The horse trading

Operetta dates
Title:	The horse trade / A Kingdom for a Cow
Shape:	1. Version: Operetta in two acts. 2. Version: Musical play in three acts
Original language:	German
Music:	Kurt Weill
Libretto :	Robert Vambery
Premiere:	Version 1: June 18, 1994 Version 2: June 28, 1935
Place of premiere:	1st version: Volkstheater Bautzen 2nd version: Savoy Theater London
Playing time:	approx. 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action:	In the Republic of Santa Maria
people
Juanita Sanchez ( soprano ) Juan Santos ( tenor ) Leslie Jones ( baritone ) President Mendes (tenor) Ximenez (tenor) General Garcia Conchas (baritone) Emilio Sanchez ( bass baritone ) Juan's mother ( mezzo-soprano ) Madame Odette (mezzo-soprano) Bailiff (tenor) Rector (tenor) Mayor (tenor) Bimbi, eight-year-old son of the President (boy soprano) Editor (baritone) Minister of Ucqua (baritone) Girl (soprano) 3 boys (tenor, 2 baritones) 3 guests (tenor, 2 baritone) 3 soldiers (2 tenors, baritone) 2 servants (2 tenors) R W. Waterkeyn, a woman, a fat man, a servant, 3 packers, the guest, soldier, NCO, Frasquita, the fat Wanda, Yvonne, a secretary (speaking roles) Men from Santa Maria and from Ucqua, neighbors, guests, heroic group, Odette's girls, veterans, dignitaries, soldiers, citizenship, people, girls, women ( choir )

Der Kuhhandel is a two- act operetta by Kurt Weill , the first unfinished version of which was created in 1934. The text is by Robert Vambery .

Work history

The work in its original, German-language version, which was written in the first half of 1934, was not fully completed during Weill's lifetime and was also not performed. In contrast, a revised, English-language version (book: Reginald Arkell, vocal texts: Desmond Carter) under the title A Kingdom for a Cow had its world premiere as a three-act musical play at the Savoy Theater in London on June 28, 1935. This flopped, however. Weill then stopped working on horse trading , but used parts of it for other works.

Around 1970 Robert Vambery revised his libretto to the original German version. Under the direction of Lys Symonette , Weill's former répétiteur , a playable version of the operetta, which had remained fragmentary, was produced, which was published by Schott-Verlag in 1978 .

The revised version of Lys Symonette and Robert Vambery was premiered on June 18, 1994 in the Volkstheater Bautzen in the presence of Symonette and Vambery.

The horse trading is considered bolder, sharper and more satirical than A Kingdom For A Cow . At the Bregenz Festival 2004, Der Kuhhandel , revised text by Reinhard Palm , was performed in a production by David Pountney .

Instrumentation

The orchestral line-up of the operetta includes the following instruments:

• Woodwinds : two flutes (also piccolo ), oboe , two clarinets (1st also alto saxophone , 2nd also tenor saxophone ), bassoon
• Brass : horn , two trumpets , two trombones , tuba
• Timpani , drums : snare drum , bass drum , cymbals , triangle , stirring drum, three tom toms , tambourine , steel drum , gong , castanets , glockenspiel , xylophone , vibraphone
• Guitar (also banjo and bass guitar )
• harp
• Organ or harmonium (also accordion )
• Strings

Recordings

• With Lucy Peacock, Eberhard Buchner, Christian Schotenrohr, Walter Raffeiner, Udo Holdorf, Oskar Hillebrandt, Dariusz Niemirowicz, Ingeborg Most, Frederic Mayer, Renate Zimmermann, Regina Rottger, Franz Gerihsen, Heinz Heidbuchel, Josef Wagner, Gerd Grochowski , Josef Otten, Dieter Muller. Kölner Rundfunkchor , Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester , Jan Latham-Koenig (conductor). Cologne 1992 (Capriccio - C60013-1)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Josef Heinzelmann : The horse trade. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 6: Works. Spontini - Zumsteeg. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-492-02421-1 , pp. 706-709.