The period after a composer’s death can be a difficult in terms of the musical legacy. Michael Tippett died in 1998 and his music no longer comes around often in live performances, so it is good news that a new champion has arrived on the scene.
For his first concert as principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner chose Tippett’s opera The Midsummer Marriage, given its premiere in 1955. It made a suitably uplifting work and a live recording of that concert from September last year has now been released on disc.
Like all of Tippett’s operas, The Midsummer Marriage is a problem work. Following in the footsteps of Wagner, though with more doubtful success, Tippett liked to write his own librettos and the result was quirky to say the least, a mash-up of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Jung, and his own homespun philosophy.
What makes The Midsummer Marriage special is the music. We enter an otherworldly wood peopled by ancients and soothsayers, a symbol of eternal rebirth, which inspired Tippett to create some of his most ecstatic music. The orchestra is its life force, teeming with a feverish stream of ideas that sweeps the opera to a rapturous finale.
The cast for the opera’s premiere at the Royal Opera House included Joan Sutherland, no less. There are no obvious stars here, but a decent cast includes some good performances, especially from Toby Spence and Ashley Riches, plus Jennifer France and Robert Murray bravely tackle challenging roles. Above all, Gardner and the LPO are outstanding. Tippett’s music looks set for a heart-warming revival.
★★★★☆
‘Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage’ is released by LPO
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