The brave soldier
| Work data | |
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| Title: | The brave soldier |
Title page of the music book for the Trilala Waltz |
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| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Oscar Straus |
| Libretto : | Rudolf Bernauer and Leopold Jacobson |
| Literary source: | Heroes of George Bernhard Shaw |
| Premiere: | November 14, 1908 |
| Place of premiere: | Vienna |
| Place and time of the action: | Bulgaria around 1886 |
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The brave soldier (alternative title: The Praline Soldier ) is an operetta in three acts by Oscar Straus . The libretto was written by Rudolf Bernauer and Leopold Jacobson . It is based on the comedy Helden (original: Arms and the Man ) by the Irish - English playwright George Bernhard Shaw . The work had its world premiere on November 14, 1908 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna . It was so successful that the book was translated into other languages as well. For example, it came on stage in the English-speaking area under the title The Chocolate Soldier and in the French-speaking area as Le soldat de chocolat .
action
place and time
The operetta is set in a small Bulgarian town during the Serbian-Bulgarian War and shortly after its end (1886).
first act
Image: Bedroom in the Popoff family villa
Boredom has spread in the Popoff's house since Aurelia's husband Kasimir and Nadina's fiance Alexius Spiridoff went to war against the Serbs almost a year ago. But tonight there seems to be a change in the dreary situation. Nadina is about to go to bed when a stranger in a Serbian uniform walks into her room. He poses as Bumerli, a Swiss businessman who supplies the soldiers with materials. As a result of an embarrassing incident, he was put into a Serbian uniform and was therefore persecuted as an alleged enemy. Nadina immediately takes a liking to the young man and offers him a place to hide. To satisfy his greatest hunger, she serves him a box of pralines.
Suddenly, Nadina's mother and the housekeeper Mascha enter the bedroom. The two are very beside themselves because a troop of soldiers has set about searching the house to find an escaped prisoner of war. It is a stroke of luck for Bumerli that the leader of the squad, Captain Massakroff, turns out to be a fool. In this way, the soldiers fail to find the fugitive. After they have left, Nadina introduces the stranger to her mother and Mascha. All three enjoy the welcome change, entertain Bumerli in abundance and even give him Kasimir's elegant dressing gown, so that from now on he can move around the country as a civilian again.
Second act
Image: In the garden of the villa
The Principality of Bulgaria won the war; the victorious heroes Kasimir Popoff and Alexius Spiridoff return home. The colonel tells the women that on the edge of a battle he met a likeable Swiss who had managed an adventurous escape. It doesn't take long for this one to appear. The longing for Nadina drove him back. As a pretext he states that he only wants to bring back the colonel's dressing gown. In his pockets there are two photographs, one of Nadina and one of Mascha. Both girls put it in the chocolate soldier's pockets as a souvenir with a personal dedication, without the latter noticing. So that the landlord does not find out about it, every girl quickly and secretly fetches "her" picture back to give it to the Swiss when the opportunity arises. When Bumerli is briefly alone with Nadina, she pulls her supposed picture out of her pocket and realizes that it shows Mascha. So the serious destroyer also dealt with her! She hurries away furiously.
Mascha was no different after she discovered the photo of her rival. It just doesn't make them angry, it fills them with joy. Her heart has been beating for Nadina's groom for some time, and the picture is supposed to help her relax him. When the happy homecoming of the two soldiers is celebrated in the garden, she promptly holds the Corpus Delicti in front of Spiridoff's nose. She is surprised to find that he doesn't seem to care. He willingly accepts Masha's advances. When Nadina then notices what is going on behind her back, she declares her engagement as dissolved.
Third act
Image: Living room in Popoff's villa
The beautiful Bulgarian just doesn't want to get Bumerli out of her mind. He visits her a third time and assures her that nothing has ever happened between him and Mascha. Nadina believes him. But suddenly she gets a new stab in the heart when Massakroff brings her lover a letter from Spiridoff that challenges him to a duel. Bumerli doesn't hesitate and declares himself ready for a duel. But now Spiridoff's heart is sinking in his pants. He hadn't believed that the Swiss wimp would get that far. It is thanks to Nadina's father that the emergency does not materialize. He wants a peaceful solution and asks Bumerli to marry his daughter. With that he runs into the Swiss only open doors; because nothing would be better for him. When the Popoffs found out that Bumerli's father owns an entire hotel chain, the praline soldier is twice as welcome as their son-in-law.
Musical highlights
- Because barbarians, yes barbarians are the Bulgarians in war (ensemble)
- Three women sat by the hearth (trio)
- Tiralala, tiralala, do you understand (waltz)
- Come on, hero of my dreams (song of Nadina)
- Because life is sweet and warm (duet between Nadina and Bumerli)
- Pardon, pardon, pardon (waltz)
literature
- Anton Würz: Reclam's operetta guide . 23rd edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-15-010512-9 .
See also
- In 1958 the play was filmed under the same title with OW Fischer as Captain Bluntschli and with Liselotte Pulver as Raina , see Heroes (film) .
- In 1972 Udo Juergens wrote a musical with the title: Helden, Helden , which was also based on George Bernard Shaw's play " Helden " (English original title: "Arms and the Man" ). It premiered in 1973 in Vienna with Michael Heltau in the leading role.