VOL. 61, No 2. March/April 1998

BLUMENFELD: Seasons in Hell
Randall Gremillion (Young Rimbaud), Philip Mark Horst (Older Rimbaud), Chad Smith (Paul Verlaine), Mary Elizabeth Kures (The Voice), Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music/ Gerhard Samuel - Albany 262 [2CD] 93 minutes

In May/June 1996 I reviewed the world premier performances of this opera and was quite pleased with it. Albany has recorded one of those performances, and the opera continues to make a strong impression. The story of French poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) has long fascinated Blumenfeld, producing a series of Rimbaud-inspired compositions and now a magnum opus in Seasons. Rimbaud wrote most of his poetry between the ages of 15 and 19, revolutionizing French poetry, all the while reveling in total debauchery and a love affair with fellow poet Paul Verlaine (1844-1896), ten years his senior. At 19 in a searing autobiography, Une Saison en Enfer, Rimbaud renounced poetry, bohemianism, and European culture in an attempt at "meaningful, productive work", travelling braodly, eventually settling in Abyssinia as a coffee exporter and gun runner. A synovitis tumor cause the amputation of his right leg and he died at age 37.

The libretto by Charles Kondek is an ingenious display of literary virtuosity, using paraphrases of Rimbaud's poetry and correspondence to construct a double chronology telling the story of Younger Rimbaud in forward order, ages 14 to 19, and of Older Rimbaud in reverse from his death to age 19. The two stories connect at the opera's finale in Rimbaud's fateful renunciation. 23 brief cinematic scenes interweave the two chronologies. Three singers portray Rimbaud: two baritones as Younger and Older Rimbaud and a soprano, singing bits of Rimbaud's poetry in French, as muse and commentator.

Blumenfeld's music is expressionist, almost to pointillism-- lean, spare recitative alternating with massive sonic outbursts. The orchestra carefully supports, outlines, and punctuates the vocal line. Five players amid a mass of 62 percussion instruments add to the sonic brilliance. The extremely difficult percussion parts are written with fine restraint, rarely overwhelming the voices. Although the three Rimbaud voices are exploited to their extremes, the vocal line is so cleverly constructed that the English text is easily intelligible. A remarkable achievement.

As usual at CCM, principal roles were double cast. This February 10, 1996 performance uses the second cast. At the performances I was more pleased with the first cast, and a rehearing continues to confirm that impression. It is perhaps unfair to make comparisons the purchaser of this disc cannot make, so I will only mention the recorded cast, Gremillion sings strongly, accurately, but with little sense of involvement or connection with the small voiced Verlaine of Chad Smith. Horst gives the listener a generous warm sound but, again, little involvement. The rest of the large vocal ensemble was the same for all five performances. Kures was the most important as The Voice of Rimbaud's Poetry; ar role high of tessitura, often producing a screechiness not easily overcome, but sounding better in the recording than in the theater where the vocal line was aggravated by the electronic effects added to the over-miked voice. Gerhard Samuel keeps his mighty musical forces firmly under control, expertly moving the show along with precision and care.

The opera is a powerful one - strongly dramatic, musically effective. The orgy scene is a trifle too long and the renunciation a shade unmotivated at the end, but there has been no effective explanation for Rimbaud's actions anyway. The musical difficulties and scenic requirements are not extreme. This is an opera that deserves to be heard on CD and, better still, staged by some of the more adventurous opera companies.

Excellent notes and English libretto.

PARSONS

	Harold Blumenfeld http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~blumenf/
	Harold Blumenfeld's three operas, "Seasons in Hell", "Fourscore - an Opera of Opposites" and "Breakfast Waltzes" - all to libretti by collaborator Charles Kondek - are published, along with the composer's other works, by MMB Music Inc, 3526 Washington Ave., St. Louis MO 63103. FAX 314 531-8384. Blumenfeld is represented by Friedman/Goetz Associates, 11 Worth St, New York NY 10013, FAX 212 226-6788, e-mail FGASSOC@aol.com Materials may be secured from Friedman/Goetz, from MMB Music Inc, and may be consulted at the American Music Center, New York. All works © Copyright MMB Music, Inc.