Remembrance of Reynaldo

One of the most famous fictitious pieces of music in all literature is the "Vinteuil theme" described by Marcel Proust in Remembrance of Things Past. Explored and dissected for pages, the theme not only prodded Proust's memory but also helped preserve the memory of Venezuela-born Composer Reynaldo Hahn. A pampered favorite of Parisian society. Hahn was the man on whom Proust modeled the character of Vinteuil, and at his death in 1947, Hahn was remembered chiefly for his friendship with Proust. Last week in Munich's Gaertner Theater, Hahn's little-known operetta, Ciboulette, was drawing delighted crowds --and moving critics to take a new look at the man who was once regarded as a precociously gifted composer.

Although Hahn wrote Ciboulette in 1923, he gave it an air of jaded elegance characteristic of turn-of-the-century Paris. The libretto, by Dramatist Robert de Flers, was kept deliberately naive--building ironic contrasts between text and music. The plot is constructed around a country girl, Ciboulette, who is in love with a count who is in turn dazzled by an actress. In Act III, the country girl becomes an actress herself and the count's eyes are opened to her beauty.

In last week's excellent production, the libretto seemed dated and fussy. The strength of the evening lay in Hahn's music: iridescent, fresh as a breeze, it sometimes suggested Debussy or Massenet, but never lost its own highly personal charm. Underneath the sophistication, critics found far more real thought than they had ever credited Hahn with before. Said the Sueddeutsche Zeitung: "Behind every note one feels a man with a superb feeling for his time and a handwriting of his very own."

Ironically, at the time that the first volumes of Remembrance of Things Past appeared, Hahn was far better known than his friend Proust. The only son of wealthy parents, he published his first songs at 14. his first opera. L'lle du Reve, at 23. After that, he alternated between opera and ballet. Hahn met Proust when he was 17 (Proust was four years older); later, when his friend was living as a semi-recluse in a cork-lined room, Hahn often played the piano for him. Hahn advised the author on the technical passages about music that keep cropping up in Remembrance of Things Past.

Composer Hahn at first did not take Novelist Proust very seriously--he regarded his friend as a talented amateur. But somehow. Hahn's own stature seemed to depend on that amateur's talent. Last week's revival suggested that the composer may at last have escaped the pages of Marcel Proust's book.

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