Death in Venice by Benjamin Britten

The Death in Venice is an opera that has turned some heads in recent years. Britten by the great Benjamin Britten, it first seems to be about the homosexual love of an aging writer, but once the story continues you find a deeper level; it is a conflict between beauty and passion, between Apollo and Dionysus. Performed in two acts, it first premiered on the 16th June 1973 at The Maltings, Snape, Suffolk (United Kingdom). It is set in Munich and Venice around 1910.

Characters:

Gustav von Aschenbach, a novelist (Tenor)

The Traveler, also the Elderly Fop, the Old Gondolier, the Hotel Manager, the Hotel Barber, the Leader of the Players, the Voice of Apollo (countertenor)

Young men, girls, hotel guests, waiters, boatmen, street vendors, beggars, the citizens of Venice, the followers of Dionysus (chorus)

Choral soloists (Soprano)

A French and German mother, a Russian nanny and a beggar woman (Alto)

A hotel porter, two Americans, two gondoliers, a glass blower, a strolling player (Tenor)

Ship’s steward, Lido boatmen, a Polish, German and Russian father, hotel waiter, tourist guide, waiter, gondolier, a priest, English clerk (Baritones and Bass)

The Polish mother, her son Tadzion, his friend Jaschiu and his two sisters, his governess, boys and girls, strolling players and beach attendants (ballet)

Synopsis:

Act I

Scene 1: Aschenbach, a novelist in Munich, is struggling to overcome writer’s block and his psychological crisis. An unknown traveller suggests he travel south.

Scene 2: An old fop catches the attention of Aschenbach which arouses feelings of disgust and disaster.

Scene 3: On a gondola travelling to his hotel on the Lido, Aschenbach begins to calm down. However, he sees a black gondola and this arouses foreboding sensations of impending death.

Scene 4: Aschenbach is at the hotel in Venice admiring the wonderful view. His spirits is lifted by the city’s beauty and the Polish boy Tadizon, who is staying at the hotel with his mother and sisters.

Scene 5: Aschenbach watches the Polish boy on the beach as he plays with the other children. He reflects on the notion of beauty.

Scene 6: Aschenbach has decided to leave Venice but once he loses his luggage he is forced to stay. When he sees Tadizon again he feels more content.

Scene 7: Aschenbach admits that he loves Tadizon and beauty in general as he watches the boys play games.

Act II

Scene 1: Aschenbach overhears the news that there is an outbreak of cholera and visitors are fleeing Venice.

Scene 2: Aschenbach secretly follows the Polish family, hoping fervently that they will not leave Venice.

Scene 3: Aschenbach asks for information about the epidemic from the strolling players who enter the hotel. They do not give him any news.

Scene 4: The danger of the epidemic is confirmed.

Scene 5: Aschenbach decides to tell Tadizon’s mother the news of the epidemic but when she appears he cannot tell her as he is scared of losing Tadizon.

Scene 6: Aschenbach dreams of a struggle between Dionysus and Apollo. Dionysius wins the fight.

Scene 7: Aschenbach once again thinks about the notion of beauty at the beach.

Scene 8: Aschenbach goes to have his hair coloured and his cheeks rouged, like the elderly fop on the boat he saw.

Scene 9: Aschenbach follows the Polish family into the city again where it dawns on him that the inclination to sensual beauty has led him to the chasm of passion.

Scene 10: Aschenbach learns that the family are leaving Venice. At the point of his death, Aschenbach sees a vision of the boy, his vision of beauty.