Search - Neal Davies, Richard Suart, Roderick Williams :: Vaughan Williams: The Poisoned Kiss

A silly story set to glorious music

Rodney Gavin Bullock | Winchester, Hampshire Angleterre | 12/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Vaughan Williams did not have the best of luck with his operas - or rather, his librettists. All five of his efforts contain music of the highest quality but only in his masterpiece, Riders to the Sea, did he achieve that of which he was plainly capable.Tthe librettist of The Poisoned Kiss was the sister of Cecil Sharp, the famous English folk song collector. The plot was based on a short story and tells of two sweethearts who are separated. The girl, who became empress, was forced to marry someone more suited to her station but the boy, later to become a sorcerer, did not know this and planned revenge on his erstwhile sweetheart. He brings up his own daughter on poisons - prussic acid, bellandonna etc. so that any boy kissing her would die instantly. He planned that the empresses's son should be that boy. Naturally, everyone lives happily ever after.This is is great fun and Vaughan Williams intended it to be something along the lines of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. The problem is that the libretto is greatly inferior to Gilbert's efforts in its wit and lightness of touch. The humour tends to be schoolboyish and a bit heavy handed - goblins disguising themselves as journalists, for example.In my view, this matters for little. When I first listened to this "romantic extravaganza", as the composer called it, I was stunned by the quality of the music throughout. There is a short overture containing a number of the tunes. The composer archly suggests that the audience talk during this lest they know all the music before the opera begins. Thereafter, there is an almost endless procession of melody: sinister, funny, romantic, some of intense beauty. There are even patter songs à la G & S. The orchestration is inventive and I could often hear pre-echoes of later works.Opera is full of silly plots. In Mozart we are expected to believe that wearing a big hat can make a man unrecognisable to his mother and Tippett contains the most embarrassing psychobabble. Well, here is more silliness set to music by one of the great composers at the height of his powers. If you love Vaughan Williams' music, this is an essential listen. Even if you completely ignore the words, you will love it.The performances by Richard Hickox and his team are first rate, as is the vivid Chandos recording. Full notes and all the words are included. In this recording, much of the spoken dialogue has been cut, although this can be read in the booklet."

Some tantalizing music well captured by Hickox & Company.

David A. Hollingsworth | Washington, DC USA | 10/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"According to Stephen Connock's well written booklet essay, Ralph Vaughan Williams began composing "The Poisoned Kiss" in 1927 while working on both "Sir John in Love" and "Job." Vaughan Williams was truly an emerging composer at the time, but "The Poisoned Kiss" had virtually no luck on stage (dated and contrived text particularly in extensive dialogues throughout were the main reasons for this). Evelyn Sharp, a well-known journalist and author of fairytales in her own right, was chosen as the librettist for this project (and she was known for her satire). Ms. Sharp based her libretto on Dr. Richard Garnett's "The Poison Maid" (adapted by Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Rappaccini's Daughter", the themes of which that was developed into "The Scarlet Letter"). However, Ms. Sharp faced, as did Vaughan Williams, the dilemma between balancing the work between comedy and drama. Because the composer deemed the music not amusing enough and the libretto long-winded and scrappy, revisions took place in 1936. Clearly Gilbert & Sullivan were the main influences here, but the dilemma remained as to the question of the aforementioned balance. After the much abridged performance took place on May 12th, 1936 in the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, the composer remained dissatisfied and took the opportunity to purchase rights to the text from Ms. Sharp's executors (she passed on in June of 1955) for further revisions, which commenced in 1956-1957. His second wife, Urusula Vaughan Williams, polished the dialogue and made the libretto closer to Richard Garnett's story.



Clearly Vaughan-Williams had much love and faith in his work. And while the opera has its shortcomings, it is worth appreciation. The story unfolds as follows: Tormentella, Dipsacus' daughter and a young Empress, is in love with Prince Amaryllus, himself a young magician and the son of Empress Persicaria. They were forbidden to marry, however, and Dipsacus hated Empress Persicaria and vowed revenge. He brought up his daughter on poisons so that any man who kisses her would die. His hope is that the Prince would kiss his daughter for him to exact his revenge. However, the elder Empress knew of this and brought her son up on antidotes so that the first kiss would not be fatal. It worked, but his eventual separation from her was heart-wrenching to say the least. Realizing the love between the Prince and the young Empress, Empress Persicaria relented and summoned Dipsacus. Differences were healed and the couple became married (as Tormentella's companion Angelica married Gallanthus, a squire).



A fairly interesting story, though its simplicity would be more suitable for an operetta than an opera (the length here is somewhat tiresome) and the marriage between the elements of drama, tragedy, and comedy is not wholly comfortable (and it's easy to lose track at one point or another). But the music holds firm interest. Vaughan Williams' imagination never wanes and his opera contains some of his most illuminous music (never too far from the magical yet introspective Third Symphony of 1916-1921) Try, for instance the Tormentella aria "Hush Lovely Cobra" in track IX which is as dreamingly beautiful and haunting as one will expect from this great Englishman (something Lehar would appreciate I'll venture to claim or Kodaly - just listen to the final scene of Hary Janos for some alluring parallelisms).



This album is rewarding in every way, with Hickox bringing out the burning inspiration of the score from start to finish (and responded wonderfully by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Adrian Partington Singers). The cast is especially flawless, storytelling in its aims and characterization that pays off enormously. Pamela Helen Stephen (Angelica) and Janice Watson show obvious love for this music & Roderick Williams (Gallanthus) is superb. The recording is first class and the presentation is one of the best I've seen in quite some time (Stephen Connock is excellent in his essay and synopsis). Furthermore, Chandos continues to show its usual high ingenuity by printing the eliminated spoken dialogues in the shaded areas within the libretto for easy references.



From what I understand, this album is up for a Gramophone Award by year's end (operatic category). No wonder."

Kiss me again

OperaOnline.us | Boston, MA | 04/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The following is my review that will appear in the May 2004 issue of OperaOnline.us: Originally begun in 1927 as a collaboration between composer Vaughn Williams and librettist Evelyn Sharp, this under performed and unrecorded opera that premiered in Cambridge England in May of 1936 makes its contemporary premier again in a smartly packaged CD form in 2003, thanks to the people at Chandos who believed it deserved a more fitting place in opera history. Plagued in the beginning between the indecisiveness of its composer who waffled between its more serious and lighter sides, and a librettist who, although admired, was chided by Williams for her long windedness, the end result we hear today came about ironically only after Sharp's death, and the intervention of Williams' second wife, Ursula, who according to production notes "cut, revised, simplified and softened the linking dialogue". The result is a perfectly delightful CD that is both humorous and dark and romantic, and sprinkled with enough witty dialogue to make this a thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile addition to your opera collection. Bundled as a pricey ($37) 2 CD set, with booklet containing the complete libretto - an addition that I strongly recommend you follow as you listen if you want to fully enjoy what is gong on, you will find the orchestration by Richard Hickox and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and choral augmentation by the Adrian Partington Singers to be both full and appropriately supportive. What will win your heart, however, is the libretto about the fated relationship between a young magician, separated from a beautiful Empress, each to marry others and raise children. Tormentilla, the daughter of the magician is raised on poison to ensure that her kiss will seal the fate of her suitors, and Amaryllus, the son of the wise Empress Persicaria, is raised on potions designed to immunize him from poisons. You guessed it. They fall in love and live happily ever after - but only after The Poisoned Kiss. The best music and most witty and moving libretto is in the Third Act. Final note: there is much dialogue that has been eliminated from the CD version, but is included in the booklet set off against a gray background to distinguish it from the sung text. I kind of wish it was included, but then we would have had three CD set."