George Lloyd - Iernin

[giles.enders]

I have seen this production and quite frankly, the libretto is so bad that I cannot recommend the opera.  The best hope for the future is for someone to re use the story,which could be told in four minutes, and recycle the music around it.

[semloh]

Gosh, that's really fierce criticism. It's very disappointing if it really is that bad.

[giles.enders]

Yes it is.  I have always been a champion of Lloyd but this piece is only of academic interest.  Some in the audience didn't bother to return after the interval

[erato]

In that case I'm not iernin' to hear it.

[Jimfin]

Lloyd himself seems to have been very attached to the piece. Personally I find 'John Socman' a lot more enjoyable. Never heard 'The Serf', apart from one orchestral suite. Generally, although Lloyd seems to have regarded opera as his main concern, I think his symphonies and concertos are better. Some of the choral works too.

[semloh]

I see (http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Yearning-Iernin/story-19916038-detail/story.html) that the libretto is written by Lloyd's father (who wrote the librettos for two other Lloyd operas).  According to this webpage, Iernin was conceived, composed and first performed in Penzance, and was inspired by the ancient Nine Maidens stones nearby. "It tells the story of a beautiful maiden turned to stone by puritanical priests at the dawn of Christianity, only to reawaken hundreds of years later to entrance a betrothed Cornish nobleman who abandons his wedding for her.

This is set against the backdrop of a soon to be occupied Cornwall and the struggle of its leader and people to retain their independence from the Saxon overlords. It is a story about the defence of the weak and society's fear of change, but above all our fear of and fascination with the unknown. Written during the rise of German National Socialism and alongside the abdication of Edward VIII, the story also strikes some resonant chords with one of the most dramatic periods in British history."

Hmmm ... but then perhaps most opera plots are equally obscure.

You are not alone in thinking the opera a poor piece - a review of Surrey Operas's performance says it all at: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-oct-2013-surrey-opera-iernin although I do think it is rather unfair to criticize his operatic writing by comparing him to Britten.

And, of course, not everyone thinks it awful. The Times critic Frank Howes is reported to have given it a "glowing review" when he saw its premiere in Penzance in 1934. More recently....

"This is a lovely opera with something that most of us despaired of finding in a twentieth-century work - tunes that stay in the memory."  
Fanfare

" I do find that the heart goes out to this opera. "  Gramophone

"Lloyd showed that rarest of all qualities in a British composer, an almost unerring perception of what the stage requires .. an extraordinary achievement."  
The Times
[http://www.georgelloyd.com/index.php/latest-news-library]

Most of it was apparently written when Lloyd was in his teens, and it's the libretto which is the main stumblingblock, so maybe we can lay the blame on his Dad! 

[eschiss1]

"most of us despaired of finding in a twentieth-century work"...

Oh, please... *insert crocodile tears. If you haven't found plenty of twentieth-century works with memorable tunes you have not tried.*

(Then again, "most of us" don't try with anything, so the statement as given is probably accurate, as given.)

[Jimfin]

It can't have been all bad: it was said to be the third longest running British opera, after The Immortal Hour and Ivanhoe, though apparently rather far behind those too.

[semloh]

Interesting, in view of the subject matter of The Immortal Hour and Ivanhoe. The 'Ancient Britain' theme was obviously still popular, although I'm not sure why - maybe something to do with the war?  It was clearly still floating around in Elgar's music too, although King Olaf, Caractacus, etc were written in the 1890s as I recall. Anyway, time I had a listen to said opera! 

[Jimfin]

All of Lloyd's operas are set in Britain and none later than the middle ages: Iernin is the earliest in Cornwall during the dark ages, The Serf in the reign of King Stephen and John Socman in the aftermath of Agincourt, with the Lollard persecution a major theme. Perhaps his father, who was the librettist for all of them, was a historian, amateur or otherwise.

[Gauk]

Always a shame when good music is sunk by a bad libretto, and many examples could be cited. You never hear much of Schubert as an opera composer, for instance.

[giles.enders]

I have come to the conclusion that what George Lloyd needed was a trusted friend and critic who could also persuade him to EDIT his music and CUT where necessary.