The devils of Loudun
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| Original title: | The devils of Loudun |
| Shape: | Opera in three acts |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Krzysztof Penderecki |
| Libretto : | Krzysztof Penderecki |
| Literary source: | The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley |
| Premiere: | 20th June 1969 |
| Place of premiere: | Hamburg |
| Place and time of the action: | Loudun in France, 1634–1635 |
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Die Teufel von Loudun is an opera by Krzysztof Penderecki , which was premiered on June 20, 1969 as a commissioned composition at the Hamburg State Opera . Penderecki wrote the libretto and music alike. The opera was given as part of the “Contemporary Music Theater” event in German under the musical direction of Henryk Czyż in a production by Konrad Swinarski . The material is based on the book of the same name by Aldous Huxley , which is based on true historical events in the French city of Loudun around the priest Urbain Grandier , in the dramatization by John Whiting and the translation into German by Erich Fried . Two days after the premiere, the work was played at the Stuttgart State Theater .
The opera is a three-act play, the acts of which are divided into several scenes.
action
1st act
Sister Jeanne sees in an apparition the image of the tortured Father Grandier on the way to the scaffold . She then begins to pray when Sister Claire comes into the room and hands Jeanne a letter in which Grandier refuses the offer to take over the spiritual care in the Ursuline convent. Jeanne tears up the letter, furious, and thinks she sees Grandier and the widow Ninon making love.
After a service under the sermon of Grandier, pharmacist Adam and surgeon Mannoury come from St. Peter's Church and scoff at Ninon when she comes across them and at Grandier. In the next scene you can see him leaving the widow after a shepherd's hour. He walks down a few streets until he comes across Adam and Mannoury, who think they recognize that he has come from a lovemaking. Later Grandier prays to God to show him the right way. Jeanne is praying in the same church, and when Grandier comes around the corner in full regalia, she screams away. Meanwhile, Adam and Mannoury agree to charge Grandier with his sinful life.
Philippe, who has long been fond of Grandier, enters the confessional and tells the father about her love for him. He pulls the girl over and begins a love adventure with her. Later, Grandier passed the city walls and supported the commandant Armagnac, who refused to tear down the walls - as requested by the royal special commissioner de Laubardemont. Adam and Mannoury keep trying to spy on Grandier, but the evidence is still pretty thin.
Jeanne informs confessor Mignon that a devil visits her at night in her cell and that he looked like Grandier. Mignon reports the incident to Adam and Mannoury and also informs the two of the fact that he has asked Father Barré, an exorcist from quinone, to come over. Laubardemont comes up and asks for more information about Grandier. Barré soon arrives and begins to interrogate Jeanne. This accuses Grandier of having seduced her.
2nd act
Jeanne continues to be interrogated and seriously incriminates Grandier. But strange voices always speak from her. She is then kidnapped for exorcision and enema . Grandier is warned by Armagnac and city judge Cerisay that Jeanne could take revenge on him, but the father does not believe the two. Jeanne is interrogated again and now says that Grandier kidnapped her and six of her sisters into the chapel with the help of six demons and forced them to hold an orgy there. Three of the nuns even claim that the demons deflowered their hymen . While Barré is firmly convinced that he has found the culprit in Grandier, Cerisay orders a stop of the exorcism, for which Grandier thanks. But Armagnac reminds everyone that the problem of removing the wall still exists.
Meanwhile, Philippe Grandier says she feels pregnant. He wants to try to find a suitable man for her.
In the meantime, the archbishop orders that the exorcisms be ended and that Barré be sent back to Chinon. When the nuns notice that Barré is gone, they ask Jeanne why it was all. She replied to her sisters that the archbishop had been informed that they were "foolish women". Armagnac is ordered to destroy the city's bulwarks and warns Grandier of the impending danger. But he is now ready for anything and ready for anything. Mignon informs Jeanne and her sisters that the archbishop's doctor, contrary to expectations, classified them as mere hysterics . Since Jeanne suddenly heard strange voices again, she wanted to undergo exorcisms again.
The ceremony is carried out in public by Barré. Jeanne and her affected sisters confirm again that they are afflicted by the devil. Prince Condé has Jeanne put a box with a relic in it, who then begins to shout: “I am free! I'm free! ”Barré puts the box back into Condé's hands, who turns it upside down and demonstrates to all those present that the container is empty. Suddenly the devil in Mignon and other people seems to be driving, whereupon the prince has the place vacated. Grandier is arrested by de Laubardemont while trying to enter the church.
3rd act
The stage is now divided into three parts. In the first, Grandier prays in the dungeon, in the second Jeanne prays in her cell, and in the third Mannoury with Adam, who are going to work in the prison. While Grandier is confessing to Father Amrose, Jeanne asks Mignon to stay with her during the night for fear of a visit from Grandier. Meanwhile, Laubardemont informs Adam and Mannoury of the Grandier conviction they are supposed to be preparing. They soon strip him, shave his bald head, and tear off his fingernails.
Lambardemont reads the death sentence for black magic , fornication and sacrilege in public . Grandier does not want to confess, just as he does not want to sign the judgment, not even when threatened with torture. While Jeanne wants to hang herself in the monastery, which some nuns are able to prevent successfully, Grandier is allowed to break his legs in the torture chamber. But that doesn't reveal any confession either. When the will to resist is admired, Barré says that the devil has meanwhile made Grandier pain resistant.
The procession begins. The martyred Grandier is first sent past the Ursuline monastery to ask Jeanne for forgiveness. But Grandier makes it clear again that he has done nothing to her or her sisters and can ask God to forgive them. Jeanne's vision of the beginning of the opera is repeated. At the place of execution, Barré tries for the last time to get Grandier to confess. But he is reluctant again and only has one last request to be kissed for peace and then to die. When Barré is about to do this, the people shout “ Judas ! Judas! ”, Whereupon, driven by anger, he snatches the torch from a soldier's hand and lights the pyre. The scenery darkens, only Jeanne can be seen remaining behind praying.
literature
- Wilhelm Zentner (Ed.): Reclam's opera guide. In: Reclams Universal Library Volume No. 6892, 32nd, revised edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-15-006892-4
- Wolfram Schwinger: Krzysztof Penderecki. Life and work. Encounters - life data - work comments. Schott, Mainz 1995, ISBN 978-3-7957-0265-6
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Opera program of the Hamburg State Opera “Contemporary Music Theater” from June 18-29, 1969, p. 140
- ↑ Oper / Penderecki: Diarrhea with success, criticism in the Spiegel from June 30, 1969