Empress Josephine
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| Original title: | Empress Josephine |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Emmerich Kálmán |
| Libretto : | Paul Knepler , Géza Herczeg |
| Premiere: | January 18, 1936 |
| Place of premiere: | Zurich City Theater |
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Kaiserin Josephine is an operetta in eight pictures by Emmerich Kálmán . The German libretto was written by Paul Knepler and Géza Herczeg . The first performance took place on January 18, 1936 at the Zurich City Theater.
action
The plot of this operetta focuses on the development of the relationship between the French Emperor Napoleon I and his first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais . The story begins with a fortune teller's prophecy that Josephine would one day become empress. In the second picture, the then General Napoleon and Josephine meet for the first time at a reception. Napoleon is immediately enthusiastic about her, while she pays him no further attention. In the third picture, Eugen, Josephine's son from their first marriage, is imprisoned for a minor offense. Josephine asks Napoleon to release her son. The general takes advantage of this situation and asks Josephine to come to him personally and ask for Eugen's release. This plan works and in the fourth picture the two get married. Then Napoleon returns to his troops in the field. Meanwhile, Josephine enjoys social life in Paris. It does not respond to a request of Napoleon to come to him. Instead, she flirts with other men, including Hippolyte Charles. (Fifth picture). Then Josephine travels after Napoleon after all. The general does not agree to her request to promote Hippolythe's career. Instead, out of jealousy, he is portrayed as a coward and falls out of favor. (Sixth picture). In the seventh picture, Napoleon has become the first consul of the French Republic. At first he stays away from Josephine out of annoyance. But then the couple find their way back together. Finally, the eighth picture deals with the imperial coronation of Napoleon and Josephine. The fortune teller's prophecy has thus come true and the operetta ends with a happy ending. (The historical end of the relationship, namely the couple's divorce a few years later, is not mentioned).
reception
Empress Josephine is a belated historical operetta. Franz Lehár had already published similar works with Paganini , Leo Fall with Madame Pompadour and Theo Mackeben with his adaptation of the Millöck operetta Die Dubarry . All of these works were created before Empress Josephine . What these works have in common is the thematization of historical personalities, although the historical truth was not always taken too strictly. Kálmán's operetta came far too late. The cited previous works were still well received by the audience in terms of plot in their time. By the time Empress Josephine appeared, the film industry had long since taken over the treatment of historical subjects and people. For this reason alone, the starting conditions for this operetta were extremely bad. In addition, the composer, whose music is undoubtedly not bad, tried to approach the form of the opera with this work. Ultimately, a kind of hybrid emerged between the Great Singing Operetta and the Revue. In addition, the textbook was dramatically inconclusive. The biggest problem for the survival of this operetta, however, was the political situation at that time. The work was first staged in Zurich in 1936. At this point in time, all of Kálmán's works had long since been banned in National Socialist Germany because he was a Jew. The same fate met the composer and with him his works two years later in Austria. After the war, almost all of Kálmán's works returned to the stage. However, only Die Csárdásfürstin and Countess Mariza had great and lasting success . Empress Josephine gradually disappeared from the theater schedules from the mid-1950s. The work is only played occasionally. Individual numbers are still in concert programs today.
Music numbers
The following music numbers are taken from the CD from 2018 listed below, which also correspond to the score:
No. 1 song: Schöne Marquise, poor Marquise (Marion, Juliette, Josephine)
No. 2 Finale First picture: My heart is beating (Josephine, Juliette, Marion)
No. 3 dance scene: Love and the sparkling champagne wine (choir)
No. 4 song: Love sings its magic song (Bonaparte)
No. 5 Finaletto: Love and sparkling champagne wine (Josephine, Bonaparte, Charles, Barras, Chor)
No. 5a melodrama: I was born under the southern sun (Josephine)
No. 6 Duet: Little girl take me by the hand (Juliette, Bernard)
No. 7 song: You are the woman (Bonaparte)
No. 7a Finaletto: Don't you want to stay here yet (Josephine Bonaparte)
No. 8 Duet: Today I want to kiss you (Juliette, Bernard)
No. 9 Finale Fourth picture: Thank you, dear friends ... A day full of joy and bliss (everyone)
. No. 10 song: Come, O come to me (Bonaparte) as letter song known
No. 11 My dream, my dream (Josephine)
No. 12 Ballet and Ensemble (all)
No. 13 Melodrama and Finaletto: Bourienne, finally! (Bonaparte, Bouriennne and Berthier)
No. 14 song: women are like delicacies (Bernard)
No. 15 song: The day is beautiful (Bonaparte)
No. 15a Reminiscence: Today I want to kiss you (Juliette, Bernard)
No. 16 Finale, sixth picture: And this is now the hour (Bonaparte, Josephine, choir)
No. 17 Musical scene: Just one thought at a time (Josephine)
No. 17a Melodrama: You are the woman my heart longs for (Josephine, Bonaparte)
No. 18 Coronation scene and finale: Happy as never, I bend my knee (Josephine, choir)
Sound carrier
In 2018 the label CPO released a double CD of the operetta that had been recorded in the previous year. The Franz Lehár Orchestra and the choir of the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl played and sang under the overall direction of Marius Burkert. As soloists there were many others: Vincent Schirrmacher , Miriam Portman, Constantin Zeiler and Paul Schmitzberger.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Andrew Lamb. "Kálmán, Emmerich", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed Feb 11 2008)