BaL 2.12.23 - Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin

[Master Jacques]

I think I heard Boulez conduct it once with BBCSO. Then, I rather thought the scenario behind it was rather repulsive, and have avoided it. Do others not have this problem?

Personally I have no problem with it, any more than I'd have with Bliss's Miracle in the Gorbals, which has essentially the same plot. It seems to me beautiful, strange and moving.

Kate M. clearly shares your feeling, as she made a point of apologising to the radio 3 audience for even hinting obliquely at the idea of a young prostitute "kissing" the dying mandarin. I thought her nicety was presentist prudery and judgementalism; but if she does indeed reflect a broad-based sense of discomfort with magic-realist plots around sexuality, then perhaps she was justified in issuing her "trigger warning".

I suppose Bartok's tone, poised between black comedy and savage urban horror, is strong meat. But that for me is part of its appeal.

[vinteuil]

I rather thought the scenario behind it was rather repulsive, and have avoided it. Do others not have this problem?

... but ain't this often the case with opera? Not just Puccini's 'shabby shocker' - but all the way back to Monteverdi's l'incoronazione di Poppea

.

[Master Jacques]

For what it's worth, Bartok himself called the scenario of his ballet "wonderfully beautiful", though the Mayor of Cologne (Conrad Adenauer, of all people) had it banned when an early production was planned in that city, on grounds of immorality.

I also have a question: KM kept referring to the Girl at the plot's centre as "Mimi", but as far as my researches go "Young Girl" doesn't have a name, never had a name, and shouldn't have a name, as the depersonalisation of the female body is at the ballet's thematic core. I wonder where KM got "Mimi" from? Or perhaps she was mistakenly trying to sentimentalise (she'd say "humanise") the character, by putting her in the demi-monde line of Puccini's heroine?

[HighlandDougie]

The ballet is based on a story by Melchior Lengyel in which, at one point, the girl is referred to as 'Mimi'. The reference appears in:

"Transfigurations of The Miraculous Mandarin: The Significance of Genre in the Genesis of Bartók’s Pantomime", by László VIKÁRIUS, Bartók Archives, Institute for Musicology Research Centre for the Humanities Táncsics Mihály u. 7., H-1014 Budapest, Hungary. I quote,

"Here is an English translation of the passage from the original pantomime grotesque by Lengyel:

Mimi again steps to the window timidly, – the exotic music becomes stronger, the creaking of the stairs becomes louder, the Girl keeps watching the door, trembling she retreats to the table – the door opens and the Mandarin stands on the doorstep."

So Kate Molleson didn't make it up - nor get it confused with Puccini's woeful heroine.

[vinteuil]

The reference appears in:

"Transfigurations of The Miraculous Mandarin: The Significance of Genre in the Genesis of Bartók’s Pantomime", by László VIKÁRIUS, Bartók Archives, Institute for Musicology Research Centre for the Humanities Táncsics Mihály u. 7., H-1014 Budapest, Hungary..

... re-spect!

[Master Jacques]

The ballet is based on a story by Melchior Lengyel in which, at one point, the girl is referred to as 'Mimi'. The reference appears in:

"Transfigurations of The Miraculous Mandarin: The Significance of Genre in the Genesis of Bartók’s Pantomime", by László VIKÁRIUS, Bartók Archives, Institute for Musicology Research Centre for the Humanities Táncsics Mihály u. 7., H-1014 Budapest, Hungary. I quote,

"Here is an English translation of the passage from the original pantomime grotesque by Lengyel:

Mimi again steps to the window timidly, – the exotic music becomes stronger, the creaking of the stairs becomes louder, the Girl keeps watching the door, trembling she retreats to the table – the door opens and the Mandarin stands on the doorstep."

So Kate Molleson didn't make it up - nor get it confused with Puccini's woeful heroine.

Splendid! Thank you for sorting this out, HighlandDougie. So she's Mimi in the story which provided the basis for the ballet scenario, and in Lengyel's pantomime adaptation, but not in the ballet itself. I am glad to learn that Kate Molleson wasn't completely making it up, although better (I think) to respect Bartok's chosen generic name for the character, which tells us more about what he's doing.

[Gargoyle]

Splendid! Thank you for sorting this out, HighlandDougie. So she's Mimi in the story which provided the basis for the ballet scenario, and in Lengyel's pantomime adaptation, but not in the ballet itself. I am glad to learn that Kate Molleson wasn't completely making it up, although better (I think) to respect Bartok's chosen generic name for the character, which tells us more about what he's doing.

She was also Mimi in Bartok's ballet. When he came to orchestrate the work, he cut the whole scene where she's named. Your claim that she never had a name isn't true.

I don't know exactly why Bartok cut that scene, and if anyone has an authoritative explanation, I'd be grateful to know it.

[Master Jacques]

She was also Mimi in Bartok's ballet. When he came to orchestrate the work, he cut the whole scene where she's named. Your claim that she never had a name isn't true.

I don't know exactly why Bartok cut that scene, and if anyone has an authoritative explanation, I'd be grateful to know it.

Thank you for another fascinating snippet of information about the genesis of this remarkable ballet. However, I protest that my underlying "claim" was simply that Young Girl "never had a personal name", in any published source, and I apologise for my clumsy wording! Young Girl is of course the character's name in the full score and scenario (and in the ballet programme the one time I saw it performed live, by Dutch National Ballet). All that is accurate.

I'm glad to have learned more about the Lengyel sources, and about Bartok's working process. But ... Young Girl remains the character's name, not "Mimi". According to your research, Bartok cut the personal handle, possibly to objectify (or universalise, if we prefer) the dance character. We need to respect the composer's decision, and not start calling her "Mimi" again, contra his final wishes.

[Gargoyle]

Thank you for another fascinating snippet of information about the genesis of this remarkable ballet. However, I protest that my underlying "claim" was simply that Young Girl "never had a personal name", in any published source, and I apologise for my clumsy wording! Young Girl is of course the character's name in the full score and scenario (and in the ballet programme the one time I saw it performed live, by Dutch National Ballet). All that is accurate.

I'm glad to have learned more about the Lengyel sources, and about Bartok's working process. But ... Young Girl remains the character's name, not "Mimi". According to your research, Bartok cut the personal handle, possibly to objectify (or universalise, if we prefer) the dance character. We need to respect the composer's decision, and not start calling her "Mimi" again, contra his final wishes.

Your contention that the removal of the girl's name is central to the concept of dehumanisation/objectification of the female form really works and might well be Bartok's reasoning. But my 'research' has never uncovered any evidence or explanation why Bartok removed that scene. I will exercise great care in respecting the composers 'final wishes', so long as I can discover what they were!

[Master Jacques]

Your contention that the removal of the girl's name is central to the concept of dehumanisation/objectification of the female form really works and might well be Bartok's reasoning. But my 'research' has never uncovered any evidence or explanation why Bartok removed that scene. I will exercise great care in respecting the composers 'final wishes', so long as I can discover what they were!

It should suffice us to know (as we do) that he consciously excised any trace of "Mimi" and used "Girl" (and its French/German equivalents) in every stage direction of his published score which mentions her - I have checked! That was his wish in 1926. I don't know whether Lengyel's original story and/or pantomime provided the characters with personal names, but as nobody in the published ballet has one - the three Tramps, the Old Rake, the Young Man, the Mandarin - it makes every kind of sense for the Young Girl to join them archetypally.

Do you know what this "excised scene" from the Lengyel pantomime contained? That would be interesting to learn about; and unfortunately there isn't a good Bartok website to help us out. We can see the playbill from that first production (soon to be banned by Adenauer) here. Not a Mimi in sight, mercifully!

[Master Jacques]

I've checked the Hungarian text of the original Lengyel pantomime, for which we have the complete scenario here, in Hungarian:

https://epa.oszk.hu/00000/00022/00213/06504.htm

The cast list:
Mimi. - Az öreg gavallér. - A kis diák. - A mandarin. - Elso, második, harmadik csavargó.
(Mimi - An old cavalier - A little student - A mandarin - First, second, third Tramps)

So the other characters always had generic names: Bartok only had to remove "Mimi" in refining his version of the scenario. And he didn't cut any characters out.

[Gargoyle]

It should suffice us to know (as we do) that he consciously excised any trace of "Mimi" and used "Girl" (and its French/German equivalents) in every stage direction of his published score which mentions her - I have checked! That was his wish in 1926.

I think you're chewing more than you've bitten off

[Master Jacques]

I think you're chewing more than you've bitten off

Having put my hand to this plough, I thought I might as well see the job through. The use of "Mimi" interests me, as I've come across the name used for prostitutes and demi-monde women in my own research of various operatic contexts (French, Italian and Spanish) especially after Puccini's adaptation of the Murger stories. To that extent I guess Lengyel was using it as a shorthand, which Bartok evidently came to resist. Sorry if you find this tedious!

[Gargoyle]

Having put my hand to this plough, I thought I might as well see the job through. The use of "Mimi" interests me, as I've come across the name used for prostitutes and demi-monde women in my own research of various operatic contexts (French, Italian and Spanish) especially after Puccini's adaptation of the Murger stories. To that extent I guess Lengyel was using it as a shorthand, which Bartok evidently came to resist. Sorry if you find this tedious!

What you say makes sense, and is appealing, but apart from your insightful opinion, where is the evidence that 'Bartok evidently resisted'.... 'his final wishes' etc? All I can find is the simple business of him taking out Mimi's scene when he came to orchestrate the work. I don't think we should read more into the matter than can be supported by at least some contemporaneous evidence.

P.S. I don't find this the least bit tedious, others might

[Master Jacques]

What you say makes sense, and is appealing, but apart from your insightful opinion, where is the evidence that 'Bartok evidently resisted'.... 'his final wishes' etc? All I can find is the simple business of him taking out Mimi's scene when he came to orchestrate the work. I don't think we should read more into the matter than can be supported by at least some contemporaneous evidence.

P.S. I don't find this the least bit tedious, others might

All the evidence we need is, that the definitive published source of the ballet (i.e. the Full Score, complete with the full scenario written over the stave system at the appropriate points) does not contain one instance of the word 'Mimi' at any point. He cut the name out, plumping for the generic description 'Young Girl'.

I think I can see where some misunderstanding might arise. To be very clear, the female dancer doesn't have just one cut "scene" - wherever that might have been, and we could find out easily by putting the whole Hungarian pantomime scenario through Google Translate - but she dominates the whole work, from beginning to end. The Miraculous Mandarin is almost completely centred on the Girl, and ends with her union with the Mandarin, and his death.

(I'm relieved you don't find this tedious!)