The hellish gold
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The hellish gold |
| Original title: | The hellish gold |
| Shape: | Singspiel |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Julius Bittner |
| Libretto : | Julius Bittner |
| Premiere: | October 15, 1916 |
| Place of premiere: | Darmstadt |
| Playing time: | approx. 75 minutes |
| Place and time of the action: | somewhere and at some point |
| people | |
Höllisch Gold is a late romantic opera in one act by Julius Bittner , who, as with almost all of his works, was his own librettist here . The work was first performed on October 15, 1916 in Darmstadt. Nowadays the work is largely forgotten; but during the composer's lifetime it was played on numerous stages in German-speaking countries. None of his other operas achieved such success.
action
The opera takes place somewhere and at some point at a crossroads with a miraculous image.
The ruler of hell has sent one of his young devils to earth to win a pure soul for the underworld. So that his project would be successful, he gave him a sack full of gold. Of course, the devil should not be recognized as such. He therefore comes in the form of a hunter. The first thing he meets is an old woman. When he asks her to help him and promises her gold in return, the old woman shows herself ready to be of service to him.
Immediately afterwards a younger woman appears before the image of grace. She begs the Madonna to help her husband because he is in dire straits. He was deeply in debt, and the creditor is demanding extremely high interest that neither she nor her husband can pay. Totally unexpectedly, Ephraim, the son of the financier, approaches and brings the woman his mother's inheritance. He explains to her that this is thanks for the fact that she was the only one in the village to always treat him with dignity, whereas the other villagers always ridiculed him as a Jewish boy. The woman kisses the boy's forehead, visibly relieved by the warm cash blessing. Her husband, who appears at this very moment, sees this and becomes jealous. To make matters worse, the old woman knows how to drive his jealousy to a frenzy by making him believe that his wife has a love affair with Ephraim. The man pulls out a knife and rushes towards his wife. Just in time she can flee behind the dry thorn bush at the miraculous image. Then a miracle happens: the bush begins to green and bloom. Now the man realizes that his wife has a pure soul and has not been unfaithful to him. While the couple are reconciled, the devil goes to hell with the old woman.
music
Like his compatriot Wilhelm Kienzl with the Evangelimann and the Alsatian Victor Ernst Nessler with his trumpeter von Säckingen , Julius Bittner strove for the folk opera type: to combine a transparent plot with folk-song melodies. This makes access to the work very easy.