In 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria issued a decree to transform the old city walls of Vienna into a grand boulevard which would circle the historical inner city. The Ringstrasse was both a monument to Old World ideas and aesthetics, and a symbol of their transformation.Against the backdrop of this 30-year construction project, Modernism bubbles up through the art of Klimt, the writings of Freud and Nietzsche, and the music of Mahler and Wolf. Vienna is at a crossroads, and the figure in the middle is Richard Wagner. He is polarizing and revolutionary. He declares Jews to be “the born enemy of pure humanity,” writes of sex between siblings, and composes music which lays the groundwork for the atonality of the 20th century. One critic declares Wagner’s music downright dangerous, but Hugo Wolf proclaims himself “a Wagnerian” and strives to emulate “the master” in all his work.
Like Vienna itself, the characters are simultaneously products of their time and desperately trying to carve out a sense of identity apart from it. “It is a curse to be born a composer after Wagner,” declares Wolf: “to have been alive to witness the world turn over, but to have arrived too late to participate.” In truth, of course-as an early experimenter with atonal music and a prolific songwriter-Wolf was a participant in the birth of Modernism. He was, however, not lucid long enough to appreciate or witness his own contributions. “Truth is ugly,” says Nietzsche. “We possess art lest we perish from truth.” Wolf and Mahler immerse themselves in their art to escape the truth-Mahler to escape his poverty and his Jewishness, and Wolf to escape the perceived disapproval of his father, his fear of inadequacy and his terrible secret. Melanie, also living a lie-deceiving her husband and, arguably, herself-is perhaps the only character prepared to address the truth. As a wealthy woman in 19th century Europe, she has had the privilege of education, has been blessed with resources and ability but is denied the opportunity to put them into practice.
The beauty in Michaela Jeffery’s work is that these three characters are at once simple and complex, visionary and blind, great and pathetic, admirable and deeply flawed. She has eschewed the idolatry of the master creator for an exploration of Nietzsche’s ugly truth, and exposed them as simple human beings driven to love, to self-preservation and to creation. Each is out of place on the Ringstrasse, unsure of their footing in the perpetually-shifting landscape, but are ultimately bound together by their profound love of music and their near-desperate need to believe in the redemptive power of art. Because, as Wolf says,
if it does not change everything, then what is the point?
