The wedding of the job
Work data | |
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Title: | The wedding of the job |
Shape: | Singspiel |
Original language: | German |
Music: | Joseph Haas |
Libretto : | Ludwig Strecker the Younger |
Literary source: | "Jobsiade" by Carl Arnold Kortum |
Premiere: | July 2, 1944 |
Place of premiere: | Dresden |
Playing time: | about 3 hours |
Place and time of the action: | Germany around 1800 |
people | |
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The Job's Wedding is a comic opera in four acts (eight pictures) by Joseph Haas . Ludwig Strecker the Younger wrote the libretto under the pseudonym Ludwig Andersen. It is based on the satire Life, Meyings and Deeds of Hieronymus Jobs the candidate, written by the Bochum physician Carl Arnold Kortum from 1783 to 1784 , and how he once earned a lot of fame also finally died as a night watchman in Sulzburg , called Jobsiade for short . The opera had its world premiere on July 2, 1944 at the State Opera in Dresden (today Semperoper ).
orchestra
Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, a bass tuba, a harp, large percussion and strings
action
The opera takes place in a smaller university town in southern Germany around 1800.
It is the dearest wish of the student Hieronymus Jobs to one day become a respected lawyer. He has just finished his studies; but first of all you have to pass the exam with flying colors. He is well prepared for the oral exam. He believes he can impress the professors with a fiery speech about German jurisdiction. Unfortunately, however, his plan does not work out. He fails with kettledrums and trumpets. He got into debt during his studies and could therefore urgently need a well-paid position.
The city's only pharmacist is also its mayor. But his aim is not to increase the good of the community; rather, his own interests determine his actions. He does not shy away from committing crimes. The fact that the student Hieronymus Jobs got engaged to Käthchen, the daughter of the innkeeper "Zum guten Lenchen", has long been a thorn in his side. After all, he's after the pretty lady himself. Through windy business he manages to impose an enormous debt on her mother. But that's not all: he gives the night watchman a sleeping draft that is so strong that it breathes its life into Morpheus' arms. He wants to get Jobs to accept the vacant position and marry the night watchman's widow in order to be able to pay off his debts. Then his way to Käthchen would be finally free.
But it often turns out differently: The sleeping pill was a little too weak. The night watchman comes to. In the old habit he goes out into the street and blows his horn. This calls Hieronymus Jobs on the scene. In the meantime he has discovered the insidious pharmacist and wants to take revenge on him. Jobs persuades the night watchman to join a group of students and have a drink with them. For the time being, he, Jobs, will do this tough job. And so it happens.
Jobs quickly manages to organize a mock funeral for the apparently dead night watchman. As soon as the coffin has disappeared underground, the mayor announces that the widow's wedding with Jobs can no longer be delayed. The best thing to do is to do the wedding himself. Suddenly the students come along with a big old cupboard. You open the door and who gets out? - The old, completely fluffy night watchman! When Jobs wanted to make the pharmacist's fraud public, he immediately offered to hand over his promissory note. He will also accept it if Jobs resigns from his post as night watchman. This decision is very easy for Jobst, because in the meantime the sovereign has sent his court marshal to tell him that his exam has now been passed. The speech that he gave to the examination board had delighted the regent. He really wanted to see such a capable lawyer as an official in one of his ministries.
With his chest swollen with pride, Jobs announces that he will soon marry the woman who was about to become the mayor's wife, and how he managed to prevent this. Now the whole city knows what a scoundrel its mayor is. Amidst the great laughter of the crowd, he searches the distance.
music
Although The Job's Wedding is a mid-20th century work, the music still sounds pretty romantic and is very catchy. It shows wit and humor in the right places. Sometimes you get the impression that Albert Lortzing was the godfather. The work can be called a Volksoper in the best sense of the word.