I can still remember listening to William Alwyn’s Miss Julie on the Radio 3 which was broadcast back in July 16 1977. I am less sure what I thought about the work – although I do recall that some of the music appealed to me. I guess that the plot somehow passed me by: opera has never been my strong point. I even recorded the broadcast on my old cassette recorder and I still have the tapes! However, I have never listened to the work since: the Lyrita release on CD somehow never ‘appeared’ in my collection.
Miss Julie was composed between 1973 and 1976 and is based on a play by the Swedish author and playwright August Strindberg. Andrew Knowles gives an excellent précis of the opera, which deserves quotation: it concerns ‘the spoilt, rich daughter of a Count who falls under the spell of the manservant Jean. The latter plays with Miss Julie’s affections and seduces her, then rejects her and finally tempts her into suicide as the only way of escape from her shame.’ Just the sort of happy tale to cheer oneself up: no wonder I prefer Gilbert and Sullivan!
In 2000 Philip Lane was charged to adapt suitable sections of the opera into an orchestral suite: it was commissioned by the composer’s widow, Mary.
I guess the only raison-d’être of a ‘suite’ derived from an opera is to condense the ‘good bits’ into a manageable chunk that can be presented in the concert-hall. Other operas have had this treatment, such as Bizet’s Carmen, Tippett’s Midsummer Marriage and Britten’s Death in Venice. Personally, I am ambivalent to the ‘form’: part of me says if one wants the music from the opera, then listen to the whole production. On the other hand, it is good to have a concise exploration of some excellent music without the burden of the singing and the plot.
And that is what this Suite provides the listener with – some very impressive and often very romantic music that can be listened to ‘absolutely.’
The Miss Julie Suite is available on NAXOS8.570705 with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by David Lloyd Jones
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