High Life

HIGH LIFE #12 Sep 2017 97 Born into a family of Austrian, Bosnian, Hungarian and Jewish descent with influence from Catholicism, Islam and Judaism, Zemlinsky embodied the Austro-Hungarian brand of multiculturalismthatAdolfHitler loathed and in the 1930swould flee from the Third Reich to the United States. Zemlinsky was a contemporary of his brother-in-law Arnold Schönberg, Strauss and the celebrated Gustav Mahler. His name may be obscure in our time, but until the late 1930s, hewas an important composer, conductor and teacher. He studied under Anton Bruckner, was supported by Johannes Brahms and admired by Igor Stravinsky. Zemlinsky’s most famous student must be Alma Schindler, whom he fell in love with in 1900. Due to pressure from family and friends, who were reportedly unimpressed with Zemlinsky’s career and appearance, she left him and married Mahler in 1902. Composed in 1915 and 1916, Eine florentinischeTragödie, Op. 16.was inspiredbyhis unrequited love for Alma. An intensely emotional and personal opera, the libretto was adapted by Zemlinsky, based on a German translation of Wilde’s unfinished play A Florentine Tragedy . The storywas set in 16th century Florence. Upon returning home from a trip abroad, Florentine merchant Simone (performed by baritone Seung-min Seong) was surprised by the presence of an unexpected guest – Prince of Florence Guido Bardi (performed by tenor Erik Nelson Werner). He may not have suspected cuckoldry at first, but as the plot developed, numerous hints emerged, some revealed by Guido Bardi and his wife Bianca (performed by soprano Myung-joo Lee), whose affection for each other appeared devout and genuine. At certain junctures, it was almost tempting to see Bianca leave her boorish and condescending husband for the sophisticated prince – an insinuation on Mahler’s stifling of Alma’s musical career? Guido Bardi challenged Simone to a fight and was killed. Impressed by his husband’s hitherto unknown strength, the man and wife reconciled and the curtain fell. The opera in one act appeared curiously hasty in ending, leaving various hints uncollected, conflicts unresolved and tension unreleased, as there was precious little dénouement, even less catharsis and “tragic collision”, the central elements