A CONVERSATION WITH HAIDY SCHREKER-BURES

Adriano with Haidy Schreker-Bures, Zurich, May 1983 Photo by Reto Gaugenrieder

Adriano's love for the work of Franz Schreker (1878-1934) dates from a time when this composer was totally unknown and forgotten. He values Schreker's masterpiece Der ferne Klang as in every way his favourite opera, a work without which his musical personality would not have reached its fulfilment. In 1974, at a period during which Adriano had made tentative steps as a baritone, he gave a private recital, in which all of Schreker's early songs with piano could be heard. Maria Schreker, the composer's widow, had received a program leaflet of this recital and after her death it was Haidy, her daughter, who was now living in Buenos Aires, who decided to congratulate Adriano on what was, at that time, a pioneering enterprise. That was the beginning of another of those wonderful musical friendships in Adriano's life, lasting until Haidy's death, in 1993. Haidy Schreker is the author of several books on her father's work and life, but also published her own memoirs, a book entitled Spaziergang durch ein Leben (1981).

Adriano's Schreker collection contains a large amount of rare music scores, recordings (including 78rpm recordings conducted by the composer) and books. In 1984 he collaborated in the writing of a book on Schreker (Rimbaud Presse, Aachen/ Germany) by publishing a first discography for this composer. A strongly recommended book on this composer, at the moment unfortunately out of print, is Christopher Hailey's Franz Schreker, a cultural biography (1993, Cambridge University Press), considered by Adriano to be one of the best musical biographies ever written, deserving a reprint and a German translation.

The following conversation was recorded in Adriano's flat on 5th October, 1983, on the occasion of a short visit by Haidy and her husband to Switzerland.

ADRIANO: Haidy Schreker, you are the daughter of one who, in the 1920s, was one of the most performed opera composers, but who now remains practically forgotten. Through your own active promotional work, in books and in broadcasts, you have become an important personality in musical circles. Did the world actually realize in 1978, after Schreker had been practically silenced, that this was the centenary of his birth? Today we can even speak of a limited but notable Schreker revival. Did you expect this?

HAIDY SCHREKER: This revival actually started in 1964 with a production of Der ferne Klang at the Kassel Opera. The director there actually wanted to stage later both Christophorus and Der Schatzgräber, but by then the orchestral material of the first of these was lost and shortly afterwards the director was replaced. With his successor there was no more talk of staging operas by Schreker. In 1976, at the Styrian Autumn Festival in Graz, they gave a concert performance of Der ferne Klang and some additional concerts which included Vom ewigen Leben (two songs on texts by Walt Whitman), the Fünf Gesänge for contralto, the Kammersymphonie for 23 solo instruments and fragments from the opera Irrelohe. Der ferne Klang was conducted by Ernst Märzendorfer and the remaining works by Peter Keuschnig.

The performances were splendid and very well received. They were also recorded by the Austrian Radio and broadcast in many countries. In 1978, other projects came under discussion, but were not brought to fruition, including a possible concert performance of Irrelohe in Salzburg. To the director of the Salzburg Festival I had also proposed Christophorus. After having paid myself for the copying of the orchestral material, since it was originally intended to stage it at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and to be sung in Spanish language. Buenos Aires unfortunately turned it down, after a delay of three years. This was also because of a change of director at the Colón. The original orchestral material, hidden during the war in a salt mine somewhere in Germany, had been burned and that made me decide to have it recopied. With the help of two of my husband's music students, this was done. I had asked for financial support from many sources but nobody was interested in this project, except, at first, the Teatro Colón, which nevertheless refused to finance the copying of the material. We had to wait until 1978 before finally seeing Christophorus given its first performance in Freiburg and broadcast in five different countries.

A: And that happened apparently in the same theatre that had originally planned to stage the work, although it was withdrawn shortly before its première in 1932 under pressure from the Nazis.

H.S.: That was apparently so, but I have also been told that Schreker himself had made this decision, in order to avoid trouble with the Nazis. The theme of the opera is not definitely a religious one, but it contains a Christian ethic or philosophy, and that would have not been welcome to the Nazis. The main idea of the opera is about a form of Love, "which is not only born out of selfishness", which can lead humanity towards its highest ideals.

A: Why did Schreker subtitle this particular work "a vision of an opera"?

H.S.: The story begins in the studio of Johann, a music master who has just told his pupils to write a string quartet inspired by the legend of St Christopher. One of them, Anselm, objects, since he sees this theme as a dramatic one, worthy of an opera. Thus, the actual "vision of an opera" begins on stage, and we see how Anselm has transformed the legend of Christophorus into a story about a composer (Christoph) who is about to marry Lisa, the daughter of his teacher, but suspects her of infidelity. Once he has married her and discovers her dancing with Anselm, (another music pupil, the protagonist of the original play who has also introduced himself into the plot of his vision), he kills her in a fit of jealousy. Anselm makes his escape with Christoph to the Montmartre, a strange hotel- cabaret. There, the protagonists are faced with various phenomena and strange individuals. Christoph experiences drugs and takes part in a spiritualist séance in order to forget what he has done. In the meantime, some of his friends have decided to help him find his way back to reason by staging a mise-en-scène in which Christoph's child and his grandfather (Johann) appear in the Montmartre's little theatre dressed as beggars and asking him for help. Christoph has recognized the way he can redeem himself and returns to his family. Anselm goes back to his composition and realises that he cannot complete it, that the simple form of a string quartet would be the only way to illustrate the legend of Christophorus.

A: In this work we can find autobiographical elements, as is the case in many other operas by Schreker.

H.S.: In a way, yes. It is about a composer and his work. The way Christophorus is searching for strength through his work can be interpreted as the struggle of a man looking for truth. We are living today in a world full of different ideologies, but where is truth? We still have not found it. Schreker was even careful to say precisely that one must find a "love which is not only born out of selfishness" instead of "not born out of selfishness".

A: The main characters in Schreker's opera are always searching, or struggling for something. Carlotta and Alviano in Die Gezeichneten, for example, are both feverishly looking for something far away...

H.S.: And what about Elis, the protagonist of Der Schatzgräber, this wonderful young man who says "I would like to seek the great treasure, the one of life, the goal of all longing"? He is not actually looking for material treasures, not for gold, but for truth, for the sense of life.

A: As a child, did you realize sometimes your father's divided personality or the difficulties of his character?

H. S.: I did indeed, but don't forget I was very young and too busy with my own silly problems - young girls are terrible, they are all little geese - and of course I liked his works. But it was only during my last stay with my father in Portugal that many of his ideas and the meaning of his writings opened my mind. It had needed quite a few years. My father was of a taciturn and very introvert nature and I could sense many things by intuition only.

A: Now, if we go back to the theme of the Schreker revival, let us talk of the production of Die Gezeichneten at the Frankfurt Opera in 1979.

H.S.: It was a remarkable production, especially from the musical point of view. Michael Gielen as conductor and June Card in the role of Carlotta, and all the others were great.

A: But the staging by Hans Neuenfels was open to question...

H.S.: Dr Schlee from Universal Edition, who was at first quite upset by this staging but who eventually could more or less cope with it, told me "Schreker would perhaps have liked it". I am not so sure about it, but I guess he might not have reacted as harshly as some of his fans. He might have told those responsible: "Boys, don't exaggerate with realism in such a way". Particularly in the famous painting-studio scene between Carlotta and Alviano one might have been a bit more moderate.

A: And if one knows that Schreker was a man of the theatre and had included in his scores clear stage directions, one could stage his operas by just reading and following those...

H.S.: The painting-studio scene is very difficult to stage. I have studied acting myself and often thought how difficult it is for Carlotta to bring out in her acting all that she says by singing. Of course today there are many possibilities here, and one can always add something of one's own. Even in Schreker's time, when Der ferne Klang was produced in St Petersburg (in 1925, staged by Sergey Radlov), they added very modern lighting effects about which my father was enthusiastic. He had been invited to conduct some performances. Der ferne Klang was sung in Russian and won great appreciation there. In a letter by Radlov's wife to my father she also tells him "the audiences in St Petersburg adore you".

A: The most recent staging of an opera by Schreker is a production of Der Schmied von Gent in East Germany in 1981 at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin. In this case one can say that it was a respectful and successful realization from every point of view, in spite of some initial difficulties.

H.S.: Since the work had at first been condemned by the critics, there was strong opposition to it. That it was produced can be considered an act of heroism and, curiously enough, it became a success. Even for the eighth performance the house was full. One must also consider that that same evening, Wagner's Die Meistersinger was running at the Komische Oper! The sets and costumes for Der Schmied von Gent were done with much love and understanding and even the programme booklet by Manfred Haedler was wonderfully designed.

A: And what did the Schrekerians think about it?

H.S.: They said that from the staging it was the one they definitely preferred.

A: Are there some interesting future projects?

H.S.: There is talk about many things, but above all I hear about crises in the world of theatre and with gramophone companies, crises everywhere. We are living in very difficult times. They pay attention to money more than ever and today one must always look around for sponsors. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I am not rich myself and am not in a position to help.

A: And there are quite a few works by Schreker for concert performance which do not require large sums of money, like the Chamber Symphony, the Whitman songs and others.

H.S.: Yes, and even Schreker's early songs with piano are being performed here and there; they are less difficult and simpler in musical structure. Sometimes also Der Geburtstag der Infantin and the Romantische Suite for orchestra are performed. One can say that, little by little, Schreker's works are being introduced to the repertoire. Lately I have made the acquaintance of Paul Méfano, a French conductor, who has just performed the Kleine Suite für Kammerorchester. The broadcasts we have mentioned of Der ferne Klang and of Die Gezeichneten could be heard in many countries, and, apparently even in Switzerland, as you have told me.

A: Yes, Zurich Radio broadcast the Graz production of Der ferne Klang, but did not notice that on the tape they received, the last six bars were missing. Grete's last words to the dying Fritz and the final E flat minor chords were totally missing.

H.S.: This is very bad. As you know, these last chords are the same as hose that open the third act, but are heard first as coming from the distance, from the nearby opera house in which Fritz's newly composed work is being played. Well, such things happen sometimes...

(Edited by Keith Anderson)