The Bajadere (operetta)
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Original title: | The Bajadere |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Emmerich Kálmán |
| Libretto : | Julius Brammer , Alfred Grünwald |
| Premiere: | December 23, 1921 |
| Place of premiere: | Carltheater |
| Place and time of the action: | Paris, 1920s |
| people | |
The Bajadere is an operetta in three acts by the composer Emmerich Kálmán and the librettists Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald . The premiere took place on December 23, 1921 in the Carltheater in Vienna .
action
Theater director d'Ouvert has the famous singer Odette under contract. She is now to sing the main role in the house's new operetta entitled Die Bajadere . On this occasion, the guest of honor at the premiere, Prince Radjami, gets to know the singer. He falls in love with her and is even thinking of getting married, even if he has long been engaged in his homeland in India. He invites Odette over to him and bets her that, with the help of his alleged hypnotic abilities, she will get her to the point that she in turn falls in love with him and confirms this in writing. Odette accepts the bet and pretends to accept the prince's advances. She just wants to teach him one lesson. The prince continues to pull out all the stops and even arranges a wedding ceremony. Odette plays along until the penultimate moment and then snubs the prince at the very last moment by refusing to consent to the wedding. The prince is disappointed, but continues to attend every performance of the operetta Die Bajadere to be close to his still adored people. She has actually fallen in love with him, but does not admit it. So the two languished for weeks. Finally, the theater director uses a ruse that eventually brings Odette and the prince together. In addition to this main storyline, there is also a subplot between Marietta, her husband Louis Philipp and Napoleon St. Cloche. Marietta gets divorced and marries Napoleon. But later she regrets this step again.
reception
Emmerich Kálmán regarded this operetta as the work of all his stage works that comes closest to the opera. This statement is confirmed by his daughter Yvonne Kálmán in the booklet of the CD mentioned below. In fact, many parts of the operetta are designed like operas. Today, however, the operetta is rarely performed. One reason for this is probably the oversupply of operettas in the 1920s and 1930s, when the works of the leading composers of the time pushed each other off the repertoire. In Emmerich Kálmán's case, this operetta, like all of his works, was banned during the Nazi era.
Sound carrier
The CPO label released a complete recording of the work on 2 CDs. The WDR Funkhausorchester Köln and the WDR Rundfunkchor Köln played and sang under the direction of Richard Bonynge . The soloists included: Heike Susanne Daum, Rainer Trost , Anke Vondung and Stephan Genz .
Music numbers
The following music numbers can be heard on the complete recording mentioned above, which also correspond to the score:
No. 1 Lovely was the first act
No. 2 Duet: To be loyal
No. 2 ½ Musical performance and melodrama: Mercie Bien
No. 3 ensemble and song: Your will be me forever
No. 4 Ensemble and Entree of Odette: The second act was charming
No. 5 duet: lotus flower, I love you
No. 6 Duet: It's lovely after hard work
No. 7 Finale I: I won't ...
No. 8 Introduction; Dance and song foxtrot: Oh champagne, lock us in the kingdom of heaven
No. 8a: Song: Dance with me
No. 9 Musical scene and duet: You, you, you should be the happiness of my soul now
No. 10 Duet: Arc lamps glisten through the winter afternoon
No. 11 Terzett: Well, isn't she a sweet darling
No. 12 Duet: Because we often love the man
No. 13 Finale II: How, the prince wants to get married today
No. 14 Introduction 3rd act and melodrama: The small bar
No. 15 Duet: Do you want to be chic and modern these days
No. 15 ½ Musical scene: lotus flower I love you
No. 16 song: When I recently stood ...
No. . 16 ½ reminiscence: Well, isn't she a sweet darling
No. 17 Finale III: Oh Bajadere, come on, be mine