The Nusch-Nuschi
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| Title: | The Nusch-Nuschi |
Oskar Schlemmer : Draft for Das Nusch-Nuschi |
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| Shape: | One-act game for Burmese puppets |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Paul Hindemith |
| Libretto : | Franz Blei |
| Premiere: | June 4, 1921 |
| Place of premiere: | Württemberg State Theater Stuttgart |
| Playing time: | Around 1 hour |
| Place and time of the action: | In the empire of Emperor Mung Tha Bya ( Burma ) |
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Das Nusch-Nuschi , op. 20, is an opera ( ironic original name: “Game for Burmese Marionettes”) in one act and three pictures by Paul Hindemith (music) with a libretto by Franz Blei . The premiere took place on June 4, 1921 in the Württemberg State Theater in Stuttgart .
action
The eponymous "Nusch-Nuschi" is a kind of mythical animal that only plays a subordinate role in the plot. On behalf of his master Zatwai, the servant Tum tum kidnaps the four wives of the emperor with whom Zatwai spends the night. When the matter is found out and charged with tumult, he blames Field General Kyce Waing. The verdict is castration - but it turns out that Kyce Waing was already emasculated.
First picture
A night street by moonlight. Tum tum, the servant of the beautiful Mr. Zatwai, has received the order to bring his master a woman whom Zatwai had given a “certain sign” that morning through the window of the imperial women's palace. He doesn't know which of the emperor's four wives it is, but hopes that she will reveal herself to him. Two Bajaderen ask him for directions to his master, for whom they should dance. Tum tum asks them to wait for his return. Meanwhile, the Bajaderen complain of being tired. A depressed beggar arrives and asks them "a smile, if nothing else". When the two of them ask him for directions to Zatwai, he wishes them to audition for him. This is a good preliminary exercise for another, eternal dance that they are not spared - the grave. The beggar goes away singing, and the two Bajaders don't want to wait any longer either.
Aria with variations. One by one, the four wives of Emperor Mung Tha Bya pass by. Each of them has just been freed from the harem by tumult with the help of a rope ladder and is now in a good mood on the way to the Zatwais house. Then Tum tum himself appears proud of his idea of simply getting all women out. His master will find out the right one. But then he worries that Zatwai might not agree with it after all. When field general Kyce Waing approaches him, he decides to give up the position at Zatwai and to offer himself to him.
Recitative and Duet. The completely drunk Kyce Waing calls for a palankin (a litter). Tum tum comes to his aid, supports him and warns him of the terrible nusch-nuschis that come out of the river at night. Indeed, such a being appears, "half large rat and half caiman". Kamadewa, the god of desire, sits on it smiling. Kamadewa promises tum tum as thanks for helping his women, happiness and calls on him to save "the old man". Tum tum lets go of the general to kill the animal with his sword. Kyce Waing loses his balance and falls on the Nusch-Nuschi, who bites his ass. Tum tum kills the animal after a brief fight, and Kyce Waing gratefully names him his swordtail.
After an orchestral interlude, the second picture follows without a break.
Second picture
In addition to himself, the four imperial women, the two Bajaders, two tame monkeys and some eunuchs playing softly have also gathered in the room of the beautiful Mr. Zatwai. While the girls dance, Zatwai leaves the room one after the other with a different one of the four women. The Bajaderen comment on the event with frivolous singing alternating with fourth chords of the monkeys ("rai"). This is followed by three orchestral dance pieces and then further comments by the Bajaders. After Zatwai has returned with the fourth wife, everything is “on and around the beautiful Zatwai”.
Third picture
In the courtroom of the emperor, two heralds talk about the “blessed appetite” of the imperial ladies. The Emperor Mung Tha Bya enters. The master of ceremonies precedes him. This is followed by the feeble-minded Crown Prince Ragweng, the chief eunuch Susulü, the executioner with his assistants, and the tumult led and bound by two guards. The master of ceremonies asks Susulü, who has been invited as a witness, to tell the story of the incident. Susulü reports that in the morning, as usual, he found all four of the ladies' beds empty. Shortly afterwards they called to him from outside to let them in, as they had been walking. One beggar, however, testified that a fellow - Tumum - had taken them to his master, where they spent the night. Tum tum fully confirms the statement. As a servant he had to obey. After a few threats, Tum tum also reveals the name of his master, Field General Kyce Waing. The emperor cries out in horror. The master of ceremonies instructs the second herald to ask the general whether Tum tum really is his servant. While he was waiting, the emperor was deeply concerned about the betrayal of his general. Then the herald comes back with the confirmation that he actually took the tumult into his service last night. So it has been proven that the ladies spent the night with him. After a short pause, the emperor announced the verdict: “The usual” (castration). The executioner steps forward, presents his sharp knives and goes away to carry out the sentence. Tumum fearfully comments that this will not please the Lord, and especially the women “do not like to see it”. The executioner comes back, “trembling, completely bent” and reports full of shame: “It was no longer necessary”. Everyone laughs.
Final. Songs and dances. Dancing girls and wandering poets join in and sing love songs. Kamadewa appears and “directs the loving couples towards one another so that they fall in rapture.” The court moves away to one side. The old beggar comes in from the other and rings a wooden bell.
layout
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (both also piccolo ), two oboes , English horn , small clarinet , two clarinets, bass clarinet , two bassoons , contrabassoon
- Brass : two horns , two trumpets , three trombones , bass tuba
- Timpani , percussion (four players): xylophone , triangle , five bells in C, Eb, f, b and c, cowbell, large gong , hanging cymbal , two tambourines (small and large), stirring drum, snare drum , bass drum with cymbals , Rod , ratchet , glockenspiel with keyboard
music
In his opera Nusch-Nuschi , Hindemith makes fun of the concept of sexuality. In doing so, he exceeds the aspirations of Expressionism . The work is based on the ideas and the principles of New Objectivity presented by Ferruccio Busoni in 1920's essay Young Classicity . The anti-Wagnerianism practiced here was typical of the various “reform efforts” of the time.
Though ironically referred to as a "Burmese Puppet Game," it requires a large number of singers. In the third picture, Hindemith quoted words and music from King Markes' monologue “Me this? … Real art ”from Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde . There are further allusions to stylistic elements from operas by Richard Strauss , Georges Bizet , Giacomo Puccini , Georg Friedrich Handel and Claude Debussy . Overall, the music is lively and has an oriental touch.
The second dance piece corresponds formally to a sonata movement , while the third imitates a chorale fugue . The latter is annotated in the score:
“The following 'chorale fugue' (with every comfort: enlargements, reductions, narrowings, basso ostinato) owes its existence to an unfortunate coincidence: it occurred to the composer. Its purpose is nothing more than this: to fit stylishly into the frame of this picture and to give all 'experts' the opportunity to bark at the incredible tastelessness of its creator. Hallelujah! - The piece must mainly be danced (wiggled) by two eunuchs with extremely thick bare bellies. "
The individual scenes are only loosely strung together. Together they result in a kaleidoscopic picture, but do not lead to a stringent dramatic development. Instead, supposed highlights are usually repeated later in identical form, such as B. Zatwai's fourfold sexual intercourse with the emperor's four wives. By dividing it into three images, Hindemith also parodies the traditional three-act opera form.
In the revised version of the third picture from 1924, Hindemith used a different style. Thematic developments and motoric elements with drums and jazz sounds dominate here.
libretto
Franz Bleis Farce was written as early as 1904. He published it for the first time in 1911 in the fourth volume of his mixed writings.
The text is deliberately kept undemanding. It contains formal gimmicks and allusions to other works such as Arthur Schnitzler's drama Reigen (1900) or Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1865) as well as a political satire with reference to Kaiser Wilhelm II. The work is in the tradition of the Italian Commedia dell'arte . Blei renounced a dramatic build-up of tension as well as any romantic pathos.
Work history
The burlesque farce Das Nusch-Nuschi , together with Hindemith's Murderer, Hope of Women (1921) and Sancta Susanna (1922), forms a triptych of one-act operas of different characters, each of which deals with one of the three varieties of love (archaic-brutal, happily playful or Christian repressive).
Hindemith began composing in autumn 1919 and completed it on August 14, 1920.
The premiere took place on June 4, 1921 in the Württemberg State Theater in Stuttgart under the direction of Fritz Busch . The production came from Otto Erhardt, the set, costumes and choreography from Oskar Schlemmer . The singers included Erna Ellmenreich (Bangsa), Felix ceiling (Susulü), Heinrich Lohalm (Tum tum), Albin Swoboda junior (Mung Tha Bya) and Reinhold Fritz (Kyce Waing).
The work caused a theatrical scandal in Stuttgart due to the allusions to current sexual morality and the degradation of Wagner by the Tristan quote . The latter scene was therefore defused for the following production on March 26, 1922 in Frankfurt am Main (direction: Ludwig Rottenberg , with Fritzi Jokl , Richard von Schenck and Hermann Schramm ). However, this could not alleviate the bad reputation of the plant. The critic of the Zeitschrift für Musik wrote about the triptych in July 1922:
“The books of the three one-act plays ([...] Bleis Nusch-Nuschi a piquant cochonery for decadent lusty old people [...]) should actually be perceived by everyone as absolutely worthless. Hindemith's music revolves around restless expressionism; without any melodic feeling [...] monstrous chords are piled up by the overloaded orchestra, then again there is a yawning emptiness. "
There were further performances in 1923 in Prague (conductor: Alexander von Zemlinsky ) and Essen (Ferdinand Drost). In 1924 Hindemith partially revised his opera. In 1933 there was still a production in Antwerp before Hindemith withdrew the entire one-act triptych in 1958.
After the death of Hindemith and his wife, Das Nusch-Nuschi was not played again in Darmstadt until 1969 together with Mörder, Hope der Frauen ( Hans Drewanz ). At that time it hardly seemed provocative. The opera was often shortened to include the finale or the chorale fugue. A suite of pieces from the opera remained in the international repertoire.
In 1979 the opera was played in Munich's Herkulessaal ( Gennadi Roschdestwenski ), 1987 in Berlin ( Gerd Albrecht ) and Bayreuth ( Michael Hofstetter ), 1988 in Frankfurt (Gerd Albrecht, performing in concert as part of the complete triptych), 1990 in Pforzheim with the Mottenkäfig marionette stage ( Christoph Wyneken , resumption 2008), 1993 in Trier ( Reinhard Petersen , staged as part of the complete triptych) and in France (M. Christou), 1995 in the Barbican Hall in London ( Andrew Davis ) and in Tokyo ( Kazushi Ōno ), 2001 in Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Cologne (Gerd Albrecht) as well as Berlin and Wiesbaden ( Hermann Bäumer ), 2004 in New York ( Leon Botstein ), 2012 in Bonn ( Stefan Blunier ) and 2013 in Osnabrück ( Andreas Hotz ).
Recordings
- 1988 (studio recording): Gerd Albrecht (conductor), Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Harald Stamm (Mung Tha Bya), Victor von Halem (Kyce Waing), David Knutson (Susulü), Wilfried Gahmlich (Tum tum), Verena Schweizer (Bangsa), Celina Lindsley (Osasa), Gabriele Schreckenbach (Twaïse), Gudrun Sieber ( Ratasata), Georgine Resick (first Bajadere), Gisela Pohl (second Bajadere). Wergo CD 60146-50 (1 CD).
- March 2001 (live from the Hebbel Theater Berlin): Hermann Bäumer (conductor), RIAS Youth Orchestra Berlin. Keun-Pyo Park (Mung Tha Bya), Jochen Großmann (Ragweng), Stephan Hönig (Kyce Waing and master of ceremonies), Burkhard Schulz (executioner), Nicolai-Laurentino Klawa (beggar), Stephan Gogolka (Susulü), Dirk Marth (Tum tum ), Maximilian Schmitt (Kamadeva), Tobias Müller-Kopp (first herald), Timo Päch (second herald), Cornelia Marschall (Bangsa), Elke Sauermann (Osasa), Annekathrin Laabs (Twaïse), Esther Lee (Ratasata), Ah- Rank Lee (first Bajadere), Kira Primke (second Bajadere).
literature
- Joel Haney: Slaying the Wagnerian Monster: Hindemith, Das Nusch-Nuschi, and Musical Germanness after the Great War. In: The Journal of Musicology. Vol. 25, No. 4 (autumn 2008), pp. 339–393 ( online at JSTOR )
- Sointu Scharenberg: The unknown as a mask - with Burmese puppets against Teutonic shrines? In: Jens Knigge, Hendrikje Mautner-Obst (Ed.): Responses to Diversity. State University for Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, 2013, pp. 103–122 ( online at Pedocs )
Web links
- Das Nusch-Nuschi : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Story of Das Nusch-Nuschi at Opera-Guide Target page currently unavailable due to URL change
- Synopsis at Musirony
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Das Nusch-Nuschi at Schott Music , accessed on January 31, 2017.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Annegrit Laubenthal: Das Nusch-Nuschi. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 3: Works. Henze - Massine. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-492-02413-0 .
- ↑ a b c d Hanns-Werner Heister : Late and post-expressionism. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Music theater in the 20th century (= history of the opera. Volume 4). Laaber, 2006, ISBN 3-89007-661-0 .
- ↑ a b c d e Ulrich Schreiber : Opera guide for advanced learners. The 20th Century I. From Verdi and Wagner to Fascism. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-7618-1436-4 .
- ↑ a b Geoffrey Skelton: Nusch-Nuschi, Das. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ a b The Nusch-Nusche. In: Harenberg opera guide. 4th edition. Meyers Lexikonverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-411-76107-5 , pp. 380-381.
- ^ Kurt Pahlen : The new opera lexicon. Seehamer, Weyarn 2000, ISBN 3-934058-58-2 , p. 281.
- ↑ Sointu Scharnberg: The Unknown as a mask - with Burmese puppets against Teutonic sanctuaries? In: Jens Knigge, Hendrikje Mautner-Obst (Ed.): Responses to Diversity. State University for Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, 2013, pp. 103–122 ( online at Pedocs ).
- ↑ June 4, 1921: “Nusch-Nuschi”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ a b Paul Hindemith. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings. Zeno.org , volume 20.
Murderer, Hope of Women (Opera, 1921) | Das Nusch-Nuschi (Opera, 1921) | Sancta Susanna (opera, 1922) | The demon (dance pantomime, 1922) | Tutti Coats (Christmas Tales , 1922) | Cardillac (Opera, 1926) | There and back (sketch with music, 1927) | News from the day (opera, 1929) | Lehrstück (music theater, 1929) | We're building a city (Children's Opera, 1930) | Mathis the painter (opera, 1938) | Nobilissima visione (dance legend, 1938) | Hérodiade (orchestral recitation, 1944) | The Harmony of the World (Opera, 1957) | The Long Christmas Supper (Opera, 1961)