Lulu by Alban Berg

Alban Berg's opera Lulu is a work with a fascinating history, a captivating story and such intriguing and beautiful music that it's hard to know where to start talking about it. But, simply because Lulu is by Berg, a lot of people will shy away from it -- and that's too bad. Sure, Berg was a star pupil of Arnold Schoenberg, the composer who pioneered and championed the "serial," or "12-note" method of composition. And we know, of course, that "serialism" has a reputation for producing music that's, well, unpleasant -- dark, harsh, dissonant.

Still, here At the Opera, we think serial music has gotten a bad rap -- especially in the case of Berg. This week's show will tell you a bit about the music itself. Regular "analyst" Stewart Robertson will be by to take us through the techniques Berg used in the opera. But he'll also tell us why those techniques work so well in this particular opera, and that's the key to this week's program.

So, instead of a primer on the forms and theories of atonal music, we're going to concentrate on the title character herself. Lulu is one of the most fascinating characters you'll ever meet -- in an opera, or otherwise -- and her story will pull you in immediately. To help us do that, host Lou Santacrcoe will speak with author and psychologist Phyllis Chesler, for the feminist perspective on Lulu, and clues to her complex and compelling personality. For more on the artistry behind the portrayal of Lulu, and the ways in which Berg's music is such a natural for evoking the character, Lou talks with soprano Evelyn Lear, whose performances of Lulu became the very definition of the role. Also, we'll look more deeply into the story with Will Berger, who'll tell us more about Frank Wedekind, the playwright whose work inspired the opera.

So tune in, and keep an open mind. Once you find out what Berg's drama and his seductive title character are all about, we think you'll find the music pretty seductive, as well. It all happens half-an-hour before curtain at the Metropolitan, At the Opera, from NPR.

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