Menotti: Help, Help, The Globolinks

Edith Mathis, Arlene Saunders, Raymond Wolansky, William Workman, Kurt Marschner, Ursula Boese, Franz Grundheber & Noel Mangin

Members of the Corps de ballet of the Hamburg State Opera

and two children’s choirs, Gian-Carlo Menotti, directed for TV by Joachim Hess, artistic direction...

Menotti's own studio production of his sci-fi children's opera was filmed following its 1968 Hamburg premiere. Mixed film quality scarcely detracts from the stylish visuals and the piece itself... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2007, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Jan 2007
Catalogue No: 101281
Label: Arthaus Musik

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Menotti: Help, Help, The Globolinks

An Opera for Children. Original world première recording.
Edith Mathis, Arlene Saunders, Raymond Wolansky, William Workman, Kurt Marschner, Ursula Boese, Franz Grundheber & Noel Mangin
Members of the Corps de ballet of the Hamburg State Opera and two children’s choirs
Gian-Carlo Menotti, directed for TV by Joachim Hess, artistic direction by Rolf Liebermann

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About

Recording Date: 1969
Place of recording: Historical Studio Production from the Hamburg State Opera
Running Time: 71 min
Picture Format: 4:3
Sound Format: Mono

Language: D
Menu Languages NTSC: D, F, GB, SP
Subtitle Languages NTSC: D, F, GB, I, SP

Artists

Edith Mathis, Arlene Saunders, Raymond Wolansky, William Workman, Kurt Marschner, Ursula Boese, Franz Grundheber & Noel Mangin

Members of the Corps de ballet of the Hamburg State Opera

and two children’s choirs, Gian-Carlo Menotti, directed for TV by Joachim Hess, artistic direction by Rolf Liebermann

Reviews

May 2007

Menotti's own studio production of his sci-fi children's opera was filmed following its 1968 Hamburg premiere. Mixed film quality scarcely detracts from the stylish visuals and the piece itself is good fun.

2010

Directed by the composer with all the colourful melodrama of an American B-movie, the soloists of Hamburg's late-1960s house ensemble get a real chance to shine in what is virtually the world premiere of Menotti's children's sci-fi opera. In the libretto – a jolly collision between The War ofthe Worlds, the Munchkins from the land of Oz and Hansel and Gretel – only (tonal) music and musicians can save the earth from the invading Globolinks and their electronic (ie, non-musical) voices. Nikolas Schöffler (lighting) and Alwin Nikolais (costumes and Globolink choreography) make essential contributions to the visual realisation of the aliens as sinister, flexible lampshades, and the creation of a spooky atmosphere a cut above most contemporary TV series.
The score is an eclectic mix of Menotti's trademark second-generation verismo – handy for the tantrums of the principal role, Madame Euterpova, a wacky mid-European music teacher – and Kurt Weill-like recitative and marching rhythms for the children and their driver whose school trip goes astray in the forest. This musical storytelling has a compelling narrative simplicity which, like Benjamin Britten's, never becomes saccharine or patronising. The characters, especially the three supporting teachers, have a pleasing Roald Dahl wackiness, making them natural stage roles.
It's not everyday you get to see Edith Mathis as a violin-playing schoolgirl, or Arlene Saunders (the company's Agathe and Eva) as the eccentric music teacher with a Bewitched-style nose.
Wolansky too is genuinely funny as the confused, and unmusical, head of the school who becomes the one human sacrifice to the Globolinks.
Sterling digital restoration seconds the fine balance of the production between comic and serious, making for an unintended but most effective tribute to Menotti's wide-ranging theatrical creativity.

A completely charming little production which I recommend unreservedly

Menotti: Help, Help, The Globolinks

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