Long Beach Opera (LBO) presents the West Coast Premiere of The Love Potion (Le Vin Herbé), with music by Frank Martin. LBO Artistic & General Director Andreas Mitisek directs and Benjamin Makino conducts. The libretto is by Joseph Bédier; the English language translation is by Hugh McDonald.
Martin creates an intimate, ritualistic drama of collective story telling that is a complete departure from Wagner's original opera. At the premiere of this production at Chicago Opera Theater, John von Rhein noted in the Chicago Tribune, "There is a great deal more to the story here than in Wagner's five-hour opera, ... With Le Vin Herbé, you feel you are witnessing a modern take on an ancient morality play about romantic love transformed into supernatural love."
The Love Potion had its premiere in 1942. Based on The Romance of Tristan & Iseult published in 1900, it is a retelling of the Tristan legend by historian and medievalist Joseph Bédier. A chamber opera, Martin uses twelve singers as both the soloists and chorus, much in the manner of ancient Greek tragedies. A small ensemble of seven strings and a piano support the mood and action of the drama. Martin fashioned a work in the greatest possible contrast to Richard Wagner's opera by using older text sources (including two Isoldes), creating an intimate chamber work with a medieval feel.
Tristan and Iseult is a tale made popular during the 12th century through French medieval poetry, inspired by Celtic legend. It has become an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseult, etc.). The narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, and has had a substantial impact on Western art, the idea of romantic love, and literature since it first appeared. While the details of the story differ from one author to another, the overall plot structure remains much the same.
M.I. Rantala in the Hyde Park Herald said, "Like a fine chocolate or a carefully calibrated watch, the Swiss are known for deliciousness and fine-tuning. Swiss composer brought these traits together in his delectable and sophisticatedly complex cantata Le Vin Herbé ... the exciting 1942 work under the English title The Love Potion."
Frank Martin said, "I truly found myself very late. It was only towards the age of forty-five that I discovered my true language ... and I can say that my most personal output begins around the age of fifty. If I had died then, I could never have expressed myself in my true language."
"In the spring of 1938 I wasn't working on any major composition, but I busied myself with the saga of Tristan and Isolde, when
Robert Blum asked me to write a half-hour piece for twelve solo voices and a few instruments for his Madrigal Choir. I took another look at the novel by Joseph Bédier and realized immediately that I could not find a better story for my purposes. I found that the chapter Le Philtre (The Potion) provided a complete narrative for the half hour commission. The text naturally separated into Solos and Ensembles. The instruments, when not accompanying the singers, are supposed to act like the scenery in a theater piece."
"The text naturally divided into scenes, which called for a simple musical structure. After I finished, I decided to add two more parts: as the second La Fôret du Morois (The Forest of Morois), where the lovers decide to part, and as the third La Mort (The Death). I felt I needed more time to tell this tale of love and death. It seemed unavoidable that not only love is represented, but also death, bringing relief after all the ecstasy and dread of passion."
The cast includes Bernard Holcomb as Tristan,
Jamie Chamberlin as Isolde, Bernardo Bermudez as King Mark, Alejandra Martinez as Branghien,
Kira Dills-DeSurra as Isolde with white hands, Lindsay Patterson as Isolde's mother, Gibran Mahmud as Kathedin, Scott Ziemann as Duke Hoel, along with Alexandra Martinez-Turano, and Danielle Corell.
Tickets for The Love Potion range from $49 to $150, and can be purchased either by calling the LBO Box Office at 562.470.SING (7464) or by going online to
longbeachopera.org. Student Rush tickets for $15 will be available space permitting. For information, please visit
www.longbeachopera.org
