The Loreley (break)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Original title: | The Loreley |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Max break |
| Libretto : | Emanuel Geibel |
| Premiere: | June 14, 1863 |
| Place of premiere: | Mannheim |
| Place and time of the action: | Rhineland |
| people | |
The Loreley op. 16 is an opera by Max Bruch . The opera is an adaptation of the Loreley legend.
Emergence
Bruch's opera is based on a libretto by the poet Emanuel Geibel . This was originally intended for Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy , who, however, despite several changes by Geibel between 1845 and 1847, was dissatisfied with the text. With Mendelssohn's death in 1847, the project was finally superfluous; Mendelssohn left only three fragments.
In the following 13 years inquiries were received from numerous composers to be allowed to set the Loreley to music, which Geibel refused all. In the autumn of 1860 he finally had the libretto published. Despite a copyright notice in the book that forbade setting to music, the enthusiastic Bruch immediately wrote an opera to accompany the text. Bruch was shocked when in December 1860 his subsequent request to be allowed to set the text to music was rejected by Geibel. Mendelssohn's brother Paul saw himself unable to help Bruch.
The situation finally changed in January 1862, when Bruch was invited to Munich by Count Ludwig von Stainlein . There the count organized a meeting between Bruch and Geibel, during which Bruch played passages from his setting. On January 25, 1862, Bruch received verbal permission to set the Loreley to music , and written confirmation followed on May 1.
The opera premiered on June 14, 1863 in Mannheim.
action
first act
Count Otto happens to meet the peasant girl Lenore and falls in love with her. However, it is the eve of his wedding to Bertha, Countess von Stahleck. However, he continues to meet with Lenore and hides his identity as well as the upcoming wedding. Lenore is chosen to offer the newlyweds the ritual goblet of wine. When she recognizes Otto at the wedding and confronts him, he denies her; Leonore faints.
Second act
The shaken Lenore conjures up the Rhine spirits and promises her beauty and the ability to love for a sensuality that is capable of beguiling a man and driving him to death.
Third act
At the wedding party, Bard Reinhard sings a ballad, the hidden hints of which are increasingly worrying Count Otto. Lenore appears and beguiles Count Otto with her singing to such an extent that he challenges everyone gathered to quarrel over Lenore's hand. Bertha's uncle, the Archbishop of Mainz, appears and condemns Lenore as a witch and sets up a spiritual court. In view of what has happened, Bertha thinks of suicide. With her newfound effect on men, Lenore obtains an acquittal.
Despite all the pleading, Bertha is cursed and thrown to the ground by Count Otto, and Otto is excommunicated by the Archbishop.
Fourth act
Lenore's father, the ferryman Hubert, mourns the joy he has lost after everything that has happened. He attends Bertha's funeral, who died of a broken heart. Otto, now full of shame, pays her last respects from afar. Nevertheless, he only has Lenore in his head and wants to win her over. His efforts almost make her forgive him, but she, too, cannot avert the threatening fate. He throws himself into the river, where the Rhine spirits lay claim to him; Lenore himself is irrevocably married to the spirit of the Rhine.
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwind : two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns , three trumpets , alto trombone , tenor trombone , bass trombone , bass tuba
- Timpani , bass drum
- organ
- harp
- Strings
- Incidental music : three trumpets, bells
effect
The opera was well received at the premiere and played three more times during the season and twice in each of the following two seasons in Mannheim. Important musicians such as Clara Schumann , Anton Rubinstein and Hermann Levi attended the premiere. In addition to other German cities such as Hamburg, Leipzig and Cologne, the opera also ran abroad in Rotterdam and Prague.
In 1887 Max Staegemann performed Die Loreley in Leipzig in a modified form by rearranging or deleting individual scenes and even entire acts - with Bruch's consent. These changes were more likely to address the weaknesses in Giebel's text. The opera was performed in this form under the direction of the conductor Gustav Mahler . There were other performances in this version in Breslau, Kassel and Cologne.
In 1916 got the Loreley with Hans Pfitzner an unexpected supporters who appreciated the opera since childhood and she sat as music director of the Opera House in Strasbourg on the board. Bruch despised Pfitzner's music like that of Richard Strauss and Max Reger , but advocated a new performance of the opera, but only in the original version; Bruch meanwhile regretted having given the approval to Staegemann's changes. After the opera's premiere on March 26, 1916 and five other performances, the work fell silent again. For Bruch, however, Pfitzner's advocacy for opera had a beneficial effect.
On Bruch's hundredth birthday in 1938, parts of the opera were broadcast on the radio under Pfitzner's direction. In 1984 the United Theaters of Oberhausen and Remscheid staged a performance. The British premiere of the opera took place in February 1986 by the London University College Opera and the conductor Christopher Fifield at the Bloomsbury Theater in London.
literature
- Christopher Fifield: Max Bruch - Biography of a Composer , Swiss publishing house, 1990 Zurich, ISBN 3-7263-6616-4 , pp. 33–43
Web links
- The Loreley : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
Individual evidence
- ↑ Monika Schwarz: The Loreley. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , pp. 458-459.