Customer Reviews

Menotti: The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore

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I have been a fan of Menotti since I was little because of his "Amahl and the Night Visitors", but until perhaps a month ago, I had never heard of "The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore". But I found it, while buying a recording of "The Consul" and I decided to buy a copy of it based mostly on the reviews I read here.

What a lovely piece of music! I really didn't know quite what to expect, but this is a beautiful work, well worth listening to. The music is based on a sixteenth-century style, and keeps a lot of medieval flavor, but without losing the distinctive 20th-century harmonic style that I so enjoy in Menotti's writing. The text is witty, and his treatment of it is delightful. Although the entire work is sung by a choir, the sections of dialogue are convincingly set so that different characters are distinguishable.

The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore, by Gian Carlo Menotti

This is an overlooked gem. It is rarely performed as a ballet, the form in which it was originally written. I have never had the opportunity to see it in person. I have the original LP record, and I welcome the new CD version, because I think it is, next to "Amahl and the Night Visitors," Menotti's most interesting and accessible work.

The music is, well, clever. But it is the underlying philosophy that appeals to me. Subtitled "The Three Sundays of a Poet," it pits the poet's perception and originality against the passing fashions and follow-the-leader traits of the masses.

The three "Sundays" represent creations of the poet's youth, middle age, and old age. They are the three medieval animals in the title. When first paraded by the poet, they are ridiculed, but then are picked up by the countess, and soon by the general populace.

No sooner is this done, than the poet parades a new creation, which goes through the same cycle of ridicule, acceptance by the countess, and finally by the masses.

All the animals eventually disappear, and the mob descends on the poet's castle to punish him for his negligence. It is a magic moment...the chorus utters a sigh of astonishment...Ahhhhh...

The animals are alive and surround the dying poet. The poet's final words are "Oh, foolish people/ Who feign to feel/ What other men have suffered./ You, not I, are the indifferent killers of the Poet's dreams/ How could I destroy the pain-wrought children of my fancy?"

Menotti has great insight into the problems of the artist because he is such a great one himself. I find his music charming, but it is his sensitive perceptiveness and poetic flair with words and ideas that draw me so close to him.

I have a copy of the libretto that came with the original LP. I will be happy to mail it to anyone who requests it. Understanding the words are a must!

A delightful bonus to the Menotti work reviewed by others (and I concur with all the positive statements, is the Virgil Thomson ballet "Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree." I am no lover of this composer, who I think is overrated by musicologists who see in his music more than I ever can. But this little bit of fluff utilizes American musical themes and is a very enjoyable addition to any collection of musical Americana.

Another review here, by Ted Mihran, gives much of the flavor of this work, which I will not repeat. This minor masterpiece is rarely performed, for no reason I can understand.

I had the great pleasure to have been part of an early performance of Unicorn as clarinetist in the chamber ensemble (flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, harp, cello, bass, and percussion) that is heard here along with a chamber chorus (typically 12-16 singers). There are also 10 dancers, who you will not hear (!). This work -- music, words, and ballet -- has stuck in my memory for nearly 40 years. Only one other recorded version, a mono LP, appears ever to have existed.

Unicorn was crafted by Menotti in the style of the early madrigal-opera form of the 16th century, but with considerably more modern forces and harmonies. The chorus mostly sings a cappella, alternating with dance numbers accompanied by the ensemble. Occasionally, they join forces, as in the townspeople's march to the poet's castle near the end. The chorus's text here is dripping with irony.

Notice, in addition to the points in Mihran's review, the downward spiral of the relationship between the Count and Countess: from adoring young love (Unicorn), through indifference (Gorgon), to outright enmity (Manticore). It certainly has not helped that the Countess has callously murdered each of these wonderful creatures in turn, all in the name of fashion.