The Moderate Soprano Read online

  They both smile, at ease.

  Ebert An opera house needs to breathe.

  John Of course.

  Ebert If the music is to breathe, it needs space.

  John I agree.

  He waits.

  So?

  Ebert At first glance, I would guess you have three hundred seats.

  John Three hundred and eleven.

  Ebert For intimate opera, this is a reasonable number.

  John I think so.

  Ebert It’s fine.

  John Good.

  Ebert But you’ve added oak panelling, which makes the room feel smaller.

  John I like oak panelling.

  Ebert Maybe. But the orchestra pit is tiny. It’s hard to see how a full orchestra can be squeezed in there. Even if you seat them, they still won’t be able to play. The stage itself is no bigger than a church hall. The proscenium is narrow. There are no wings, no spaces at the side. Nor is there any space at the back. It’s impossible either to deliver or to rotate scenery. Where can you put it? There’s nowhere. The immediate changing of scenes – the alternation of decor which is vital to modern stage practice – is therefore impossible. The only direction scenery can travel is out the back, and in your design that is not much bigger than the door of an average-sized modern house. A man may come through it, but nothing larger. Most grievous of all, there is no Schnürboden.

  John Fly tower?

  Ebert None. It appears it’s been forgotten altogether. An oversight? Who knows? Scenery cannot arrive from above, nor depart. I’ve only a made a brief inspection, but at first sight there are only two small dressing rooms, one for men, one for women. Am I right?

  John looks at him, not answering.

  What can I say? Your plan, as I understand it, is to open the season with Wagner’s great masterpiece Parsifal.

  John Correct. In ten weeks’ time.

  Ebert In ten weeks? Parsifal?

  John Yes. You think it’s a stretch?

  Ebert shrugs.

  What are you saying? You think it can’t be done?

  Ebert Oh it can be done. It’s possible.

  John In the theatre as it is?

  Ebert Yes. If you accept certain conditions.

  John What conditions are those?

  Ebert You can perfectly well put the audience on the stage and the action in the auditorium. That way you can do a very passable Parsifal.

  Everyone laughs, but John is not amused.

  I’m afraid to tell you you’ve wasted your money on a house which is completely unsuited to the serious production of opera.

  John That’s your view, is it? That’s your expert opinion?

  Ebert It is. I haven’t discussed it with the maestro, but I don’t see how Fritz and I could possibly be prevailed upon to work here.

  John shrugs slightly.

  John Well, that’s a sad conclusion.

  Ebert It certainly is.

  John After all my endeavour. And the expense of bringing you here.

  Ebert It’s a word I hesitate to use because it has unfortunate connotations but the whole thing has the air of the amateur.

  Busch thinks Ebert has gone too far, but John is apparently unfazed.

  John I’ll take that remark on the chin.

  Ebert Thank you.

  John I don’t mind for myself. People have called me worse. But I mind for my wife. Audrey is a professional.

  Ebert I’m sure.

  John is scrutinising Ebert.

  John I admit there is one thing that interests me in what you say. Or rather, in how you say it. One thing bothers me.

  Ebert Please.

  John With all respect to Dr Busch, I’ve never met a German with such perfect English.

  Ebert That’s because I’m not German.

  John Then clearly we’ve been misinformed.

  Ebert Not at all.

  Busch Carl was brought up in Germany. May I say this?

  Ebert Say anything you like. I make no secret of it.

  Busch This is the paradox. When the critics discuss Carl’s work, they say that he exemplifies the Germanic virtues. But he has not a drop of German blood in his veins.

  John Goodness.

  Ebert My mother was Irish, my father Polish. My real name is Charles Lawless. I’m illegitimate.

  John What an extraordinary state of affairs. Did you hear that, darling?

  Audrey I did.

  John Lawless.

  Audrey smiles, unworried.

  Audrey I’m listening to you, Professor, and I’m wondering why you’re no longer working in Germany.

  Busch and Ebert look at each other.

  Busch Forgive me, Mrs Christie, that’s another question.

  Audrey A question with an answer, I hope.

  Busch Why, yes.

  Audrey Which you’re happy to give?

  Busch looks nervously to Ebert.

  Busch Carl was appointed to a job at the Charlottenburg Opera in Berlin. He was made intendant.

  Audrey Did he serve in Berlin?

  Busch Certainly he served.

  Ebert Not for long, I’m afraid. For two years only.

  Audrey And why was your tenure so brief?

  Busch I hope I won’t embarrass him if I say his production of Macbeth was a revelation. Mid-period Italian repertoire had never succeeded in Germany.

  Ebert Fritz is exaggerating.

  Busch Some members of the audience came out arguing that Verdi’s work is an improvement on Shakespeare.

  Audrey If it triumphed, why did he leave?

  Ebert smiles.

  Ebert It’s difficult to explain to you, Mrs Christie.

  Audrey Please try.

  Ebert I’ll tell you exactly what happened. I was out one night, attending a performance at another theatre.

  Audrey When was this?

  Ebert I should have said. In March last year. On March 9th.

  Ebert pauses for them to understand the significance, but John and Audrey do not react.

  I came back to my own theatre. A swastika was hanging from the roof.

  Audrey What did you do?

  Ebert It had been raised during my absence. Over my theatre there was a Nazi flag.

  Audrey You’re not a supporter?

  Ebert I’m not.

  John I don’t like the sound of them either but they’re incumbent, aren’t they?

  Ebert They certainly are.

  John They’re in power. It follows: don’t we have to deal with them?

  Ebert Yes. Indeed we do.

  Ebert stares at him, but John’s gaze does not waver.

  Audrey What happened next?

  Busch I’d come from Dresden. I’d travelled to Berlin to have supper with Carl.

  Ebert This was just three days after the Nazis were elected.

  Busch Without a majority.

  Ebert Yes, but elected all the same.

  He nods, grim.

  Fritz had telephoned me earlier in the day to tell me he had something urgent to convey.

  Busch I’d had problems of my own.

  Ebert In fact, Fritz’s problems were far worse than mine.

  Busch Berlin is not Nazi heartland. Dresden is. The previous night, I’d been summoned to a meeting on stage just an hour before the performance. I said I urgently needed to rehearse the singers, but they insisted this was more urgent. I must go to the stage for what they called ‘eine feierliche Affaere’.

  John translates for Audrey.

  John A solemn affair.

  Busch Exactly.

  Audrey What were you performing?

  Busch Rigoletto.

  Audrey Not easy.

  Busch Never easy. When I went to the stage I was told by a junior comedian in the company that a golden age was about to dawn in the performing arts. There was no end to what German artists might now achieve.

  John Really? Those were his words?

  Busch Unfortunately, he said, I was not personally fitted to such a reawa
kening.

  John Why not?

  Busch I should consider myself dismissed from my post.

  John Dismissed?

  He frowns.

  He was a junior comedian?

  Busch Indeed.

  John But then why did you listen to him? I don’t understand.

  Busch Then you’re very fortunate.

  John Why?

  Busch Because the man was an agent, an informer. For the authorities. I’d never thought him much of an actor.

  John He never made you laugh?

  Busch Never.

  John So why did you take any notice of anyone so utterly insignificant?

  Busch looks at him a moment.

  Busch Captain Christie, I don’t know when you were last in Germany.

  John I visit every year.

  Busch Last year?

  John Without exception. It’s a country I admire more than any on earth.

  Busch In that case, you may be surprised to hear that as he addressed me the comedian was surrounded by fifty soldiers, fully uniformed, fully armed.

  John Ah, I see.

  Busch He said if I refused to make concessions in my attitudes, I would be sewn in a sack and thrown into the Elbe.

  John What attitudes are those?

  Busch Those of a good social democrat. No more. No less.

  Busch is staring John down, annoyed by his innocence.

  Busch I told him my cast was waiting for tonight’s performance. He said I should proceed.

  Audrey And did you?

  Busch Certainly. I entered the pit as usual. I turned to face the public. There was a storm of booing.

  Audrey From the whole audience?

  Busch Yes. The auditorium, unknown to me, had been ticketed that morning with political partisans. People shouted out. ‘Traitor.’ ‘Busch raus.’

  Audrey Why do you think it happened?

  Busch It happened because my company is full of Jews.

  John frowns.

  John Come now. Talk sense. How do you know that was the reason?

  Busch Please, Captain Christie. I know it.

  John How? How can you be sure?

  Busch I’m sure.

  John When you say it’s full of Jews …

  Busch I mean I employed them. My singers. My staff. It was the principal charge against me. When we first met in Amsterdam you told me I was profligate.

  John That’s what people said.

  Busch I wasted money.

  John That’s what I’d heard.

  Busch Do you think it was true? No. The Nazis slandered me in order to justify my sacking. But overspending was not my real crime.

  John Which was?

  Busch I advanced Jews over Germans. When they were talented I favoured them. When they deserved it, I promoted them. I treated Jews as if they were people like any other.

  John Are you Jewish yourself?

  Busch Does it make any difference?

  He looks at John. John doesn’t reply.

  Audrey And so how did you respond to the booing?

  Busch I turned back to face the orchestra. I raised my baton but none of them raised their instruments.

  John Why not?

  Busch The players had put swastikas in their lapels.

  There’s a moment’s silence.

  Ebert Fritz knew he had to act.

  Audrey What did you do?

  Busch I left the pit. I went home and informed my wife. Next day we left for Berlin.

  He shrugs.

  John I’m amazed.

  Ebert All this comes as news to you?

  John I had no idea things were that bad. Did you, darling?

  Audrey No.

  Ebert No. Foreigners don’t.

  John I’m shocked. Naturally you hear the odd rumour …

  Ebert Naturally …

  John Even in Sussex. Audrey hears more than I do.

  Audrey Inevitably.

  John But I find it hard to understand exactly what it is the Nazis want.

  Ebert What they want?

  John Yes. I can never quite work out whether they’re left-wing or right.

  Ebert Well, that’s something people are arguing about.

  John I suppose it’s the past, isn’t it? There’s a grievance there, isn’t there?

  Ebert Yes. We all have grievances, Captain Christie. Surely it’s how we deal with them which matters?

  Ebert smiles.

  Audrey Tell us what happened next.

  Ebert Oh. Fritz had taken a train to Berlin. He and I met that night in a restaurant. As we were eating, Rudi arrived.

  Audrey Rudi?

  Ebert Rudi Bing. My personal assistant. What do you say here? My right-hand man.

  John Estate manager.

  Ebert Yes. Rudi warned me not to return to my office that night. A motorised unit of stormtroopers had taken over my theatre. You ask me what the Nazis want. Well, this is one of the first things they did.

  John Attack the opera?

  Busch Interesting, isn’t it? Stupid stories about women crawling across the desert, dying of love, and men forging swords on anvils. All sung to inappropriate tunes. Who cares?

  They smile.

  Ebert In fact, this is the very point that Goering made.

  John Goering?

  Ebert Yes.

  John Remind me. Which one is Goering?

  Busch The fat one.

  Ebert At the time he was Minister without Portfolio.

  Busch Quite high up.

  Ebert Close to Hitler. We saw him next day.

  Busch He summoned us to his office.

  Ebert Together.

  Busch I’d met him before.

  Ebert He was wearing a powder-blue uniform.

  Busch With medals.

  Ebert Rather as if he were in a comic opera himself.

  Busch Sitting back.

  Ebert Genial.

  Busch Amused.

  Ebert He said he was terribly sorry, but these things happened during revolutions. He said the stormtroopers were out of control. They were a bunch of louts.

  Busch He described what had happened in my theatre as ‘filthiness’.

  Ebert ‘I apologise,’ he said, ‘for this filthiness.’ We had to understand. One part of the government didn’t know what the other part was doing. It was going to take time for the new administration to settle. Once it did, we would both be reinstated.

  John So?

  Busch He said that in two weeks he would be President of the Cabinet, and I would be back in my job.

  John In that case, I don’t really see the problem.

  Busch Don’t you?

  John No.

  Busch He assured me that privately Hitler would prefer me to continue.

  John He’d discussed your opera house with Hitler?

  Busch Certainly.

  Ebert We know he did.

  Busch I later learnt Hitler had sent a telegram to Dresden forbidding his men to attack me physically.

  John Extraordinary.

  Ebert Yes. This was Goering’s point. The opera’s very important to the new regime. Understand: Hitler’s a lover of opera.

  John I didn’t know that.

  Ebert Oh yes. He has a particular fondness for Wagner.

  John Oh. Well, in that case my first reaction is that he can’t be all bad.

  Audrey If I were you, Jack, I’d move on to your second.

  They all smile.

  Ebert Goering told us that Hitler was personally supervising a rearrangement of musical affairs. It was one of his priorities. He wanted his most eminent artists to remain in the country.

  John So then why did you not agree? You said earlier, ‘Yes, we have to deal with these people.’

  Ebert Under certain conditions.

  John What conditions are they?

  Busch I told him Hitler’s private support was not enough. I needed a public apology. He said that would not be possible. The Chancellor could not admit error. Nothing in
the new Germany could ever be said to have gone wrong.

  There is a moment of disbelief.

  John He can’t possibly have said that.

  Busch Oh, but he did.

  Audrey I’m astonished.

  Busch He said it with a smile as if to say, ‘You know Hitler.’ But of course we don’t.

  Ebert Goering said, ‘I’ll do anything necessary to get you two to stay, but I won’t cross my leader. That I won’t do.’

  John is thoughtful, quiet.

  John Another drink?

  Ebert Not now.

  John gets up to pour himself another.

  John Clearly you know much more than me. You’re on the ground, so to speak. You don’t think you set the bar too high?

  Ebert We don’t.

  John It’s quite a thing to ask any politician to apologise.

  Busch Yes. If that’s all it was.

  John There was more?

  Busch I repeated that I wanted to stay on. It was my theatre. I loved it. I loved the people who work there. You know that feeling?

  John The feeling of belonging.

  Busch Yes.

  John With the chaps. You work with the chaps, they work with you. There’s respect.

  Busch That’s it.

  John Best feeling in the world.

  Busch But, if I stayed, I said I wouldn’t be willing to implement racial laws. Goering said there were ways round it.

  Ebert Legal tricks. Termination of contract, that sort of thing.

  Busch There were ways of ridding the musical world of Jews which were not blatant, but which were effective nevertheless.

  John And you refused?

  Busch shrugs.

  Both of you?

  Ebert Apart from anything, Rudi’s Jewish. What was I meant to do? And not just Rudi. Not one. Many.

  John nods, thoughtful.

  John So was that the end of it?

  Busch Not quite.

  John They had more up their sleeves?

  Again Busch hesitates.

  Audrey Please tell us, Dr Busch.

  Busch I will. But I’m not sure you’ll think well of me.

  John We’ll make up our own minds, I’m sure. Go on.

  Busch leans forward, intense.