The funny Nibelungs

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Work data
Original title: The funny Nibelungs
Original language: German
Music: Oscar Straus
Libretto : Rideamus
Premiere: November 12, 1904
Place of premiere: Carl Theater

The funny Nibelungen is a " burlesque operetta " in three acts with music by Oscar Straus and the text by Rideamus (pseudonym of Fritz Oliven ). The premiere took place on November 12, 1904 at the Carl-Theater in Vienna . It was the first major operetta success for Oscar Straus after failed attempts at a touring theater. Today the rights are held by Felix Bloch Erben GmbH & Ko. KG .

background

Since the founding of the empire , German hero figures and above all the Nibelungenlied experienced a real boom. They served as identification figures for the new state. Several retellings and theatrical versions of the Nibelungenlied appeared, including the play Die Nibelungen by Friedrich Hebbel and the opera tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner .

Rideamus and Straus created a parody of the Wilhelmine ideas of heroism in the form of an operetta. The plot is greatly simplified in an amusing way: Siegfried is a sparkling wine manufacturer, and the epic plot is transformed into drama with slapstick-like drama. In the end, Kriemhild and Brunhilde have to share their Siegfried. Musically, Straus makes parodic references to Wagner in some places, but otherwise remains in the musical language of the operetta.

The artistic models are Jacques Offenbach's French parodies of antiquities such as The Beautiful Helena (1864). The funny Nibelungs are a special case: parodies and travesties of well-known plays and operas are rare in Viennese operettas . On the other hand, they were extremely common in the older Viennese folk comedy , which was later no longer regarded as modern , such as Johann Nestroy's late parody of Wagner's Tannhäuser (1857).

consequences

The operetta repeatedly provoked protests from German national circles, for example at a performance in Graz in 1906, which was canceled by fraternity members . In 1911 it was played with success in the Theater des Westens Berlin.

The operetta was banned during the Nazi era and then fell into oblivion. It was only performed regularly since the 1970s.

style

The operetta is composed in the style of the turn of the century and consists of waltzes, marches and couplets .

Music track

1st act

  • Overture
  • He looks so lousy - Ensemble
  • Gunther grew up in Isenlande
  • You don't have to be that romantic - ensemble
  • Kriemhilden once dreamed - Kriemhild, Ensemble
  • I brought it to high school - Siegfried, Ensemble
  • Once I had money and goods - Siegfried, Ensemble
  • Hey, madam, have the honor! - Siegfried, Kriemhild, ensemble
  • Cross-million-thunderstorm! - Brunhilde, Gunther, ensemble
  • Hail, King Gunther! - Ensemble
  • Stretching of Old Burgundy - Ensemble

2nd act

  • Oh, that was a nice wedding! - Ensemble
  • Now that the night invites you to sweet rest - Kriemhild, Siegfried
  • Brunhilde, open up! - Gunther, Brunhilde, Siegfried, ensemble
  • Oh! Hagen, do me the only favor - Gunther, Ensemble

3rd act

  • Well, let's murder Siegfried - Ensemble
  • I took a bath - Siegfried
  • She looks so rotten - Siegfried, Brunhilde, Vogel
  • He injured Brunhilde - Ensemble

admission

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Presto Classical: Straus, O: Die Lustigen Nibelungen (The Merry Nibelungs) , accessed on November 12, 2016.