The dead eyes

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Work data
Original title: The dead eyes
Original language: German
Music: Eugen d'Albert
Libretto : Hanns Heinz Ewers and Marc Henry
Premiere: March 5, 1916
Place of premiere: Dresden , Court Opera
Playing time: approx. 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Jerusalem on a Palm Sunday from sunrise to sunset in New Testament time
people

In foreplay:

In the main story:

  • Arcesius, Roman special envoy in Jerusalem (baritone)
  • Myrtocle, his wife, a Corinthian (soprano)
  • Aurelius Galba, Roman centurion, friend of Arcesius (tenor)
  • Arsinoe, Myrtocles slave, island Greek (soprano)
  • Mary of Magdala ( old )
  • The voice of Jesus (baritone, backstage)
  • Ktesiphar, Egyptian miracle doctor ( tenorbuffo )
  • Four Jewish women (three sopranos, one mezzo-soprano)
  • Cutters, slaves, slaves of Arcesius, Jewish people ( choir )

Die toten Augen is an opera by the German composer Eugen d'Albert, completed in 1913 , based on a libretto by Hanns Heinz Ewers and Marc Henry . On March 5, 1916, the piece was successfully premiered at the Dresden Court Opera with Friedrich Plaschke (Arcesius), Curt Taucher (Galba), Helena Forti (Myrtocle) and Grete Merrem-Nikisch (Arsinoe). The conductor was Fritz Reiner . - The seemingly dispensable framework story is mostly left out in the seldom performed performances today.

orchestra

Two flutes, a piccolo (also a third flute), two oboes, an English horn (or third oboe), two clarinets, a bass clarinet (or third clarinet), three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, a bass tuba, timpani, Drums, glockenspiel, harpsichord, organ, two harps and strings.

action

foreplay

Hilly, bright rural area on a summer day

The day is drawing to a close. Farmers make their way home. A shepherd notices that one of his lambs is missing. Despite the darkness, he sets out to look for it.

Only act

Square with a fountain in front of a Roman country house

Arcesius made it as far as the Roman senator. Because of his disfigured body and hard facial features, his fellow men call him ugly. Only his wife, the beautiful but blind Myrtocle, thinks he is a handsome young man. She would love to see him one day! Then she heard the news of a certain Jesus of Nazareth, who is said to have made some blind people see again. When he entered Jerusalem with his disciples, she went to see him and was healed. But Jesus prophesies that she will curse him before the sun goes down. - Myrtocle ignores these words, rushes into her house, looks at herself in the mirror and makes herself beautiful for her beloved husband ( Psyche walks through porticoes ).

Shortly afterwards, Myrtocle's husband Arcesius and Captain Aurelius Galba return from a meeting with Pontius Pilate. Galba has long been secretly in love with the classy Myrtocle. Had he not been Arcesius' best friend, he would have long since confessed to Myrtocle his desire for her. From Arsinoe, the slave of Myrtocles, the two learn of the miracle healing. This news hits Arcesius like a blow. He doesn't want to imagine how his wife will react when she sees him, "disfigured, limping, ugly and misshapen!"

When Myrtocle steps out of the house, Arcesius quickly hides behind the fountain. Galba stops and stares at Myrtocle motionless. But she believes that Galba is her beloved husband. She rushes to him and gives him a glowing hug. After initial hesitation, Galba can no longer resist his feelings. He pulls her close and hotly returns her kiss. Now it is Arcesius who is no longer able to hold on. With a cry of rage and despair, he rushes at his friend, grabs his throat with both hands, pulls him to the ground and strangles him. Then he takes flight.

Myrtocle finally learns from her slave who was murdered here and that the misshapen animal that Galba killed is her husband. Jesus' prophecy is now being fulfilled: it will curse him. She stares constantly into the evening sun until she is blinded. Arcesius returns and leads her, who now needs help again, into the house.

If the opera is performed with the prelude, a short scene follows: The shepherd has found the lost lamb and is carrying it home.

literature

Web links