The Ring of Polykrates (Opera)
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The ring of polycrates |
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| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Erich Wolfgang Korngold |
| Libretto : | Leo Feld and Julius Korngold |
| Premiere: | March 28, 1916 |
| Place of premiere: | Court Theater Munich |
| people | |
Der Ring des Polykrates , op. 7, is a cheerful opera in one act by Erich Wolfgang Korngold based on a libretto by Leo Feld revised by Julius Korngold , the composer's father, based on the stage work of the same name by Heinrich Teweles .
history
Korngold was already looking for an opera at the age of 10 and came across Heinrich Teweles' comedy “The Ring of Polykrates” based on a text by Friedrich Schiller . The young composer decided on the theme in 1913 and completed the score in 1914 . Because the work was too short to be performed on its own, it was not premiered until March 28, 1916 as the second part of the evening after Violanta , Korngold's second opera.
Orchestral line-up
3 bottles (3rd also Picc ), 2 Ob. (2nd also EH ), 2 of course . , 2 Fg. , K.Fg. , 3 Mr. , 2 Trp. , Pos. , 2 Pkn. , Schl. ( Glsp. , Xyl. , Trg. , Kl.Tr. , gr.Tr. , rods, rod , Bck. , Fanfare ), Cel. , Hrf. , Strings
Cast of the premiere
| role | Pitch | Cast for the first time March 28, 1916 (Conductor: - Bruno Walter ) |
|---|---|---|
| Wilhelm Arndt, court conductor | tenor | Karl Erb |
| Laura, his wife | soprano | Maria Ivogün |
| Florian Döblinger, timpanist and copyist | tenor | Franz Gruber |
| Lieschen, Laura's servant | soprano | |
| Peter Vogel, Wilhelm's friend | bass |
content
On an autumn afternoon in 1797 in the late 18th-century parlor in a small Saxon residence, Florian and Lieschen assure each other of their mutual marriage wish. Wilhelm and Laura, two happy married couples, are happy about Wilhelm's promotion to court conductor. Wilhelm's friend Peter Vogel, from whom papers and money were stolen on the trip, announced his visit in a letter and asked that he be released at a post office. While the guest room is being prepared for the announced visit, Laura delves into her diary, in which she recorded her short adolescent crush on Vogel.
Vogel arrives and at first only looks at the comfort of Wilhelm's apartment, realizing his misfortune. The following conversation with Wilhelm is about Vogel's bad luck and Wilhelm's luck. Vogel invokes the ballad Der Ring des Polykrates by Friedrich Schiller, in order to appease the gods to wrest a sacrifice from Wilhelm that would not even stop at his marital happiness. Wilhelm then tries to quarrel with Laura, asks about her loyalty and reproaches her, so that Laura can no longer keep her calm. Now Florian is also putting his Lieschen to the test by trying by all means to imitate his master, which Lieschen takes to be the oddities of a drunk. Wilhelm and Laura witness this imitation, which makes them aware of their mutual misunderstanding. Florian and Lieschen get permission to marry as part of the happy elucidation of this misunderstanding, while Vogel is named as a sacrifice to the gods and rudely put in front of the door as a troublemaker of happiness.
literature
- Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater , Volume 3. Works. Henze - Massine . Piper, Munich and Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-492-02413-0 ; XVIII, 796 pp., 316 f.
Individual evidence
- ^ Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater , Volume 3, p. 316 f.