The fate of 'Lulu'

Press, 1 June 1981, Page 11

The fate of 'Lulu'

The plays of the German dramatist. Frank Wedekind, who died in 1918, were scandalous in their time and have a remarkable impact even today. “Lulu" is the story of the rise and fall of an archetypal seductress. The play was the inspiration for the Alban Berg opera of the same name which was given its first full performance in Paris in 1979. The recordings from that production were broadcast by the Concert Programme last November. In this 8.8. C. radio adaptation (Concert, 8.05 tonight) of Wedekind's “Lulu” Anna Calder-Marshall plays Lulu. In the first part of the play, Lulu is triumphant. She has a

series of affairs with men’ who are drawn to destruction through their infatuation with her. Halfway through the play she shoots Ludwig, the only man she had any feelings' for. and the action goes into reverse. ' Threatened by blackmailers and pursued by the police. Lulu seeks refuge in a London basement. Opera archives From the sound archives of the Covent Garden Opera this week Brian Salkeld has drawn excerpts from the 1937 glamour “Coronation” season run by Sir Thomas Beecham. Beecham had managed to obtain Furtwan-

gler to conduct the season and the Berlin singers for the Wagner productions. Hitler offered to send the complete Bayreuth “Lohengrin” to London as his Coronation present — the offer was not accepted. Book reading This new book reading tonight (National. 10.30) features the autobiography of Professor E. M. Blaiklock alias “Grammaticus.” The author will read the 10 episodes himself of “Between the Valley and the Sea.” Tonight he tells of his boyhood in Titirangi when it was the edge of a pioneering world. Bush was beginning to

give way to farmland, creeks that are now piped and out of sight wended their w-ay through paddocks, and today's busy roads were only raw farm tracks. Professor Blaiklock recreates the world of the child with all its magic and danger, its joy and sadness. Werewolf An examination of the belief in man's ability to turn himself into a wolf is given on National, 11.30 a.m. The chilling voices of Valentine Dyall and Michael McClain read from literature on this subject. The 8.8. C. programme was written by Dr William Russell.

Listening