The Tsar lets himself be photographed
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Original title: | The Tsar lets himself be photographed |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Kurt Weill |
| Libretto : | Georg Kaiser |
| Premiere: | February 18, 1928 |
| Place of premiere: | Leipzig |
| Playing time: | about an hour |
| Place and time of the action: | Paris in the 19th century |
| people | |
|
|
The tsar lets himself be photographed is a comic opera ( opera buffa ) in one act by Kurt Weill (op. 21). Georg Kaiser wrote the libretto . The premiere took place on February 18, 1928 at the Leipziger Neue Theater . Another performance took place on March 25th in Altenburg, Thuringia .
Origin and history
Weill understood the one-act play “The Tsar lets himself be photographed”, his last well-composed stage work, as a contribution to the “Zeitoper” type. He considered this to be necessary in order to "finally technify the stage, to loosen up the theater in terms of form, events and feelings".
It is not known when or by whom the term “Zeitoper” was coined. Weill himself complained that it was more a catchphrase than a description. The short-lived operatic enjoyment, however, clearly belongs to the time of the Weimar Republic . It is set in the present, features present-day characters and mostly contains comical, if not satirical, acts. The aim is to achieve easy musical accessibility, which is to be achieved through the use of modern musical forms such as those found in contemporary dance music and jazz .
Kurt Weill presents his piece as “Opera buffa” and thus signals his comedic intent from the start. "This is how a political thriller with preparations for an assassination finally becomes a parody of the weird political conditions in any empire of any tsar."
After 1933 the opera was no longer allowed to be played in Germany.
action
Madame Angèle runs a well-known photo studio in Paris. An assistant and an apprentice are at her side. One day she received a phone call telling her that the Tsar of Russia would be arriving in a few minutes to have her photograph taken. While she and her co-workers make preparations, the doorbell rings and five men rush in with a wife and an underage boy who appears to be struggling. Armed, the men force Madame to let them have the studio. They tie up and gag the staff and make it into the next room. Install a shooting system in the camera and connect it to the shutter release. Apparently the gang is planning an assassination attempt on the Tsar.
The time has come: the tsar enters the studio. The men have now hid, so that the woman seems to be alone with the tsar. But he is in no hurry to be photographed. Instead, he enjoys the view of Paris from the window and wants to talk to the photographer. Finally, he also comes up with the idea of being a photographer himself before taking a picture of him. He has chosen the Madame as the object of his desire, whom he visibly likes better and better. He wants to take a picture of her back home with him. He's getting more and more intrusive and wants to kiss her. He almost believes he has reached his goal when she puts a record with “Tango Angèle” on the gramophone.
After several quarrels between the tsar and the "boss" of the studio, the gang noticed that the house was surrounded by security forces. Now there is only one goal left: to escape.
In the next room, the real Madame manages to free herself from her bonds. The police are already shaking the locked door. For fear of losing her good reputation, she should not learn anything about the unpleasant incident. Madame rushes to the camera and presses the shutter release. A deafening shot follows. Police break in and demand an explanation. Madame succeeds in convincing her with flimsy arguments that everything is quite harmless.
Incidental music
Weill had a recording of “Tango Angèle” made especially for the seduction scene, which he conducted himself. During the performance, the orchestra was tapped at the point and the record played on a gramophone. The tango soon became a popular hit after the performance.
Audio documents
- Tango Angèle. Saxophone Orchestra Dobbri . Beka B.6313-II (Matr. 34 538-2) recorded on January 11, 1928, before the first performance of the piece
- Tango Angele. Marek Weber and his orchestra. "Gramola" Record AM 1276 (Matr. BL 4015-I) (8-40 278), recorded on April 3, 1928
Note edition
- Kurt Weill: The Tsar lets himself be photographed, op. 21. Libretto / text book. Universal Edition publisher no.UE8965. ISBN 978-3-7024-2193-9
Individual evidence
- ↑ Program of the opera in Isny (PDF) , accessed on July 19, 2016.
- ↑ "Operas dealing with modern urban life and replacing the swords and spears of Wagnerian mythology with automobiles, steam trains, and telephones" is what Peter Franklin calls them: Between the Wars: Traditions, Modernisms, and the 'Little People from the Suburbs'. In: Nicholas Cook, Anthony Pople (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004, p. 194.
- ↑ “The templates for the joke are mainly provided by Weill's music. With the popular tango for Angèle, which comes from the gramphon, or the performance foxtrot for the tsar or the set pieces from waltz, bolero or march in the orchestral part. ”Joachim Lange: Failed assassinations - Zeitoper duel in Dessau. Neue Musikzeitung from February 29, 2016, accessed on July 19, 2016.
- ↑ Horst Dichanz: Between lust for murder and devotion: 24th Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau on opernnetz.de , accessed on July 19, 2016.
- ↑ In the English Wikipedia it says, mostly covered by a program booklet for performances at the University of York on March 17 and 18, 2007: “The 'Tango Angèle' was specially recorded for the first performance, and is one of the earliest examples of pre-recorded music being used on stage in a dramatic work. It was Weill's first best-selling recording. ” En: The Tsar can be photographed , accessed on July 19, 2016.
- ↑ “Post-romantic espressivo and cheeky rhythms of dance music represent the contrast between illusion and reality. The episodic choirs underline this tendency, as does the record with the 'Tango Angèle', the first gramophone solo of the Opera history. ” Program of the opera in Isny (PDF) , accessed on July 19, 2016.
- ^ "Weill wrote another work with Kaiser at this early stage The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken, which gave rise to a hit record: Tango Angèle". Kurt Weill - Composer at h2g2.com , accessed on July 19, 2016.
- ↑ Illustration of the label at schellacksender.grammophon-platten.de
- ↑ Kurt Weill: The Tsar lets himself be photographed op.21 at the Universal Edition , accessed on July 19, 2016.