Evidence receipt / evaluation
Published · transcript-backedDana Gioia: evaluation
7 Apr 2021 Conversations with Tyler Dana Gioia on Becoming an Information Billionaire
“His greatest libretto in terms of poetry is his first one called Paul Bunyan, which made an absolutely terrible opera because it was so well written, you couldn’t do anything with it.”
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- Speaker
- Dana Gioia
- Attribution
- Verified speaker
- Claim type
- evaluation
- Recorded
- 7 Apr 2021
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
Transcript context
…How good are Auden’s libretti? He did one for Stravinsky, one for Henze, for Britain he did Paul Bunyan. Here’s the thing you learned from Auden. His greatest libretto in terms of poetry is his first one called Paul Bunyan, which made an absolutely terrible opera because it was so well written, you couldn’t do anything with it. What Auden did is as he went forward, the libretti became less poetically distinguished and more dramatically powerful. I think his greatest libretti, I think is the best two are the two that he wrote for Hans Werner Henze, The Elegy for Young Lovers and The Bassarids. Unfortunately, in Elegy for Young Lovers, Hans Werner Henze was in his twelve tone period and the opera is unlistenable but the libretto is a truly great libretto. The Bassarids is a great opera. It’s one of the three or four best operas of the last 50 years. Having studied opera librettos and written quite a few of them yourself, how is it you feel you have a deeper appreciation of Auden?…
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