Mer de glace

Mer de Glace: opera in two acts with prologue was a 1986–1991 work by Australian composer Richard Meale, with a libretto by David Malouf. It is an adaptation of, and commentary on, Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. It presents a tableaux-like juxtaposition of some ideas of the novel Frankenstein alongside the real dealings of Mary Shelley with Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron. While Voss, another collaboration between Malouf and Meale, is often considered the best Australian opera, some critics, including Andrew Ford, believe Mer de Glace may be superior. The opera was well-received at its initial performance. Mer de Glace is a postmodernist opera of the order of John Adams's Nixon in China. The original Frankenstein is a novel about the creation of a human monster. Malouf enriches this by taking Mary Shelley, the novelist, her lover and friends into the narrative of the opera. She has a nightmare in which they assume the character of protagonists: scientist, monster, abandoned child, exploited lover, friendly observer. Meale's music refers to operas of Wagner (Tristan und Isolde) and Debussy (Pelleas et Melisande) as commentary on the action; the conventional moral views of the 19th century public are shown in musical parodies of the era's choral writing. Structure and plot The headings shown here come from Michael Hannan's The Music of Richard Meale. The synopses however derive from the full score at the Australian Music Centre.