Builder Solness
Baumeister Solness is a play by Henrik Ibsen from 1892. The play was first presented to the public on December 7, 1892 in London through a reading in Norwegian . The actual premiere took place on January 19, 1893 at the Lessing Theater in Berlin .
action
“Master Builder Solness” is a so-called inner drama. Halvard Solness is a seemingly callous, unscrupulous building contractor who built his construction company taking advantage of his employees. Ten years before the play, he climbed the scaffolding to the church tower in the fictional town of Lysanger on the occasion of the roof topping ceremony of a church he had built, despite his fear of heights. He got to know the then twelve-year-old Hilde, whom he liked so much that he called her "princess", kissed her and promised her to come back in ten years and give her a kingdom. Now, ten years later, Hilde Wangel appears at Halvard Solness, who is currently building a new house for himself, and demands the kingdom that was promised to her. In the course of the piece, Hilde and Solness see a future together despite the large age difference. Hilde keeps telling how exciting it was ten years ago to see the builder so high up on the scaffolding of the church tower, and she wishes Solness would now climb the scaffolding again with the wreath at the topping-out ceremony of her own house. Although Solness is plagued by a terrible fear of heights, he still climbs the scaffolding to fasten a wreath at the top; in the process he falls - whether because of a dizzy spell or a rotten board, remains open - into the depths, where he lies with a shattered skull. So much for the narrow external plot, which takes place in 1 ½ days, and which stands in stark contrast to the rich internal plot, which spans a period of twelve years. The inner plot shows a different picture. Solness is a frightened, driven person who lives in constant fear of youth and tolerates his wife Aline assuming that he has a (in truth nonexistent) love affair with his accountant Kaja; he even does everything to get his wife to suspect it. He is atoning for a great, deep debt to his wife. Aline had lost her two sons and their health twelve years ago in the wake of a fire - which completely destroyed their parents' old home where the couple lived. Solness had hoped for this fire in order to be able to build on the extensive area. It was with this fire that Solness began his career, as he was able to parcel out the land that had been freed up in this way and no longer (as before) only built churches, but expensive houses and villas. Solness' incredible success, which is mainly based on luck and entrepreneurial talent and not on technical / architectural skills, is forever associated with bad luck.
Location
“Master Builder Solness” is set in Norway's capital Kristiania (until 1924 the name of Oslo), in a fashionable part of the city that was created on the drawing board across Europe. The immediate location is the large Solness villa, which has three children's rooms as an unusual feature, although the Solness couple have no children at all. The newly built villa also has (useless) three children's rooms. Act 1 takes place in the construction office, which is housed in the private house. It's September 19th, late afternoon. The 2nd act takes place in the salon of the villa on the morning of the next day and the 3rd act takes place on the terrace of the (formerly large, now narrow and small) garden.
people
Halvard Solness is around 50 years old and a builder. He was previously employed by Knut Brovik, now he is employed by Solness because his own company went bankrupt. Solness is not an architect, he is an entrepreneur, cannot do anything architecturally / professionally. That is why he needs Brovik, who is a master in calculating statics, that is why he needs Ragnar, who can draw, and that is why he also needs Kaja, since he does not know how to keep accounts himself. Solness must try to ensure that Ragnar does not become self-employed and stays with him, so he ties Kaja (Ragnar's fiancée) emotionally to himself so that she stays with him; because then Ragnar also stays.
Aline Solness is Halvard's wife. Since the fire in her parents' house, since the death of the two children and the loss of their dolls (which Aline hurts more than that of her children), she is only a shadow of herself.
Hilde Wangel, around 23 years old, she and Solness have known each other since he inaugurated the church tower in Lysanger (Hilde's hometown) ten years ago. Back then he had promised her a kingdom, now she comes to keep that promise. Obviously, Hilde (unspecified) has problems with her father because she never wants to return home, even though she loves her father very much. Hilde knows Aline from a coincidental stay in a sanatorium last summer.
Knut Brovik, an older man, formerly Solness Chef, now his employee. Very sick for some time, he wants to help his son Ragnar to become independent.
Ragnar Brovik is the 30-year-old son of Knut Brovik. He is employed by Solness as a draftsman and engaged to Kaja. Ragnar is very talented, so Solness does not want to let him go into business because he needs Ragnar. In addition, Solness fears the youth as competition.
Kaja Fosli is a little over 20 years old, a Solness accountant and Ragnar's fiancée. Both have been engaged to each other for 5 years without any marriage. Kaja has to delay this again and again, as a marriage with Ragnar led her away from Solness, to whom she seems to have fallen for.
Doctor Herdal, the doctor of the house and mainly concerned with Aline, but in conversation with Solness he also proves to be an analytically trained listener.
Productions / filming
The play was filmed as a television play under the direction of Hans Schweikart with Peter Lühr , Andrea Jonasson , Christine Ostermayer and Peter Paul in 1966 under the title Baumeister Solness .
In 1984 there was a TV version of a performance by the Bavarian State Theater in Munich directed by Peter Zadek with Hans-Michael Rehberg , Barbara Sukowa , Annemarie Düringer , Paulus Manker and Toni Berger .
In 2004, a production by Thomas Ostermeier at the Akademietheater in Vienna with Gert Voss, Kirsten Dene and Dorothee Hartinger, which was also broadcast as a television version under the title Baumeister Solness . In 2008 there was a production by Anna Badora at the Schauspielhaus Graz. In 2015 the work was filmed in Germany under the name Solness by Michael Klette . Jörg Steinberg staged the play at the Uckermärkische Bühnen Schwedt , the premiere was on September 22nd and 23rd, 2016.
proof
- Joachim Grage: The architecture of life plans. In: Ibsen's Dramas. (= Reclams Universal Library , Volume 17530.) Reclam jun. GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-017530-5 .
- Michael Meyer: Ibsen. Random House, 1985, ISBN 978-0-394-50442-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Builder Solness in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ Builder Solness in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ Builder Solness in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ Solness in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ Builder Solness. Retrieved May 8, 2020 .