Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner
DEATH IN VENICE - A DANCE OF DEATH
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
Soloists: Elizabeth Cooper (piano)
Orchestra, Chorus: Hamburg Ballett
Director: Thomas Grimm
Choreographer: John Neumeier
Running Time: 123
Picture Format: 16:9
Disc Format: NTSC
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Number of Discs: 1
Subtitle Languages:
GB, DE, FR
R E V I E W:
A modern myth, as it were, Thomas Mann’s novella Death
in Venice (Der Tod in Venedig, 1912)takes
its inspiration from art. It also continues to stimulate adaptations
in which the themes of the story to resonate in various ways.
In addition to the references to classical myth, Mann himself
acknowledged the physical description of his hero Gustav Aschenbach
resembled the face of Gustav Mahler. This served to connect
his story to a contemporary musician, albeit without biographical
overtones. The story acquired new life as a film by Visconti
(1971) and as an opera by Britten (1973). In transforming the
story into ballet, choreographer John Neumeier uses movement
for its execution. The result is a work which stands well on
its own. It re-envisions the story and offers interpretations
of the music Neumeier used in this new context.
As with his other ballets, notably the ones based on the music
of Mahler, Neumeier chose significant works for the score. In
Death in Venice Neumeier makes use of music by Bach and
Wagner: Bach’s Musical Offering, BWV 1079; the
Bourrée from Bach’s Suite for Lute, BWV 996; various
excerpts from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, including
the famous prelude to Act 1 and the third-act Liebestod;
the “Bacchanale” from Tannhaüser) extracts
from the Wesendonck-Lieder; and Webern’s orchestration
of the six-voiced ricercar from Bach’s Musical Offering.
The choices underscore the two aesthetic poles of Mann’s
story. As Neumeier stated in the notes published with the DVD,
“When I decided to translate the novella into dance, I
knew from the beginning that I would use the music of Johann
Sebastian Bach for the rational, intellectual, Apollonian world
of strict order that characterizes Aschenbach’s creations.
...” For the contrasting Dionysian world, the logical
choice was Wagner. Neumeier’s selections from nineteenth-century
operas are appropriate to this version of Death in Venice.
Neumeier’s scenario hinges on the depiction of Gustav
Aschenbach as an esteemed choreographer. He is neither the writer
Mann described in his story (and in Britten’s libretto)
nor the composer in Visconti’s film. The action is shifted
to the eighteenth-century court of Frederick the Great. In the
course of completing a ballet for the Prussian court, Aschenbach
encourages a mysterious stranger, whose arrival prompts the
choreographer to leave Germany. Aschenbach finds himself in
Venice, where he encounters the Polish youth Tadzio and becomes
infatuated with the boy. This inspires Dionysian dreams in Aschenbach’s
psyche. As he wakes to real life in Venice, a cholera epidemic
strikes the city. Instead of fleeing, Aschenbach stays. His
unfinished ballet entitled “Frederick the Great”
is his legacy after dying in Venice. This follows the outlines
of Mann’s story, including the unfinished Frederick the
Great. The history of the monarch in Mann’s novella becomes
a ballet in Neumeier’s adaptation, a detail which suggests
autobiographical elements.
Neumeier’s use of the famous novella as a point of departure
sets the bar high for creating dance that translates the story
effectively. Neumeier succeeds in meeting the challenge with
his medium becoming an apt vehicle for retelling Mann’s
story. In this regard the element of abstraction works well
within the structure, so that it is possible to enter into the
concept of communicating the narrative through dance. Thus,
the choreography in the opening scene projects the textures
and motion found in a fugue by Bach. This in turn suggests the
kinds of abstract dances associated with the fictional protagonist
(here portrayed convincingly by Lloyd Riggins). Neumeier’s
own facility at choreography is evident in the contrastingly
passionate dances that underscore Aschenbach’s fascination
with Tadzio. He is, after all, responding to the music. The
selection of pieces is another masterstroke which serves as
the means to connect dance and narrative. The musical element
stands apart from the way Visconti used the Adagietto
from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony throughout the film Death
in Venice. In the latter the recurrence of the same music
in various contexts differs from the ways in which Neumeier
juxtaposed different kinds of works in his ballet. Wisely he
avoids the inclusion of any Mahler; no suggestion of any intertextual
element between this new ballet and Visconti’s film. While
Neumeier uses a number of pieces, the choreography allows them
to cohere and this video usefully shows how this works. With
stage direction as nimble as would occur with a play, the sense
of timing found in this performance merits attention for the
way it allows the entire structure to flow with easy eloquence.
As ballet, this conception of the story works well on various
levels. The evocation of the eighteenth century milieu is readily
found in the music. The use of selected props prevents the ballet
from becoming a costume drama; the use of tricorn hats and period
jackets is sufficient in this regard. Likewise, the mirroring
that is part of the choreography throughout the ballet sets
up the climactic scene between Aschenbach and Tadzio. This aspect
of dance further connects the treatment of fugue in the first
part of the ballet with the intimate scene at the end. At the
same time, the element of music stands out in the treatment
of the music and the visual reminders of scores. The use of
Peters editions of Bach’s music as a prop not only presents
the name of the composer unquestionably on the stage, but also
suggest the kind of reverence for the score that parallels the
way the book of scripture functions in a liturgical setting.
A modern work of art, Neumeier’s ballet merits attention
for its convincing translation of Thomas Mann’s Death
in Venice in dance. With a cast and production shaped by
Neumeier, the video offers an authentic rendering of the 2004
ballet for future audiences to appreciate. It is moving for
the way the story becomes vivid without a single word of dialogue.
Neumeier’s Death in Venice demonstrates the choreographer’s
mastery of the genre.
-- James L. Zychowicz, MusicWeb International