Henze Elegy for Young Lovers
Every year, the inn at the foot of the Hammerhorn - one of the most dangerous mountains in the Austrian Alps - plays host to the entourage of Gregor Mittenhofer , a great poet but a petty tyrant with no moral scruples. Any human suffering or tragedy is mere grist to the mill of his art, but just how far is he prepared to go to create his masterpiece? All is revealed in Henze's chamber opera. Its text - in English - was written by WH Auden and Chester Kallman , fresh from their triumph with Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress- another operatic exploration of moral ambivalence.
London Sinfonietta, conductor Markus Stenz