Der junge Lord

The setting is Hülsdorf-Gotha at the beginning of the 19th century. The dignitaries and citizens await the arrival of the wealthy Englishman Sir Edgar who has purchased a house in the town. They have prepared a pompous reception ceremony and are consternated when Sir Edgar’s secretary announces that his master has no interest in a festive ceremony. Baroness Grünwiesel is particularly piqued when Sir Edgar turns down her invitation to tea. The resentment only increases when Sir Edgar subsequently invites the artists of a travelling circus into his home and his house is then daubed with xenophobic slogans during the night. Somewhat later, Wilhem and Luise, the ward of Baroness Grünwiesel, arrange a clandestine evening rendezvous. The Baroness does not approve of their liaison as she has other plans for Luise. The two are startled by loud screams emanating from Sir Edgar’s house. On the enquiry of the mayor, Sir Edgar explains that his nephew Lord Barrat who has just arrived from London is in the process of learning the German language and his mistakes are being corrected with the aid of corporal punishment. He hopes however to be able to present Lord Barrat in a reception in the near future. A couple of weeks later, the moment has arrived: the reception is held and the guests are captivated by the eccentric behaviour of the young lord which is imitated enthusiastically in all its quirks by all assembled. Only Wilhelm is disturbed by the manner in which the young lord is wooing Luise. Baroness Grünwiesel however sees her plans coming to fruition: she plans to be able to announce the engagement between Luise and Lord Barrat during the course of the evening. During the ensuing exuberant dancing, the young lord is increasingly plagued by wild convulsions. Finally, he tears off his clothes and reveals his true colours: he is the circus monkey Adam who has been dressed up as a nobleman. Sir Edgar whips him to bring him to his senses and goes out of the room, leaving behind the shocked citizens of Hülsdorf-Gotha who begin to realise that they have been led up the garden path. Der junge Lord was the last work to be developed in collaboration between Hans Werner Henze and Ingeborg Bachmann (following the mimodrama Der Idiot in 1952 and the opera Der Prinz von Homburg in 1958/59). They selected a short story by Wilhelm Hauff (“Der junge Engländer oder Der Affe als Mensch” [“The young Englishman or the monkey made human”]) from his fairytale almanac from 1826 “Der Scheik von Alexandria und seine Sklaven” as the basis for their libretto. Henze sees Mozart and Rossini as the musical role models for his first comic opera. The formal structure adheres to the opera buffa model with its typical ensembles and the virtual exclusion of arioso elements which are so characteristic of opera seria. The utilisation of traditional forms such as folk songs, children’s songs, minuets and waltzes are also characteristic of the tonal language in Der junge Lord. This cannot conceal the first clear evidence of social-critical tendencies in this opera which would subsequently characterise Henze’s works of the 1970s and 1980s. 

"The essential focus of this work is: telling lies. This evolves out of insatiable curiosity, betrayed material hopes, provincial one-upmanship and offended vanity. It spreads further through rumours (in the interlude between the 2nd and 3rd scenes) and increasingly perverts and reveals characters and the associated musical material. This provokes the reaction of the counter-milieu (i.e. the world of the Englishman) which is counteracted by the “scientific” experiment of lying and the ensuing aggression which it has generated. The musical ambience of the Englishman develops in parallel, gradually takes effect (from scene 5) and comes into conflict with the society of Hülsdorf-Gotha which it ultimately destroys. At the end, as soon as the foreigners have left the stage, the atmosphere reverts to the conventionality and narrow-mindedness with which the opera began. Nothing has been learned and it also appears that nothing has changed as a result. This seems to have been a mere intermezzo, but maybe this is not quite the case."