The nightjar
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The nightjar |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Boris Blacher |
| Libretto : | Friedrich Wolf |
| Premiere: | February 22, 1948 |
| Place of premiere: | Municipal Opera in Leipzig |
| Playing time: | about an hour |
| Place and time of the action: | Suburban dance hall in a major city in the post-war period |
| people | |
Die Nachtschwalbe is a one-act opera by Boris Blacher . The composer himself called his work a "Dramatic Nocturno" . The libretto is by Friedrich Wolf . The opera premiered on February 22nd, 1948 at the City Theaters of Leipzig.
action
The opera takes place in a suburban dance hall in a major German city in the early post-war period .
The 17-year-old Nelly has been badly shaken by fate: to this day she does not know who her father is and she lost her mother at an early age. But today she wants to have fun with her friend Gerda, who is one year older than her, in a dance hall. In an arbor she meets 20-year-old Harry and immediately falls in love with him. Little does she suspect that this one is a real Luftikus. When he hangs a precious necklace around her neck, she feels very flattered, but is reminded of the fate of her mother, who died early, by her 45-year-old aunt Holzschuh, who came along as a chaperone.
Suddenly, the noise of an engine announces the approach of a police car. When the cops get out and raid, Harry is scared. He asks Nelly to flee with him. But the two do not get far. First, Nelly is arrested. Then a policeman fires a shot at the fugitive Harry, which only slightly injures the dodgy guy, so he can also be arrested.
Two police officers bring Nelly to her boss, Inspector Schmoerl. The expensive necklace immediately catches his eye, which is why he decides to interrogate the girl thoroughly. In doing so, the more he pokes at Nelly with his questions, he gradually becomes aware that his daughter is sitting across from him. For 17 years he had suppressed their existence in his mind, and it is here and under such circumstances that he has to get to know her. He remembers Nelly's mother, his first great love. Now he fears that Nelly could one day suffer the same fate as her. For him, Nelly's mother was a nightjar, a butterfly attracted by light and burned by fire.
Inspector Schmoerl orders his subordinates to drive back to the police station. When he is alone with his daughter, he thoughtfully puts his arm around her shoulder.
Staging and reception
When it premiered in Leipzig in 1948, the opera “was accompanied by outbursts of amusement ”. Another performance in front of a trade fair audience in the same year had to be canceled after tumult in the audience.
In terms of minimalism, the Nachtschwalbe resembled its cast, orchestration and space requirements as well as its low demands on the stage technology of Blacher's previous work, Die Flut (1947). While this limitation of funds was probably due to the circumstances of the immediate post-war period, the two stage works also show similarities in terms of content and style in their socio-critical themes and based on the contemporary opera . The concentration on the individual actors and soloists enabled Blacher to develop an intensive dramaturgy.
The opera did not find a permanent place in the repertoire and is only rarely played today.
Web links
- The cast and plot for Boosey & Hawkes music publisher
- Work data for Die Nachtschwalbe based on MGG with discography in Operone
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nightjar with trills . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 1948, pp. 23 f . ( online - March 13, 1948 ).
- ↑ Andrew McCredie: Boris Blacher. In: Larry Sitsky (Ed.): Music of the twentieth century avant-garde. A biocritical sourcebook. Greenwood Press, London 2002, ISBN 0-313-29689-8 , p. 74.