Life of Orestes

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Work data
Title: Life of Orestes
Shape: Great opera in five acts
Original language: German
Music: Ernst Krenek
Libretto : Ernst Krenek
Literary source: Aeschylus : Orestie ,
Euripides :
Iphigenia with the Taurern ,
Iphigenia in Aulis , Elektra
Premiere: January 19, 1930
Place of premiere: New Leipzig City Theater
Playing time: about 2 hours
Place and time of the action: Greek mythology
people
  • Agamemnon , Greek king ( tenor )
  • Clytemnestra , his wife ( mezzo-soprano or alto )
  • Elektra , her daughter ( soprano )
  • Iphigenia , her daughter (mezzo-soprano)
  • Orestes , her son ( baritone )
  • Aegisth , relative of Agamemnon (tenor)
  • Anastasia, the royal nurse (old)
  • Aegisth's servant (tenor)
  • Three Wise Men (3 Baritones)
  • A lame accordion player (silent role)
  • Aristobulus, Chief Justice of Athens ( bass )
  • A crier
  • Two street girls (2 mezzo-sopranos)
  • Four street singers (2 tenors, 2 basses)
  • Shepherd (baritone)
  • Little girl (silent role)
  • Thoas, a king from the north (baritone)
  • Thamar, his daughter (soprano)
  • People, warriors, armed men, audience, judges, artists, dancers ( choir )

Life of Orestes is a “great opera ” in five acts and eight pictures by Ernst Krenek (op. 60). Krenek wrote the libretto and composed the opera between August 8, 1928 and May 13, 1929. On January 19, 1930, the opera was premiered in the New City Theater in Leipzig .

action

Behind a closed curtain a choir sings of longing for a southern country. The curtain rises and Anastasia reports on the impending war on the busy palace forecourt . Agamemnon warns the crowd in short sentences and allows the tumult to be dispelled by force. Aegisth makes the proposal to the king to sacrifice one of his descendants to the gods. The king should not bring the relatives into connection with it before the queen. Meanwhile, Clytemnestra instructs Orestes and Anastasia to flee to Phocisland . When the people are led back to the forecourt, Agamemnon announces Orest's escape, whereupon unrest spreads among the people who suspect betrayal. The only way to calm the people is by the king offering his daughter as a sacrifice. Iphigenia is prepared accordingly and brought before the king. When he strikes back, his daughter disappears in the smoke. The harbinger of a storm sweeps across the square, and the people disperse, singing a farewell song to peace.

A chorus recites in front of a closed curtain how Agamemnon was rewarded with a miracle for his trust in God. In Thoas' observatory he tells his fate. Since he has been a widower, he has been researching the natural sciences and now feels that the moon is sending an incarnation of the long-awaited land of the south. He hypnotizes his daughter Thamar and conjures such an apparition (Iphigenia). Thoas suspects his wife and asks the apparition to speak. Iphigenia asks about her father. Both look at each other disappointed. As a result of another interlude, the chorus recites how Orestes and Anastasia lost their strength on the way to Athens.

Instrumentation

The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:

Work history

The world premiere on January 19, 1930 in the New City Theater in Leipzig was directed by Gustav Brecher . The singers included Ernst Neubert (Agamemnon), Ilse Koegel (Elektra), Rudolf Bockelmann (Orest), Paul Beinert (Aegisth), Ernst Osterkamp (Aristobulos), Karl August Neumann (Ausrufer / Thoas) and Elisabeth Gerö (Thamar).

literature

  • Juliane Vogel: Rescued Atrids. On Ernst Krenek's “The Life of Orestes” . In: J. Kühnel, U. Müller, O. Panagl (eds.): Ancient myths in music theater of the 20th century. Collected lectures of the Salzburg Symposium 1989. Ursula Müller-Speiser publishing house, Salzburg 1990, pp. 281–297.
  • Nils Grosch: Zeitoper, stylistic pluralism and epic theater in Ernst Krenek's "Life of Orestes" . In: Claudia Maurer Zenck (ed.): The magical but difficult profession of opera writing. Ernst Krenek's music theater (= Ernst Krenek Studies 2 ). Argus, Schliengen 2006, pp. 77-112.
  • Garrett Bowles: Article Krenek, Ernst. In: S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell (Eds.): The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Macmillan, London 2001.
  • Wolfgang Molkow. The jump over the shadow. On Ernst Krenek's operas in the 20s and 30s . In: Musica 34 (1980), No. 2, pp. 132-135.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barbara Zuber: Life of Orestes. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 3: Works. Henze - Massine. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-492-02413-0 , pp. 333-335.
  2. ↑ January 19, 1930: "The Life of Orestes". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..