Strange Fruit

It was the Mendelssohns' silver wedding anniversary, and their 20-year-old son Felix had put aside ideas for his third ("Scotch") symphony to fashion a little drawing-room-sized operetta for the happy occasion. It was to be sung by the Mendelssohn daughters, Fanny and Rebecka, two friends of the family, and Fanny's husband, Painter Wilhelm Hensel. Since Hensel had no ear for music, Felix had given him only one note in a trio. When the great day came, wrote one of the more musical friends, Memoirist Eduard Devrient, "[Hensel was] not able to catch the note, though it was blown and whispered to him from every side." Even so, "the work made a great impression."

Last week, Manhattan's little Lemonade Opera (TIME, Sept. 8, 1947 et seq.) gave Felix Mendelssohn's 120-year-old Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde (The Return from Abroad) a U.S. performance--but made no great impression with it. In fact, after three years of applauding the Lemonaders' fine selection of strange fruit, most listeners found Die Heimkehr (now titled The Stranger) a sorry piece of citrus indeed.

Felix's librettist had taken a theme somewhat appropriate to the time. The beloved son has been away "fighting the good fight" for seven years (Felix had actually been on a six-month trip to England and Scotland); finally, after an imposter (the stranger) tries to pass himself off as the returned prodigal, the real son returns to his parents amid great rejoicing. But in the Lemonade Opera's church-basement opera house, even John (Man in the Moon) Gutman's fine translation and adaptation failed to give the action much charm or excitement.

As for Felix's music, listeners heard a few characteristically lovely lieder-like tunes. But most of the score was more reminiscent of Mozart than of Mendelsohn. Considering that when Felix wrote it Mozart had been in his grave for nearly 40 years, there was little of wit or originality.

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