Section XVI of the little night opera I composed for my mother Catherine Gayer with librettist and family friend Helga Krauss (catch up with all previous episodes via the opera’s homepage) takes the Woman back into therapy analyzing dreams.

When the Therapist, embodied by the 1st Angel, once again asks that well worn therapy question “What does that remind you of?” (second in line only to “How does that make you feel?”), the Woman turns the tables on him. In a moment of fantastical comedy, the Therapist becomes a little boy imploring “Lulu” to show him her “woo woo”. The German rhyme is “Uschi” paired with the equally childlike genital classifier “Muschi”. After this bit of therapeutic infantilization, the Woman leaves therapy for metaphysical landscapes of the Beyond. She declares herself caught inside a net of her own spinning pictures.

Which leads into Section XVII, where the Woman envisions the glittering life of a famous piano virtuoso for her Son.

He however bursts that bubble with a definitive “I must live my own life”.

The Woman sings a mournful variation of the lullaby, joined in complimentary minor harmonies by the Angels. Just as this version spills over into ludicrous melodrama, the Woman cuts it off and declares “That’s not me! A total cliche! A fake!” To which the 1st Angel responds “Better a good fake than a bad original.”

Which raises the question – if not already assumed in the audiences’ mind – is the metaphysical ‘life in revue’ the Woman experiences with the two Angels a faithful recreation, or dreamlike interpretation, or total fabrication? Or some fanciful mix of all three?

XVI

German Language Studio Recording

English Language Live Concert Recording

THERAPIST
What did you dream last night?

WOMAN
Dreams are bubbles.

THERAPIST
Hmmm, what does that remind you of?

WOMAN
Sea, storm, waves foaming, a shipwreck…

THERAPIST Hmmm, interesting…

The Woman turns the tables on the Therapist.

WOMAN
(mocking) What does that remind you of?

THERAPIST
Summer, green fields, bees buzzing… (whining like a child) Lulu…
Lulu, lemme see your woowoo… Lulu, lemme see your woowoo…

WOMAN
Dick, let me see your prick!

THERAPIST

Like a pink violet…

WOMAN
Like a purple tulip head

(another world) Coldness transforms itself into shining fire

Fields of energy that blow out, disintegrating

Caught inside a net of my own spinning pictures

XVII

German Language Studio Recording

English Language Live Concert Recording

Applause, bravos. The Son awaits his mother backstage.

They dance together.

SON
You were wonderful, Mama.

WOMAN
Wait till you give your concerts. We’ll circle the globe from success to success.

You just have to believe it – one, two, switch to left. From success to success – Chopin, Schubert, Mozart

Five star hotels in London – Paris, Milan, New York

My son, the prodigy!

The Son breaks off abruptly.

SON
I must live my own life…

WOMAN
(disappointed) ooo…ah…

1. & 2. ANGELS
(singing the lullaby) mmm…ooo…

WOMAN
That’s not me! A total cliche! A fake!

1. ANGEL
Better a good fake than a bad original.