Alban Berg (1885 - 1935)
Lulu

Lulu - the play - was written in three parts by Frank Wedekind in the early 20th century, the opera by Alban Berg stayed unfinished by the time of the composer's death in 1935 and was finished by Friedrich Cerha in 1979: in short, a male concept.

Synopsis

PROLOGUE
An animal-tamer as from a circus, introduces the story in terms of crude animal characteristics, with Lulu as a snake.
ACT I
Scene 1
Lulu is married to Dr. Goll, a professor of medicine, but is the mistress of Dr. Schon, a newspaper editor-in-chief. Dr. Schon and his son Alwa, a composer, are present while Lulu is having her portrait painted. When the two of them leave, the Painter pursues Lulu amorously. Her husband unexpectedly arrives and dies from shock at he sees.
Scene 2
Now married to the Painter, Lulu is visited by Schigolch, a decrepit old man who evidently shares her past, and by Dr. Schon. Although he intends to make a socially respectable marriage, Dr. Schon cannot throw off the fascination which Lulu exerts on him. The Painter has not realized that his wife has been living under the "protection" of Dr. Schon. He now learns it and kills himself. Lulu is unmoved.
Scene 3
As a theatrical dancer, Lulu is in her dressing-room, then is called on stage. Suddenly, having realized that Schon and his fiancee are in the audience, she returns and refuses to perform. Dr. Schon, Alwa and others enter the dressing-room. Only when she has totally humiliated Dr. Schon, compelling him to write a letter of renunciation to his fiancee, does she consent to continue the show.
ACT II
Scene 1
Dr. Schon is now married to Lulu but racked by jealousy of her admirers, even of Countess Geschwitz. Leaving the house for a little while, he returns to find Lulu surrounded by adoring males--his own son Alwa, an athlete, a schoolboy. Dr. Schon produces a revolver and demands that she should shoot herself. She kills him.
Scene 2
In the same room, some months later, Lulu's associates are at the point of effecting her escape from prison - to which she was condemned for murdering Dr. Schon. Countess Geschwitz, self-sacrificingly, goes to smuggle herself into prison in Lulu's place. The athlete plans to take Lulu away with him as a circus performer, but on her arrival he realizes with disgust that she has grown too thin and weak. Instead it is Alwa who succumbs to the woman who killed his father. They agree to go away together.
ACT III
Scene 1
In their new and luxurious (Parisian) home, Lulu and Alwa are entertaining guests. Gambling, eating and drinking, the company is confident to the ever-rising value of their railway shares. But, because she is still wanted by the German police as an escaped murderess, Lulu is blackmailed by the athlete and by a pimp, the Marquis, who wants to sell her to a brothel in Cairo. Suddenly, news comes that the railway shares have crashed. The company breaks up in recriminations. By quickly changing clothes with a young groom, Lulu manages to escape with Alwa just before the police arrive to arrest her.
Scene 2
Living in dire poverty in a (London) attic with Alwa and Schigolch, Lulu is reduced to casual prostitution. Countess Geschwitz arrives, bringing the portrait which she salvaged from Paris. A client of Lulu's kills Alwa. While Jack, another client, is with Lulu, the Countess resolves to start a new life as a champion of women's rights. Suddenly there is a scream: Jack the Ripper has killed Lulu. On his way out he also stabs the Countess, who utters her devotion to Lulu and dies.

Text taken from booklet for Alban Berg. Lulu. DG463617-2. Copyright for this text 1977 Universal Edition, Vienna.