Bartok is the most structurally cogent of the greatmodern composers, and, as his first major work, Bluebeard’s Castle has not entirely shaken off the yoke oflate German Romanticism. Not that the opera doesn’t contain its share ofmusical surprises, but the scorein keeping with the suspense of thestorydoles out its store of musical treasures in incremental doses, echoingthe inner sanctum of Bluebeard’s secret soul as he takes his new wife into thelabyrinth of his “kingdom,” warning her that she must not be too curiousabout the secrets beyond the locked doors.
Written in 1908 and debuted in 1911, the opera isbound by a plot structure that sticks closely to the age-old legends.Bluebeard’s new wife, Judith, insists on opening all seven doors to his castlekingdom, inducing Bartok to fashion his score around each sequential unveiling.The unrelieved seriousness of the proceedings remains just this side ofmonochromatic monotony, while the solemnity of Bartok’s libretto doesn’t allowfor the freer, scintillating buoyancy of the composer’s orchestral worksyet to come.
The score is unnerving, eerily tame yet exciting,full of unsettling anticipation. Each opened door heightens a greatersense of dread as Bluebeard’s secrets unfold. The first door, introduced with athunderous drumbeat, reveals a torture chamber stained with blood; the secondopens onto a storehouse of bloodstained weapons, but here the orchestra comesalive with glistening percussion and woodwindsthe most exciting part of thescore. The third door reveals a trove of great riches and the fourth a secretgarden of great beauty, but the riches are also contaminated, and the gardencontains blood flowers. The fifth door is the last that Bluebeard allowsher to open. A magnificent, splendiferous introduction with a huge organcrescendo introduces the true magnitude of Bluebeard’s vast kingdom, butgathering reddish clouds cast their odd pallor over Judith’s anticipated senseof relief and place a shadow of doubt over what is yet to come. Bartok ushersin the scene with one of his most dramatic minor chord outbursts, which onlyheightens the sonority of doom that hovers over and enfolds the mysteriouslandscape of Bluebeard’s Kingdom. The score is a masterpiece of falseanticipation.
As a sung work it remains surprisingly conservative.The vocal sections closely follow the plot without dominating the story line,but the ritualistic nature of the story and the unvarying tempo accompanyingthe revelation of each chamber makes the score seem more tonally unyielding,until the music gradually reveals its rich and subtly beguiling harmoniccomplexities. Bartok’s spare vocal lines vary subtly with rich melodictonalities at the opening of each door, but the reticent scoring eerilyprefigures the predestined fate of both characters. Part of the score’ssuspenseful magic is that the voices never interfere with Bartok’s overreachingharmonic architecture.
Judith is forewarned about the last two doors, butshe persists. The sixth door opens with a quiet glissando of muted woodwinds inDebussy-like tranquility, revealing silent, peaceful watersthe water of tears,in a darkened room. Only the forbidden seventh door remains. A quiet orchestralinterlude reflects Judith’s greatest fear that she will find the former wivesmurdered, but her growing dread and the increasingly thunderous orchestraloutburst quickly subside into astonishment.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra performs Bluebeard’s Castle Oct. 30-31 at the Marcus Centerfor the Performing Arts.
