From a house of the dead
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | From a house of the dead |
| Original title: | Z mrtvého domu |
| Shape: | Thoroughly composed opera |
| Original language: | Czech |
| Music: | Leoš Janáček |
| Libretto : | Leoš Janáček |
| Literary source: | Notes from a house of the dead by FM Dostoevsky |
| Premiere: | April 12, 1930 |
| Place of premiere: | National Theater Brno |
| Playing time: | about 100 minutes |
| Place and time of the action: | In a Siberian prison camp, mid-19th century |
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From a House of the Dead , in the original Czech Z mrtvého domu , is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček . The libretto comes from the composer, it is an arrangement of the notes from a house of the dead (Russian Записки из Мёртвого дома, Zapiski iz Mёrtvogo doma ) by Fyodor M. Dostojewski . Max Brod arranged for a translation into German.
action
(The text information refers to the typical subdivisions that most recordings are based on. Clear musical breaks can only be found in the opera between the individual acts.)
first act
Winter, daybreak in the penal camp. The prisoners go about their morning occupations when a new prisoner, the noblewoman Alexandr Petrovič Goryančikov, arrested for political reasons, is brought ( “Přivednou dnes pána” - “Today they bring a nobleman” ). The commandant interrogates him and has the "political" flogged ( "Jak te nazývaji?" - "What's your name?" ). Some inmates are busy with an injured eagle; they make fun of his injury, but at the same time admire the "king of the woods" in him ( "Zvíře, nedá se [...] Orel car lesů" - "The beast defends itself [...] The eagle is the king of the woods" ) . The convicts get to work ( “Neuvidí oko již” - “My eyes will no longer see” ), between two, Luka Kuzmič and Skuratov, a dispute arises ( “Ja mladá, na hodech byla” - “I, a young girl, was at the party ” ). Luka tells Aljeja about the deed for which he ended up in the camp ( “Aljeja, podávej nitku” - “Aljeja, give me a thread” ): When he was in prison for the first time, he met a cruel and arrogant commander there, the said of himself that for the convicts he was tsar and god. Luka stabbed him and was then publicly flogged. Finally, the tortured and plundered Petrovič is brought back to the other inmates.
Second act
Half a year later, on the Irtyš river near the camp. The inmates are doing the daily forced labor. Aljeja and Petrovič have become friends, the nobleman wants to teach the young prisoner to read and write ( “Milý, milý Aljejo” - “Dear, dear Aljeja” ). Bells ring to the end of the working day, the prisoners are allowed to celebrate a small festival on the occasion of a church holiday ( "Alexandr Petrovič, bude prázdnik" - "Alexander Petrovich, it is a holiday" ). The simple-minded Skuratov tells his story: his great love Luisa was forced to marry a rich relative; Out of desperation, Skuratov shot the bridegroom ( “Jaj, ja pustý zbytečný člověk […] Přešel den, druhý, třetí” - “Oh, me poor, useless person […] One day passed, the second, the third” ). The prisoners improvise two plays, the play by Kedril and Don Juan ( "Černá kobyla, nevybílíš do bíla [...] Dnes bude můj poslední den" - "You can't bleach a black horse [...] Today is my last day" ) as well a pantomime about a beautiful but unfaithful miller ( "Pantomima o pěkné mlynářce" - "The pantomime of the beautiful miller" ). The party ends in a dispute when one of the convicts provokes Goryančikov because the former nobleman still has the opportunity to drink tea in prison ( “Pěkně hráli, co?” - “Nice pieces, aren't they?” ). Aljeja is injured.
Third act
First picture: In the camp hospital
Spring has come. Petrovič reads from the Bible to the feverish Aljeja ( "Isak, prorok boží" - "Jesus, the prophet of God" ). The dying Luka mocks Čekunov for his servant behavior towards Goryančikov. Skuratov has gone mad. Šapkin tells how, after being arrested as a tramp and burglar, he was pulled on the ear by a constable who wanted to expose him as a thief ( “O bratři ta bolec to nic” - “O brothers, this pain is nothing” ). The old convict prays and cries for his children ( “Má děťátka milá” - “My dear little children” ). Finally, interrupted by Čerevin's pressing questions, Šiškov tells his story, the longest of all: A rich merchant had a daughter, Akulka; a friend of Šiškov's, named Filka Morozov, claimed to have slept with her ( “Ty, pravil Filka […] A Filka křičí” - “You, said Filka […] and Filka calls” ). She was eventually married to Šiškov, who discovered on the wedding night that she was still innocent ( “A ja byl, bratříčku” - “And I was, little brother” ), but the false friend Filka managed to convince him that he was was too drunk to notice anything ( “Na druhý den” - “The next day” ). When Filka apologized to Akulina for the misery caused her on the occasion of his departure, she said to her husband that she loved Filka, whereupon Šiškov murdered her. Luka dies of consumption and Šiškov recognizes in him the former rival Filka Morozov. A security guard fetches Petrovič.
Second picture: yard of the camp
The drunk commander asked Petrovič to apologize for the flogging and then announced his pardon ( “Petroviči, ja jsem tĕ urazil” - “Petrovich, I beg your pardon” ). Farewell to Aljeja. The prisoners release the eagle, whose wing is healed. While they are still watching him ( “Svoboda, svobodička” - “Freedom, sweet freedom” ), the guards drive them back to work.
Origin of the opera
The composer began working on the opera in early 1927. In May 1928 the libretto and score were finished, but Janáček died before he - this would have been his usual way of working - the III. Could look through the act again and correct it if necessary. For this reason, the Brno theater commissioned two students of Janáček, Břetislav Bakala and Osvald Chlubna , to complete the composition. They added the - in their opinion - incomplete instrumentation and added an "optimistic" ending to the opera. This ends with the release of the eagle without the convicts being sent back to work. The opera was mostly played in this version until the 1960s. After that, following the general trend towards more faithfulness to the work and performances in the original language, Janáček's original score was used again, which, thanks to the detailed documentation of the changes made, could be easily restored.
The musicologist John Tyrell created a new critical edition of the score with instructions for the performance practice of Charles Mackerras , which was published by Universal Edition in 2017 .
Characteristic
Z mrtvého domu predominantly has the character of an oratorio. There is no continuous plot. In the popular sense, 'operatic' scenes are largely missing. The real core of the play are the prisoners' monologues, in which they describe their deeds. You are around the festival in Act II with the 'Opera in the Opera', d. H. the small theatrical performance of the prisoners. The admission and discharge of Petrovič act as a link to the entire plot.
The through-composed music is expressionistic, dominated by the chanting of the various actors. Only in the stories of the prisoners, which are often borne by longing, did the composer allow himself some ariose elements and echoes of the folk music of his homeland. Janáček took excerpts from Dostoyevsky's text verbatim with few exceptions, but changed the sequence of the scenes - for example, when inserting the episode of the injured eagle - in order to condense the plot dramatically.
reception
A major production of the opera was created at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in 2007 by two legendary French theater people, the director Patrice Chéreau and the conductor Pierre Boulez . This international cooperation was also shown in Vienna and Berlin.
Recordings
- Gala (1953): Bernard Demigny, Gerard Friedmann, Jean Giraudeau, Roger Barrier, Xavier Depraz, Michel Hamel, Lucien Lovano; National orchestra and French radio choir under Jascha Horenstein (recording in French)
- Gala (1954): Siemen Jongsma, Chris Scheffer, Jan van Mantgem, Zbyslaw Wozniak; Choir and orchestra of the Dutch Opera under Alexander Krannhals (recording in German)
- Supraphon (1963): Vladimir Sauer, Vaclav Halir, Bohumil Kurfürst, Marie Steinerova, Jaroslav Ulrych, Vladimir Bauer; Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and Janáček Opera Choir under Břetislav Bakala and Jaroslav Vogel
- Supraphon (1964): Václav Bednár, Helena Tattermuschková, Beno Blachut , Jaroslav Horácek, Antonin Votava, Ivo Žídek; Choir and Orchestra of the Prague National Theater under Bohumil Gregor
- Supraphon: Richard Novak, Vilém Přibyl, Jaroslav Horaček, Beno Blachut, Ivo Žídek, Vacláv Bednař; Czech Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra under Bohumil Gregor
- Supraphon (1979): Richard Novak, Vilém Přibyl, Milada Jirglova, Beno Blachut, Ivo Žídek, Jaroslav Soucek; The choir and orchestra of the Czech Philharmonic under Václav Neumann
- Decca (1980): Jaroslava Janská, Ivo Žídek, Jiří Zahradníček, Václav Zítek, Dalibor Jedlicka, Antonin Svorc; Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Choir under Charles Mackerras
- Oriel Music Society (1997): David Kempster, Gail Pearson, Robert Brubaker, John Daszak, Andrew Shore; Choir and Orchestra of the English National Opera under Paul Daniel (recording in English)
- Deutsche Grammophon (DVD, 2007): Olaf Bär , Eric Stokloßa , Štefan Margita, John Mark Ainsley , Jiři Sulzenko, Heinz Zednik , Gerd Grochowski ; Arnold Schoenberg Choir , Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Pierre Boulez ; Patrice Chéreau (director)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Leoš Janáček: From a House of the Dead at Universal Edition, accessed on April 6, 2018
- ↑ Pierre Boulez and Patrice Chéreau on Janáček's From a House of the Dead ( Memento from November 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), July 3, 2012, Universal Edition : Interview by Wolfgang Schaufler with the conductor and director of the performance, accessed on May 20, 2018
Beginning of a novel (1894) | Jenůfa (1904) | Mr Brouček's excursions (1920) | Káťa Kabanová (1921) | The cunning little fox (1924) | Šárka (1925) | The Makropulos Case (1926) | From a house of the dead (1930, posthumous) | Osud (1958, posthumous)