The Devils of Loudun (opera)

Die Teufel von Loudun
Opera by Krzysztof Penderecki
The composer in 2008
Translation	The Devils of Loudun
Librettist	Penderecki
Language	German
Based on	John Whiting's dramatization of Aldous Huxley's The Devils of Loudun
Premiere	20 June 1969 (1969-06-20) Hamburg State Opera

Die Teufel von Loudun (The Devils of Loudun) is an opera in three acts written in 1968 and 1969 by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, and then revised in 1972 and 1975. It has a German libretto by the composer, based on John Whiting's dramatization of Aldous Huxley's novel of the same name.

The work was commissioned by the Hamburg State Opera, which consequently gave the premiere on 20 June 1969. Only 48 hours afterwards, the opera received its second performance in Stuttgart, followed two months later by its American debut mounted by the Santa Fe Opera. The work was revised in 1972 following suggestions by Polish theatre director Kazimierz Dejmek. This added two new scenes, excluded a scene from the opera's first act, regrouped other scenes, and modified the first act's instrumentation. Finally, in 1975, Penderecki added two more scenes in the second act. Performances of The Devils of Loudun now generally follow this 1975 edition.

The Devils of Loudun, the first and most popular of Penderecki's operas, is emblematic of the composer's interest in historical events of traumatic nature. As suggested by its title, the opera draws its story line from the 1632-38 mass demonic possession in the town of Loudun, France. However, rather than a narrative of these historical events, the opera underscores a more general dichotomy between central and local power, and thus provides a political commentary, denouncing thereof the iniquities committed by the totalitarian states of the mid-20th century. Accordingly, the opera thematic construct should be regarded as allegorical rather than merely historical.

Based on the reviews listed in Cindy Bylander's Krzysztof Penderecki: a Bio-Bibliography, the reception of The Devils of Loudun varied. The opera received mixed reviews (mostly written around the same time and within a decade of the work's completion) in European countries and the US. Even in the same city, there were different reactions to the work.

The world premiere, which was given at the Hamburg State Opera on 20 June 1969, received mixed reviews. However, the general consensus among critics was that the work was not a huge success. A critic, who saw the world premiere performance of the work in Hamburg, wrote that the various sounds effects (i.e. cries, laughter, roars, etc.), large glissandons in orchestra, tone clusters, and pitches at extreme ends of instruments' ranges were used merely to produce atmosphere instead of creating a dramatic effect. After seeing a Hamburg production of the opera, another critic even questioned whether Penderecki was truly interested in the piece. Positive reviews of the production were mostly on the libretto's intriguing nature.