Jolanthe (opera)
| Work data | |
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| Title: | Jolanthe |
| Original title: |
Иоланта Iolanta |
Title page of the score |
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| Shape: | Lyric opera in one act |
| Original language: | Russian |
| Music: | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
| Libretto : | Modest Tchaikovsky |
| Literary source: | Henrik Hertz : Kong Renés Datter |
| Premiere: | December 6th July / December 18, 1892 greg. |
| Place of premiere: | Mariinsky Theater , Saint Petersburg |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Castle garden in Provence, 15th century |
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Jolanthe (Russian: Иоланта , Iolanta ) is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky based on a libretto by his younger brother Modest Tchaikovsky , based on Kong Renés Datter ( King René's daughter ), the play by the Danish poet Henrik Hertz . The opera has the opus number 69 and was published on December 6th . / December 18, 1892 greg. premiered at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg .
action
Princess Jolanthe lives secluded in a castle in the hilly Provence. She is blind from birth. Her father, King René, has forbidden under threat of punishment to tell her what was wrong with her. Jolanthe also doesn't know that she is a king's daughter.
In the castle garden, Jolanthe, surrounded by Martha and her friends, gives in to her sadness. She feels that something is being hidden from her. To cheer them up, the women order happy music. Jolanthe doesn't want to know anything about it. She sends her friends for flowers.
After Jolanthe fell asleep in the castle garden to the singing of a lullaby, the sound of hunting horns can be heard. Almerik, the king's new arms bearer, announces the king's arrival. Bertrand, the doorkeeper of the castle, warns against talking about the light in Jolanthe's presence or letting her know that her father is king.
King René arrives, accompanied by a Moorish doctor, Ibn-Hakia, who is supposed to heal Jolanthe. The doctor examines the sleeping princess. He thinks a cure is possible, but insists that Jolanthe must first know about her blindness and long for a cure, before treatment does not promise any success. The king firmly refuses to reveal the carefully kept secret to Jolanthe.
At nightfall, despite a clear prohibition sign, two lost knights break into the garden. They are Robert, Duke of Burgundy, to whom Jolanthe is promised, and his comrade in arms, Count Vaudémont. Robert, who does not know that Jolanthe is blind, loves another woman, Mathilde, and wants nothing more urgently than to be released from his promise of marriage. Vaudémont, however, falls in love with her on the sight of the sleeping princess. Robert is uncomfortable, he wants to take Vaudémont away by force. Jolanthe wakes up. She welcomes the knights kindly and hosts them. Robert fears a trap and sets off to fetch his troops.
Vaudémont is left alone with Jolanthe. He asks her to pick him a red rose to remind him of the lovely blush on her cheeks. She gives him a white one instead, and is also unable to tell the number of roses in the bouquet without grabbing them with her hands. Vaudémont realizes that she is blind. With pity he tells her about the beauty of light, this “wonderful first work of creation”.
The king, Ibn-Hakia, Almerik and Bertrand appear. It becomes clear that Jolanthe is no longer hiding the secret of her blindness. In desperation, the king urges that Jolanthe should now undergo treatment. She is ready to obey her father, but cannot dearly wish for what she does not know at all, as would be necessary for a promising treatment. The king threatens Vaudémont with the death penalty if his daughter fails to heal. Faced with this danger, Jolanthe announces her readiness to endure anything to save Vaudémont, whose love she returns. She goes off with the doctor.
King René tells Vaudémont that he does not want to carry out his death threat, but that it only served the purpose of making the wish for a cure deeper in Jolanthe. Vaudémont reveals his aristocratic identity to him and asks for Jolanthe's hand. But Jolanthe has already been promised to someone else.
Robert returns with his troops. He recognizes King René and bows to him. Only now does Vaudémont realize who he was looking at all the time. In spite of his love for Mathilde, Robert is ready to marry Jolanthe, who has been his childhood home, if the king insists. King René releases him from his promise and is now free to give Jolanthe Vaudémont as his wife. Ibn-Hakia and Jolanthe return. Jolantha can see. She sings about the magical world that has become visible to her. Everyone rejoices and praises God.
(The plot is largely based on the Russian Wikipedia entry.)
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : three flutes (3rd also piccolo ), two oboes , English horn , two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets , three trombones , tuba
- Timpani (two players)
- two harps
- Strings
Recordings
- 2012 (DVD): Ekaterina Scherbachenko, Pavel Černoch , conductor: Teodor Currentzis , production: Peter Sellars - Teatro Real de Madrid.
Web links
- Iolanta : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Action by Jolanthe (opera) on Opera-Guide landing page due to URL change currently not available
- Libretto (in Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexei Purin: Iolanta. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 6: Works. Spontini - Zumsteeg. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-492-02421-1 , pp. 350–352.