera is based on the hijacking of the passenger liner Achille Lauro
by the Palestine Liberation Front
in 1985, and the resulting murder of Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer
. The concept of the opera originated with theatre director Peter Sellars
, who was a major collaborator, as was the choreographer Mark Morris
. It was commissioned by five American and European opera companies, as well as the Brooklyn Academy of Music
.
Act I begins as the unnamed Captain of the Achille Lauro recalls the events of the hijacking. Prior to that, most of the passengers had disembarked in Egypt for a tour of the Pyramids, and the ship set out to sea to return later for the touring passengers. The hijackers had boarded during the disembarkation. When the hijackers commandeer the ship, the passengers still on board are collected in the ship's restaurant. The narrative shifts to a Swiss grandmother, traveling with her grandson whilst the boy's parents are touring the pyramids. The ship's first officer, given the fictitious name of Giordano Bruno, informs the Captain that terrorists are on the ship and one waiter has been wounded. The Captain and First Officer try to keep the passengers calm. Molqi, one of the hijackers, explains the situation to the passengers at gunpoint. The Captain and Molqi have an encounter, where the Captain orders food and drink to be brought, and offers to let Molqi choose the food for the Captain to eat.
Following the "Ocean Chorus", Scene 2 introduces another hijacker, Mamoud, as he keeps guard over the Captain. Mamoud recalls his youth and songs he listened to on the radio. The Captain and Mamoud have a dialogue, in which the Captain pleads that individuals on the two sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could meet and try to understand each other. Mamoud dismisses this idea. During this scene is a passenger narrative by the Austrian Woman, who locked herself in her cabin and remained hidden throughout the hijacking. Act I ends with the "Night Chorus."
Act II begins with the "Hagar Chorus", related to the Islamic story of Hagar and the Angel, and the Biblical story of Hagar and Ishmael. It represents the beginnings of Arab-Israeli tension, of which the hijacking is one historical result. In Scene 1, Molqi is frustrated by having received no reply from ? to his demands. Mamoud threatens all of the passengers with death. Leon Klinghoffer sings, saying that he normally likes to avoid trouble and live simply and decently, but going on to denounce the hijackers. Another hijacker, called "Rambo
", responds in harsh terms about Jews and Americans. The passenger, the British Dancing Girl, recalls how well the fourth hijacker, Omar, treated her and the other passengers, for example, letting them have cigarettes. Omar sings of his desire for martyrdom for his cause. At the end of the scene, Omar and Molqi have a dispute, and Molqui takes Klinghoffer away. The "Desert Chorus" follows.
Scene 2 starts with Marilyn Klinghoffer talking about disability, illness, and death. She thinks that her husband Leon was taken to the ship's hospital, but he was shot, off-stage. The hijackers have ordered the Captain to say they will kill another passenger every fifteen minutes. Instead, the Captain offers himself as the sole next person to be killed. Molqi appears and says that Leon Klinghoffer is dead. The "Aria of the Falling Body (Gymnopédie)", sung by Klinghoffer, follows. The "Day Chorus" links Scene 2 to Scene 3, which occurs after the hijackers have surrendered and the surviving passengers have disembarked safely in port. The Captain remains to tell Marilyn Klinghoffer the news of about her husband's death. She reacts with sorrow at her husband's death and rage towards the Captain, for what she sees as his accommodation of the hijackers. Her final sentiment is that she wished that she could have died in Leon's place.
period, in the vein also of music by Philip Glass
and Steve Reich
. Intervallic relationships such as affekt are used to evoke certain emotions. The drama is portrayed primarily in long monologues by individual characters, with commentary by the chorus
, which does not take part in the action.
Both Adams and Sellars have acknowledged the affinity of the opera's dramatic structure to the sacred oratorios
of Johann Sebastian Bach
, in particular his Passions
. The plot of the opera does not contain a detailed re-enactment of the events of the hijacking and the murder of Klinghoffer; the major events are not directly portrayed on stage and occur between the opera's staged scenes. The artists originally considered the opera as more of a "dramatic meditation" or "reflection", in the manner of an oratorio, rather than a conventional narrative opera driven by plot.
Based on this aspect, the opera has been criticized as undramatic and static, particularly in Act I, whereas Act II is more "conventional" in terms of operatic narrative. In defence of this unconventional structure, John Ginman has analysed the particular dramaturgy and structure of the opera.
The opera's choral passages have been performed and recorded separately as Choruses from Klinghoffer.
, San Francisco Opera
, Opéra de Lyon, Los Angeles Opera
and Glyndebourne Festival Opera
, as well as the Brooklyn Academy of Music
. The first performance took place at the Théatre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels
, Belgium
, on 19 March 1991
, directed by Sellars. The first US performance was at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on 5 September 1991. Because of the ensuing controversy and reaction to the subject matter and philosophy of the opera (vide infra), the Glyndebourne and Los Angeles productions did not take place. When the original production was staged at San Francisco Opera in November 1992, the Jewish Information League staged protests.
The next full staging of the opera did not occur until February 2001, in Helsinki
at Finnish National Opera
. The first complete UK performance did not occur until a 2002 concert performance in London by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
. Penny Woolcock
directed a British television
version of the opera, in revised form, for Channel 4
, with the London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Adams; it was telecast in 2003. The first fully staged UK production took place in August 2005 at the Edinburgh Festival
, by the Scottish Opera
.
In the USA, the opera received a new series of concert performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 2003. The Curtis Institute of Music
, through the Curtis Opera Theatre and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, gave a performance of the opera in Philadelphia in February 2005. In February 2009, students at the Juilliard Opera Center performed a semi-staged concert version, with Adams conducting. The opera received its second fully staged American production in June 2011 at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
, directed by James Robinson.
The first Australasian performance of the opera was in February 2005 at the Auckland Festival
.
Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the Boston Symphony Orchestra
cancelled a scheduled performance in November 2001 of extracts from the opera. This was partly in deference to a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, who lost a family member on one of the hijacked planes, and also because of the perceived "pro-Palestinian" nature of the work. It was considered too controversial for performance at a time of heightened anti-Muslim feeling in the USA. In a widely read New York Times article, Richard Taruskin
defended the orchestra's action, and denounced Adams and the opera for "romanticizing terrorists". Defenders of the opera, including John Rockwell
of the New York Times, countered that, by portraying the terrorists as human beings rather than two-dimensional villains, Adams forces the audience to confront the underlying causes of violence, rather than to blame only the brainwashed children of violence.
Adams responded to Taruskin's criticisms on a number of occasions, including this 2004 statement:
In a more academic analysis, Robert Fink countered Taruskin's accusations of anti-Semitism, with particular reference to the deleted scene with the Rumor family. Fink has discussed how the removal of this scene disrupted the original dramaturgical structure of the opera, as the singers of the members of the Rumor family took on symbolically ironic later roles in the opera. Fink further posited that the reaction of American audiences to the portrayal of the Rumor family was partly because it was sociologically accurate. He discussed the scene in the historical context of past depictions in American popular culture of Jewish-American families. A separate academic study by Ruth Sara Longobardi discusses the opera with respect to issues about depictions of Palestinians and Jews. She explores how the use of contemporary media in productions, such as the Penny Woolcock film of the opera, affects perception of the two sides of the political conflict.
The 2009 Juilliard performance aroused controversy again. The school's president, Joseph W. Polisi
, responded to a letter to The Juilliard Journal which protested the opera as "a political statement made by the composer to justify an act of terrorism by four Palestinians." He wrote:
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, with music by John Adams to an English-language libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Alice Goodman
Alice Goodman
Alice Goodman , American poet, was educated at Harvard University and Cambridge where she studied English and American literature. She received her Master of Divinity degree from the Boston University School of Theology. She has written the libretti for two of the operas of John Adams, Nixon in...
. First produced in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1991, the opera is based on the hijacking of the passenger liner Achille Lauro
Achille Lauro hijacking
On October 7, 1985, four men representing the Palestine Liberation Front hijacked the Italian MS Achille Lauro liner off Egypt as she was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said. Muhammad Zaidan, leader of the PLF, masterminded the hijacking...
by the Palestine Liberation Front
Palestine Liberation Front
The Palestine Liberation Front is a Palestinian militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union and the USA. It is presently led by Dr. Wasel Abu Yousef.-Origins:...
in 1985, and the resulting murder of Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer
Leon Klinghoffer
Leon Klinghoffer was a disabled American appliance manufacturer who was murdered and thrown overboard by Palestinian terrorists in the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985.-Hijacking and murder:...
. The concept of the opera originated with theatre director Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...
, who was a major collaborator, as was the choreographer Mark Morris
Mark Morris
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
. It was commissioned by five American and European opera companies, as well as the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
.
Synopsis
The prologue to the opera consists of two choruses, the "Chorus of Exiled Palestinians" and the "Chorus of Exiled Jews", each of which is a general reflection about the respective peoples and their history.Act I begins as the unnamed Captain of the Achille Lauro recalls the events of the hijacking. Prior to that, most of the passengers had disembarked in Egypt for a tour of the Pyramids, and the ship set out to sea to return later for the touring passengers. The hijackers had boarded during the disembarkation. When the hijackers commandeer the ship, the passengers still on board are collected in the ship's restaurant. The narrative shifts to a Swiss grandmother, traveling with her grandson whilst the boy's parents are touring the pyramids. The ship's first officer, given the fictitious name of Giordano Bruno, informs the Captain that terrorists are on the ship and one waiter has been wounded. The Captain and First Officer try to keep the passengers calm. Molqi, one of the hijackers, explains the situation to the passengers at gunpoint. The Captain and Molqi have an encounter, where the Captain orders food and drink to be brought, and offers to let Molqi choose the food for the Captain to eat.
Following the "Ocean Chorus", Scene 2 introduces another hijacker, Mamoud, as he keeps guard over the Captain. Mamoud recalls his youth and songs he listened to on the radio. The Captain and Mamoud have a dialogue, in which the Captain pleads that individuals on the two sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could meet and try to understand each other. Mamoud dismisses this idea. During this scene is a passenger narrative by the Austrian Woman, who locked herself in her cabin and remained hidden throughout the hijacking. Act I ends with the "Night Chorus."
Act II begins with the "Hagar Chorus", related to the Islamic story of Hagar and the Angel, and the Biblical story of Hagar and Ishmael. It represents the beginnings of Arab-Israeli tension, of which the hijacking is one historical result. In Scene 1, Molqi is frustrated by having received no reply from ? to his demands. Mamoud threatens all of the passengers with death. Leon Klinghoffer sings, saying that he normally likes to avoid trouble and live simply and decently, but going on to denounce the hijackers. Another hijacker, called "Rambo
Rambo
Rambo is an action film series based on the David Morrell novel First Blood and starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled Vietnam War veteran and former Green Beret who is skilled in many aspects of survival, weaponry, hand to hand combat and guerrilla warfare...
", responds in harsh terms about Jews and Americans. The passenger, the British Dancing Girl, recalls how well the fourth hijacker, Omar, treated her and the other passengers, for example, letting them have cigarettes. Omar sings of his desire for martyrdom for his cause. At the end of the scene, Omar and Molqi have a dispute, and Molqui takes Klinghoffer away. The "Desert Chorus" follows.
Scene 2 starts with Marilyn Klinghoffer talking about disability, illness, and death. She thinks that her husband Leon was taken to the ship's hospital, but he was shot, off-stage. The hijackers have ordered the Captain to say they will kill another passenger every fifteen minutes. Instead, the Captain offers himself as the sole next person to be killed. Molqi appears and says that Leon Klinghoffer is dead. The "Aria of the Falling Body (Gymnopédie)", sung by Klinghoffer, follows. The "Day Chorus" links Scene 2 to Scene 3, which occurs after the hijackers have surrendered and the surviving passengers have disembarked safely in port. The Captain remains to tell Marilyn Klinghoffer the news of about her husband's death. She reacts with sorrow at her husband's death and rage towards the Captain, for what she sees as his accommodation of the hijackers. Her final sentiment is that she wished that she could have died in Leon's place.
Dramaturgy
The general style of the opera's music resembles that of Adams' minimalist musicMinimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
period, in the vein also of music by Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
and Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
. Intervallic relationships such as affekt are used to evoke certain emotions. The drama is portrayed primarily in long monologues by individual characters, with commentary by the chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, which does not take part in the action.
Both Adams and Sellars have acknowledged the affinity of the opera's dramatic structure to the sacred oratorios
Oratórios
Oratórios is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Zona da Mata and to the microregion of Ponte Nova.-See also:* List of municipalities in Minas Gerais...
of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, in particular his Passions
Passions
Passions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008....
. The plot of the opera does not contain a detailed re-enactment of the events of the hijacking and the murder of Klinghoffer; the major events are not directly portrayed on stage and occur between the opera's staged scenes. The artists originally considered the opera as more of a "dramatic meditation" or "reflection", in the manner of an oratorio, rather than a conventional narrative opera driven by plot.
Based on this aspect, the opera has been criticized as undramatic and static, particularly in Act I, whereas Act II is more "conventional" in terms of operatic narrative. In defence of this unconventional structure, John Ginman has analysed the particular dramaturgy and structure of the opera.
The opera's choral passages have been performed and recorded separately as Choruses from Klinghoffer.
Performance history
The opera was originally commissioned through a consortium of five opera companies, including La MonnaieLa Monnaie
Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....
, San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
, Opéra de Lyon, Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
and Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
, as well as the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
. The first performance took place at the Théatre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, on 19 March 1991
1991 in music
See also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...
, directed by Sellars. The first US performance was at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on 5 September 1991. Because of the ensuing controversy and reaction to the subject matter and philosophy of the opera (vide infra), the Glyndebourne and Los Angeles productions did not take place. When the original production was staged at San Francisco Opera in November 1992, the Jewish Information League staged protests.
The next full staging of the opera did not occur until February 2001, in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
at Finnish National Opera
Finnish National Opera
The Finnish National Opera in Helsinki is the leading opera company in Finland. Its home base is the Opera House on Töölönlahti bay in Töölö which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through Senate Properties...
. The first complete UK performance did not occur until a 2002 concert performance in London by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
. Penny Woolcock
Penny Woolcock
Penny Woolcock is a British filmmaker, opera director, and screenwriter. She was raised in a British community in Montevideo, speaking English and going to English schools...
directed a British television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
version of the opera, in revised form, for Channel 4
Channel 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...
, 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 Adams; it was telecast in 2003. The first fully staged UK production took place in August 2005 at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, by the Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
.
In the USA, the opera received a new series of concert performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 2003. The Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
, through the Curtis Opera Theatre and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, gave a performance of the opera in Philadelphia in February 2005. In February 2009, students at the Juilliard Opera Center performed a semi-staged concert version, with Adams conducting. The opera received its second fully staged American production in June 2011 at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, which is divided into two...
, directed by James Robinson.
The first Australasian performance of the opera was in February 2005 at the Auckland Festival
Auckland Festival
The Auckland Festival is a biennial arts and cultural festival held in New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland. The Festival features works from New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia and beyond, including world premieres of new works and international performing arts events.-History:Auckland was the first...
.
Political controversy
Controversy surrounded the American premiere and other productions in the years which followed. Adams, Goodman and Sellars repeatedly claimed that they were trying to give equal voice to both Israelis and Palestinians with respect to the political background. Some critics and audience members condemned the production as anti-Semitic and appearing to be 'sympathetic' to the hijackers. Lisa Klinghoffer and Ilsa Klinghoffer, the daughters of Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer, anonymously attended the 1991 world premiere of the opera in New York City. Afterward they said they disapproved of the dramatic portrayal of the events. The dramatic expression of Palestinian historical grievances in a theatrical context was one source of accusations of 'sympathy' with Palestinian terrorism. Others accused the creators of anti-Semitism for their portrayal of fictional Jewish-American neighbours of the Klinghoffers, the Rumors, in a scene in the original version. The couple were characterized in a way many Americans believed to be offensive and inappropriately satirical. Following the American premiere, Adams deleted this scene while revising his opera for all future productions.Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
cancelled a scheduled performance in November 2001 of extracts from the opera. This was partly in deference to a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, who lost a family member on one of the hijacked planes, and also because of the perceived "pro-Palestinian" nature of the work. It was considered too controversial for performance at a time of heightened anti-Muslim feeling in the USA. In a widely read New York Times article, Richard Taruskin
Richard Taruskin
Richard Taruskin is an American-Russian musicologist, music historian, and critic who has written about the theory of performance, Russian music, fifteenth-century music, twentieth-century music, nationalism, the theory of modernism, and analysis. As a choral conductor he directed the Columbia...
defended the orchestra's action, and denounced Adams and the opera for "romanticizing terrorists". Defenders of the opera, including John Rockwell
John Rockwell
John Rockwell is a music critic, editor, and dance critic. He studied at Phillips Academy, Harvard, the University of Munich, and the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Ph.D. in German culture....
of the New York Times, countered that, by portraying the terrorists as human beings rather than two-dimensional villains, Adams forces the audience to confront the underlying causes of violence, rather than to blame only the brainwashed children of violence.
Adams responded to Taruskin's criticisms on a number of occasions, including this 2004 statement:
"Not long ago our attorney general, John AshcroftJohn AshcroftJohn David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
, said that anyone who questioned his policies on civil rights after September 11 was aiding terrorists; what Taruskin said was the aesthetic version of that. If there is an aesthetic viewpoint that does not agree with his, it should not be heard. I find that very disturbing indeed."
In a more academic analysis, Robert Fink countered Taruskin's accusations of anti-Semitism, with particular reference to the deleted scene with the Rumor family. Fink has discussed how the removal of this scene disrupted the original dramaturgical structure of the opera, as the singers of the members of the Rumor family took on symbolically ironic later roles in the opera. Fink further posited that the reaction of American audiences to the portrayal of the Rumor family was partly because it was sociologically accurate. He discussed the scene in the historical context of past depictions in American popular culture of Jewish-American families. A separate academic study by Ruth Sara Longobardi discusses the opera with respect to issues about depictions of Palestinians and Jews. She explores how the use of contemporary media in productions, such as the Penny Woolcock film of the opera, affects perception of the two sides of the political conflict.
The 2009 Juilliard performance aroused controversy again. The school's president, Joseph W. Polisi
Joseph W. Polisi
Joseph Polisi is the president of the Juilliard School, a position he has held since 1984 which he assumed upon the death of his predecessor, Peter Mennin. Son of William Polisi , he was instrumental in the construction of the Juilliard Residence Hall, and has focused his tenure on "community...
, responded to a letter to The Juilliard Journal which protested the opera as "a political statement made by the composer to justify an act of terrorism by four Palestinians." He wrote:
- "Let me tell you a bit about myself and then about my views of the Adams opera. Before becoming a professional musician, I was formally educated as a political scientist with a concentration on international relations. I am a longtime friend of Israel and have visited the country on numerous occasions to help Israeli artists study and perform in the United States. My King Solomon Award from the America Israel Cultural FoundationAmerica Israel Cultural FoundationThe America Israel Cultural Foundation was established in 1939 to support the growth and development of Israel. Originally established as the American Fund for Palestinian Institutions, after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 the name was changed to the American Fund for Israeli...
is a source of great pride for me. I have also researched and taught about the influences of the First Amendment on the arts and artists in America. My experiences in political science and music have played a powerful role in my thinking about The Death of Klinghoffer.
- "Unlike you, I do not see this work as a "justification" of an act of terrorism, but rather a profoundly perceptive and human commentary on a political/religious problem that continues to find no resolution. Such an extraordinary work of art like this must continue to live, no matter how horrific its basic story. I respect your right to protest the opera's topic, but Juilliard and its kindred artistic institutions have to be responsible for maintaining an environment in which challenging, as well as comforting, works of art are presented to the public.
- "You end your letter with the word "shame." I believe the "shame" for Juilliard would more likely have occurred if we had not the vision and the courage to present artistic works which we believe to be transformative compositions, worthy of presentation by our students and of reflection by our audiences. If we had decided against producing Adams's opera in an effort to not offend audience members, we would have ignored our mission as an institution and community that teaches and enlightens through the wonder and power of the arts."
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, March 19, 1991 (Conductor: Kent Nagano Kent Nagano __FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:... ) |
Nonesuch CD recording (Nonesuch 79281) |
Decca DVD (Decca 000440 074 1899 4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Captain of the Achille Lauro | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
James Maddalena James Maddalena James Maddalena is an American baritone who is chiefly associated with contemporary American opera. He gained international recognition in 1987 when he created the role of Richard Nixon at the premiere of Adams's opera Nixon in China at Houston. He has since reprised the role on many occasions,... |
James Maddalena | Christopher Maltman |
| The First Officer | bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
Thomas Hammons | Thomas Hammons | Dean Robinson |
| 'Rambo', a terrorist | bass-baritone | Thomas Hammons | Thomas Hammons | Leigh Melrose |
| Swiss grandmother | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Janice Felty Janice Felty Janice Felty is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. She is known for her interpretations of contemporary composers like John Adams, Philip Glass, John Harbison, and Judith Weir.... |
Janice Felty Janice Felty Janice Felty is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. She is known for her interpretations of contemporary composers like John Adams, Philip Glass, John Harbison, and Judith Weir.... |
Vivian Tierney |
| Austrian woman | mezzo-soprano | Janice Felty | Janice Felty | Nuala Willis |
| British dancing girl | mezzo-soprano | Janice Felty | Janice Felty | Kirsten Blase |
| Molqi, a terrorist | tenor Tenor The 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... |
Thomas Young | Thomas Young | Tom Randle |
| Mamoud, a terrorist | baritone | Eugene Perry | Eugene Perry | Kamel Boutrous |
| Leon Klinghoffer | baritone | Sanford Sylvan Sanford Sylvan Sanford Sylvan is an American baritone, born in New York City in 1953. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, he made his Glyndebourne Festival debut in 1994 as Leporello in Don Giovanni by Mozart.... |
Sanford Sylvan | Sanford Sylvan |
| Omar, a terrorist | mezzo-soprano | Stephanie Friedman | Stephanie Friedman | Emil Marwa Emil Marwa Emil Marwa, born in 1974, is a Norwegian actor, known for his acting in films like Izzat, East Is East, and The Guru. -Awards:-Selected filmography:-External links:... (actor); Susan Bickley (singer, voice-over) |
| Marilyn Klinghoffer | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Sheila Nadler | Sheila Nadler | Yvonne Howard |
| Chorus of Exiled Palestinians | SATB SATB In music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work... |
London Opera Chorus | London Symphony Chorus | |
| Chorus of Exiled Jews | SATB SATB In music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work... |
London Opera Chorus | London Symphony Chorus |
External links
- The Death of Klinghoffer page, includes summary, instrumentation, critical observations, Boosey & Hawkes Website
- Bernard Jacobsen, 'Seen and Heard International Opera Review': 18 February 2005 performance of The Death of Klinghoffer, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Seen and Heard International Website