Eros and Psyche
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| Title: | Eros and Psyche |
| Original title: | Eros i Psyche |
| Shape: | Opera in five pictures and an episode |
| Original language: | Polish |
| Music: | Ludomir Różycki |
| Libretto : | Jerzy Żuławski |
| Literary source: | Jerzy Żuławski: novel Eros i Psyche |
| Premiere: | March 10, 1917 |
| Place of premiere: | Wroclaw City Theater |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ¼ hours |
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First picture
Second picture
Third picture
Fourth picture
Fifth picture
General
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Eros und Psyche (Polish original title: Eros i Psyche , op. 40) is a “fantastic” opera in five pictures and a sequel by Ludomir Różycki (music) with a libretto by Jerzy Żuławski based on his staged novel Eros i Psyche from 1904. The The first performance took place on March 10, 1917 in the City Theater in Breslau in German.
action
First picture: "In Arcadia"
Blooming meadow in the shelter of high cliffs; Golden age
Nymphs enjoy their carefree life. Only the king's daughter Psyche is unhappy. She confides in her friend Hagne how much she longs for a lover. Her dreams are so intense that the god Eros personally manifests himself in the mist. He returns her love, but warns her not to recognize his identity. Only after a long life of wandering could she call it her own. Until then, he will always be invisible with her. However, when she recognizes his face the following morning through a clumsiness of her servant Blax, Eros gives her his name and says goodbye forever. Desperate, she curses Blax and begs the gods to send her back or let her die. The messenger of the gods Hermes appears and informs Psyche that she has fallen under the curse of immortality because she has looked into the face of a god. From now on she has to wander homeless through the world - only accompanied by hope and the equally banished Blax.
Second picture: "Rome"
Open portico in front of the dining room of the Roman prefect in Alexandria; at the time of Christ
A wild orgy is celebrated in the country house of Prefect Blax. Two Greeks - including Eros in the form of Arystos - complain about the harsh rule of the Romans and the increasing immorality. Blax interrupts their conversation and announces to those present that a ship is being prepared on which to end the party. Until then, the party should continue. The courtesan Laida points out that the festival is not dedicated to Mars, but to Eros. Then Psyche appears after years of wandering in ragged clothes. She introduces herself as a singer and sings a song about her search for her lover Eros. Those present laugh at her, and Laida performs her own frivolous song about Eros. Psyche is chased away. Only Blax is strangely touched for a moment by the stranger who had initially called him a servant - but he cannot remember his previous life. While the celebrants embark on the ship, an old slave comforts Psyche with the thought of Christ the Redeemer.
Third picture: "Under the Cross"
Dark cloister courtyard in Spain, enclosed by arcades; early middle ages
Psyche entered a monastery as a nun. There the porter and the abbess talk about the preparations for the reception of Bishop Blax. He had not visited the monastery since he had once sentenced the nun Placida to death. The porter suggests sending Psyche up to the tower to keep an eye out for the visitor. However, the abbess believes that the young psyche would be tempted to see the outside world. Your heart must first come to rest. A little later, Psyche confides in the monastery chaplain that when she kissed the feet of Christ, she had to think of the sun instead of the Savior. The chaplain advises her to repent and pray. The peasant girl Hanna, who was entrusted with cleaning the monastery gate, tells Psyche about the beauty of the world. She shows her a knight in golden armor approaching the monastery. Psyche recognizes in him the man from her dreams. She gets into a conflict of conscience and prays to Christ for salvation. The "Knight of the Sun" (Eros) invites Psyche to follow him in a seductive song. She tries to snatch the gate key from the porter. However, your attempt to escape fails. Bishop Blax, who has just arrived, sentenced her to life in solitary confinement in the monastery dungeon. The knight continues to sing his song.
Fourth picture: "Through blood"
Simple café in an old Parisian district, barren, smoky room; Night of September 2, 1792
On the eve of the September massacre, Psyche works as a waitress in the café. She is enthusiastic about the ideals of the revolution. Some guests have been waiting all night for the National Guard De la Roche (Eros) to receive news. Shortly after his arrival, the Ronde, a group of revolutionary citizens, also appears. They report the order to arrest all nobles and suspects. The guests join them. De la Roche passionately declares his love for the psyche who has stayed behind in the café. However, psyche can only think of her love for freedom. De la Roche tells of the castle of his ancestor, the Knight of the Sun, who also fought for justice and freedom. There he wants to live with Psyche. A large number of citizens appear with the news of victory. Psyche asks the crowd to follow her into the marketplace. The demagogue Blax incites the people further. He demands that any traitors in your own ranks first be killed before fighting the enemy. De la Roche is immediately suspected. Psyche intervenes. By pointing to the purer ideals of the revolution, she can prevent the murder. Blax leads the crowd to the "blood court". Psyche is overrun and injured. You and De la Roche recognize the violence of the crowd. Psyche falls into De la Roche's arms. She is only looking to forget.
Fifth image: "Today"
Psyche's luxurious and artistically designed salon in a major European city
Psyche is adored by men as a noble courier. She is the mistress of Hofrat Baron von Blax, a wealthy banker who pays for her financial needs. But Stefan really loves her. Psyche reveals to him that she feels her life as "empty" and hardly knows why she got involved - perhaps out of "spite". She promises Stefan a rendezvous as soon as Blax leaves. When Blax arrives shortly afterwards, the guests say goodbye. Blax points out to Psyche the many freedoms he gives her, but warns her not to go too far. Psyche angrily yells at him that she hates him and that she longs for her old freedom. Blax explains to her that this wish is an illusion that can never be fulfilled. After Psyche has calmed down somewhat, he tells her that she should accompany him to the theater in an hour. He withdraws. Stefan uses his absence to explain his love to Psyche again. He wants to save her from her situation. However, Psyche has lost its hope. Although she shares his dreams, she rejects him. Stefan leaves disappointed. Psyche is left desperate. She sees no other way out than death and sets the room on fire.
Aftermath
Look into the blessed realms
After her death, Psyche is redeemed and reunited with her lover. Eros carries a torch and now reveals himself to her as Thanatos , the god of death. "They are now an eternally inseparable couple: the blessed Psyche and Eros Thanatos, the perfecter, the divine redeeming death, in whose arms she dies blissfully shivering."
layout
In his review of the premiere in 1917, the music critic Paul Riesenfeld interpreted the meaning of the plot as follows: “One should not try to unravel the mystery of the divine in lustful curiosity, one should believe in God's miracles without examining them.” Karol Bula's entry in Piper's According to the encyclopedia of music theater , the work “represents the tension between expectation and fulfillment in mythical and historical situations.” The three main characters remain true to each other despite their different historical contexts. Psyche embodies the "expectation", Blax the "meanness" and Eros the "fulfillment". These three people also retain their musical specifics: Psyche are assigned ascending tone sequences on the violins, while Blax is assigned "rough wind chords". Apart from that, each picture has its own tonal language, which is expressed in the use of percussion and various dances and song forms. The music is oriented u. a. in the styles of verismo and impressionism and anticipates Karol Szymanowski's opera Król Roger from 1926 in the connection of the latter with dance elements . The orchestra is of central importance, and the vocal parts are closely linked to the instrumental parts. There are recitative as well as ariosis passages.
Riesenfeld judged Różycki's work as "remarkable, but unfortunately not as musical as the incidental music of his teacher Humperdinck [...] and not yet fully developed for drama." Dramatic life can only be found in the third and fourth scenes. Instead of files, according to the introduction, there are “four pictures of very different kinds, connected only by an ethical leitmotif”, but the composer hardly used this opportunity to musically identify the different peoples and times: “Picturesque chords, fine instrumental sound mixes and all those since Painting utensils of musical impressionism known for a few decades overgrow the sparse thematic structures and blur the already thin traces of linear typesetting. ”However, Riesenfeld praised the“ very beautiful ”choir of Psyche's playmates in the first picture. In the second picture (Rome) he particularly liked the Roman bacchanal indicated in the orchestra, the Eros song of the Greek woman and the effective reference to the Redeemer. The third picture (monastery) achieved a "certain solemnity with the aid of the organ and through the contrast of ascetic nuns' music to the secularly tempting lyrics of the sun knight." The fourth picture (French Revolution) remained "musically strangely sterile", but it should be recognized that Różycki only hinted at the Marseillaise and did not use it for “cheap noise effects”. The fifth picture, playing in the present, does not adequately represent the “sophisticated nature […] of today's youth and age” despite “some musical elegance and a modern waltz”, and the final apotheosis is lacking in “holy greatness”.
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : three flutes (2nd and 3rd also Piccolo ), two oboes , English horn , two clarinets , bass clarinet , three bassoons (3rd also contrabassoon)
- Brass : four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba
- Timpani , percussion : large drum , small drum , triangle , large cymbal , small cymbal, castanets , tambourine , glockenspiel
- Celesta
- two harps
- Strings
- Incidental music : trumpet, two harps, organ , piano , bell
Work history
The composer Ludomir Różycki (a student of Engelbert Humperdinck and Antonín Dvořák ) saw a staged performance of Jerzy Żuławski's 1904 novel Eros i Psyche in Lemberg in 1911 . After the two met in Berlin in 1914, the author created a libretto version of the book that same year. Różycki also began with the first sketches of the composition and finished it in October 1916. As early as December 1915, fragments from it were played at a Berlin portrait concert. Thereupon Woldemar Runge, artistic director from Wroclaw, decided to premiere the opera at the Wroclaw City Theater . It was the first opera by a Polish composer to be played there.
The first performance took place on March 10, 1917 in German in a translation by Stefania Goldenring and Felicitas Leo (née Krause). Runge directed it himself. The conductor was Julius Prüwer . The singers included the soprano Elise von Catopol (Psyche), the tenor John Gläser (Eros), the baritone Wilhelm Rode (Blax) and the bass Martin Abendroth .
In April 1917 the opera was also performed in Poznan. The following year there was the first Polish production at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw (director: Henryk Kowalski, conductor: Bolesław Wallek-Walewski ; singers: Maria Moscisca, Waclaw Brzezifiski, Adam Dobosz). There were further performances in 1919 in Bremen, Mannheim and Stuttgart, 1923 in Osijek, 1927 in Laibach, 1928 in Lemberg and 1936 in Stockholm. After the war she was u. a. 1963 in Poznan (director: Maryna Broniewska, conductor: Robert Satanowski ) and 1978 in Warsaw.
On October 13, 2017, the work was revived by Teatr Wielki from Warsaw and made available as a video on the Internet as part of Operavision .
Recordings
- October 1978 - Antoni Wicherek (conductor), Orchestra and Choir of the Warsaw Opera House .
Hanna Lisowska (Psyche), Józef Figas (Eros / Arystos / Ritter / De la Roche / Stefan), Jan Czekay (Blax), Włodzimierz Denysenko (Hermes / Charmion / landlord / Alfred), Anna Malewicz-Madey (Hagne / Laida / porter ).
Live from Warsaw.
Muza SX 1704-6 (3 LPs). - October 13, 2017 - Grzegorz Nowak (conductor), Barbara Wysocka (staging), Barbara Hanicka (stage), Julia Kornacka (costumes), Bartosz Nalazek (lighting), orchestra and choir of Teatr Wielki Warsaw .
Joanna Freszel (Psyche), Tadeusz Szlenkier (Eros / Arystos / Fahrender Ritter / De la Roche / Stefan), Mikołaj Zalasiński (Blax), Wanda Franek (Arete / Ksieni), Wojtek Gierlach (Hermes / Old Slave / Chaplain / Landlord / Hugo ), Anna Bernacka (Hagne / Laida / porter), Aleksandra Orłowska-Jabłońska (Hedone / Hanna), Adam Kruszewski (Charmion / first guest / Albert), Grzegorz Szostak (old Greek / second guest / Paul), Mateusz Zajdel (knight / Boy / Tolo).
Video; live from the Teatr Wielki Warsaw.
Video stream on Operavision.
Web links
- Work data for Eros i Psyche based on the MGG with discography at Operone
- Eros & Psyche Polish National Opera. Video on Operavision, available until August 20, 2018
- Paul Riesenfeld: Eros L. v. Rozycki: "Eros and Psyche". Review of the premiere. In: Neue Musik-Zeitung 38, year 1917, p. 206 f.
- Trailer of the Warsaw production from 2017 on YouTube
- Interviews with contributors from the 2017 Warsaw production on YouTube
- Michael Ernst: Great cinema for a forgotten opera. Review of the Warsaw production from 2017. In: Neue Musikzeitung , November 4, 2017
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Paul Riesenfeld: L. v. Rozycki: "Eros and Psyche". Review of the premiere. In: Neue Musik-Zeitung 38, year 1917, p. 206 f.
- ↑ a b c d e Karol Bula: Eros and Psyche. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 5: Works. Piccinni - Spontini. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-492-02415-7 , pp. 468-469.
- ↑ a b c Ulrich Schreiber : Opera guide for advanced learners. The 20th century III. Eastern and Northern Europe, branch lines on the main route, intercontinental distribution. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-7618-1859-9 , pp. 167–168.
- ↑ a b Volker Tarnow: No luck, nowhere. In: Opernwelt , December 2017, p. 22.
- ↑ March 10, 1917: “Eros i Psyche”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ^ Eros and Psyche: Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa in the program of the Warsaw National Opera, accessed on May 15, 2018.
- ↑ Ludomir Rózycki. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005, p. 16092.
- ↑ Karsten Steiger: Opera discography. Directory of all audio and video recordings. 2nd, fully updated and expanded task. KG Sauer, Munich 2008/2011, ISBN 978-3-598-11784-8 , p. 419.
- ^ Eros & Psyche Polish National Opera. Video on Operavision, accessed May 14, 2018.