The Barber of Baghdad
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Barber of Baghdad |
| Shape: | Thoroughly composed |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Peter Cornelius |
| Libretto : | Peter Cornelius |
| Literary source: | Fairy tales from the Arabian Nights |
| Premiere: | December 15, 1858 |
| Place of premiere: | Weimar |
| Playing time: | about 2 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Baghdad in fairytale time |
| people | |
The Barber of Baghdad is an opera in two acts by Peter Cornelius . He also wrote the libretto himself. The world premiere took place on December 15, 1858 at the court theater in Weimar . Franz Liszt , to whom Peter Cornelius had dedicated the work, stood at the desk .
orchestra
Two flutes, a small flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, a harp, timpani, percussion and strings
action
first act
Image: Room at Nureddin
The young Nureddin is madly in love with Margiana, the beautiful daughter of Kadi. He only fears that the latter would reject him if he asked for Margiana's hand. His features only lighten up again when Bostana, a confidante of his lover, visits him and asks him to come to Kadi Mustapha's house at lunchtime; Then the Kadi would be in the mosque and he could chat with Margiana undisturbed. Nureddin feels like in seventh heaven. When leaving the house, Bostana announces that she will send her old friend, the barber Abul Hassan Ali Ebn Bekar, over so that he can bring Nureddin's beard into a more beautiful shape.
Soon the barber is in the doorway. But instead of starting work right away, he first praises himself and hits the plaster hard. He poses as an academic, doctor and chemist. The fat old man really gets on Nureddin 'nerves. When he tells him why he needs his help, Abul Hassan Ali Ebn Bekar persuades him that it would be best not to leave the house today; the stars would be unfavorable. But if it had to be, he would accompany him for his protection. Now Nureddin turns out to be the smarter one. He orders his servants to put the barber in his bed because he has a high fever. While the servants overwhelm the barber, the lover leaves the house.
Second act
Image: Kadi's women's room
Margiana is in a happy mood and waits longingly for Nureddin. Even her father joins her joyous chants, but for a different reason. He thinks his daughter is expecting Selim, his teenage friend. Just recently this Margiana sent a chest full of bridal gifts. Kadi Mustapha would love to see the two soon become a couple. May Allah grant him this wish! But now Mustapha hears the muezzin calling to prayer from the minaret, and he quickly goes to the mosque.
Nureddin was just waiting for the kadi to leave the house. Now he can enter it undisturbed. The young lovers immediately embrace and exchange tenderness. Suddenly the voice of the old barber can be heard outside the window. He was able to free himself and followed his supposed protégé. He overhears the lovers with delight. In the meantime, Bostana lies in wait to warn Margiana if her father should return home early. And this is exactly what happens! One hears the kadi chastising a slave in the hallway who dropped a valuable vase.
The barber is still standing in front of the window. He hears the slave's cry of pain and believes that his protégé Nureddin is uttering them. Because he thinks he is in great danger, he makes a noise and rushes into Margiana's room. Nureddin can no longer help himself and hides in the now empty chest. The barber believes his protégé was murdered. He quickly summons his servants and orders them to transport the chest with the corpse away. Now the Kadi arrives and thinks the barber is a robber who wants to steal the chest. An argument develops between the two old men in which they accuse each other of murder or theft. After all, the Kadi claims that the chest belongs to his daughter and that it contains her treasure. Suddenly, the Caliph of Baghdad himself appears and wants to settle the dispute. First he orders the chest to be opened. The kadi turns deathly pale when he sees the young man inside. This one seems to be passed out. Gradually, however, the spirits of life return in him. The caliph then orders the Qadi that it is now time for him to unite his daughter with the resurrected one. Reluctantly, Baba Mustapha gives his blessing to the two lovers. The caliph has taken a liking to the strange owl named Abul Hassan Ali Ebn Bakar and grants him a post in his palace. At the end everyone joins the barber's final chant: Salamaleikum!
Performance history
Cornelius had planned The Barber of Baghdad as a one-act comedy, but on the advice of Franz Liszt expanded it to two acts. Liszt later arranged the second overture for orchestra. The barber is well composed like few comic operas of this time .
At the premiere on December 15, 1858 in Weimar , Cornelius' friend and mentor Franz Liszt was at the podium. The cast was also first class, not least with the successful Wagner interpreter Rosa von Milde as Margiana and her husband Hans Feodor as Caliph. However, the idea was hissed off right from the start by opponents of Liszt and the New German School , which included the then director Franz von Dingelstedt . After this scandal, Liszt resigned his posts as opera director and court conductor and the opera was discontinued. Cornelius took the failure as an opportunity to leave Weimar. The barber was not re-performed in his lifetime. After the premiere he wrote to his sister Susanne:
“My work was given to a full house. An opposition not yet seen in the annals of Weimar faced the applause with persistent hissing right from the start; it was ordered, well-organized, appropriately distributed. It inhibited the artists' humor, but could not exert any harmful influence on the excellence of the execution. - At the end there was a fight of 10 minutes. The Grand Duke had continued applauding, but the hissers continued nonetheless. - Finally Liszt and the whole orchestra applaud. Frau von Milde pulled me out onto the stage. [...] Hoffmann von Fallersleben calls my libretto the most beautiful thing that he has ever seen, he dedicated beautiful, heartfelt verses to me and sang about Frau von Milde in the role of Margiana in a wonderful Ghazel .
Years after Cornelius' death, the Wagnerian Felix Mottl brought out an arrangement of the score that was shortened to one act and based on the late romantic ideal. The performance he directed at the court theater in Karlsruhe on February 1, 1884 was well received.
Cast of the premiere
| role | Pitch | World premiere, December 15, 1858 (conductor: Franz Liszt ) |
|---|---|---|
| Abul Hassan Ali Ebn Bekar, barber | bass | Carl Roth |
| Nureddin | tenor | Friedrich Caspari |
| Baba Mustapha, Kadi | tenor | Karl Knopp |
| Margiana | soprano | Rosa of mildness |
| Bostana | Mezzo-soprano | Miss Wolf |
| The caliph | baritone | Hans Feodor von Milde |
swell
The historical performance material of the Weimar premiere (autograph score and handwritten parts) is now in the historical sheet music of the German National Theater Weimar (as a deposit in the University Archive / Thuringian State Music Archive Weimar ).
Web links
- The Barber of Baghdad : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- libretto
- “The Barber of Baghdad” at operone
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bernhard Schuster “The Music” Volume XI, Berlin, 1904. Archive.org. Retrieved June 17, 2017.