Chamber opera

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A chamber opera is an opera that sets itself apart from the standard works of the repertoire by a smaller number of vocal parts, a smaller cast of the orchestra or ensemble accompanying the singers, atmospheric by a more intimate character and possibly also by a shorter playing time. In scientific literature, the term is only used to refer to works that have been created since the beginning of the 20th century, but in practice the term is often also used to refer to intermezzi and Italian opera buff from the 18th century, and occasionally to works from the 19th century applied.

The term was expressly included in a work title apparently for the first time by Gustav Holst , who subtitled his composition Sāvitri from 1909 as “opera di camera”, although the term did not appear more frequently until the mid-1920s. For example, Georges Migot uses the subtitle “opéra de chambre” for Le rossignol en amour (1926). In German-speaking countries, the term is given increased presence through the “German Chamber Music” music festival in Baden-Baden , which hosted a themed evening “Chamber operas “And previously searched for corresponding works by means of an invitation to tender or suggested their composition. The compositions Tuba mirum by Gustav Kneip , Saul by Hermann Reutter and In ten minutes by Walter Gronostay were premiered on this themed evening , all of which had the subtitle “Chamber Opera”. On the other hand, the realization of the compositions Larmes de couteau by Bohuslav Martinů and Герой by Alexander Wassiljewitsch Mossolow, which had originally been accepted for the premiere, had failed . In the previous year, an entire block of programs at “Deutsche Kammermusik” was devoted to the phenomenon of short or miniature operas, but none of the works listed ( The Princess on the Pea by Ernst Toch , Die Entführung der Europa by Darius Milhaud , Mahagonny- Song play by Kurt Weill with text by Bertolt Brecht and Back and forth by Paul Hindemith ) the term “chamber opera” in the title.

In the German-speaking world, Hans Brehme used the term “chamber opera” for Der Tor und der Tod (1927/28, apparently not performed until today), Egon Wellesz for Scherz, List and Rache (premiered 1928), and Hermann Wunsch for Don Juan's son (premier 1929), and Hugo Herrmann for Gazellenhorn (premier 1929). In France, Jean Françaix gave his work Le diable boiteux, composed in 1937 but not staged for the first time in 1949, with the generic name “opéra-bouffe de chambre”. In the 1940s the term appeared twice in Boris Blacher's oeuvre , first in the Shakespeare setting Romeo and Juliet , composed in 1943/44 but not premiered until 1950 , then in the composition Die Flut , which was first broadcast on the radio in 1946 and in 1949 then experienced its scenic premiere. Even Kurt Schwaens first opera Leonce and Lena (UA 1961) is explicitly described by the composer as a chamber opera.

Milestones in the use of the term are Wolfgang Rihm's works Faust and Yorick (UA 1977) and Jakob Lenz (UA 1979); in the English-speaking world, Peter Maxwell Davies' The Martyrdom of St. Magnus (UA 1977) and The Lighthouse (UA 1980) as well as Michael Nyman's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (UA 1986). Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès (UA 1995) is not explicitly referred to as a chamber opera or "chamber opera", but is again explicitly referred to as Hunger und Durst by Violeta Dinescu (UA 1987), Nacht von Georg Friedrich Haas (staged premiere 1998), Elissa by Ruth Zechlin (premiere 2004) and Marilyn Forever by Gavin Bryars (premiere 2013) in the subtitles.

Benjamin Britten provided particularly lasting impetus for chamber opera as a sub-genre of music theater , although none of his relevant works has been given the nickname "chamber opera". However, there is consensus that The Rape of Lucretia (1946), the works that Britten composed for the traveling troupe “English Opera Group” ( Albert Herring , The Turn of the Screw ) and finally the three “Parables for Church Performance” “From the 1960s ( Curlew River , The Burning Fiery Furnace , The Prodigal Son) are to be seen as milestones of chamber opera in the broader sense.

Chamber opera ensembles in German-speaking countries

Chamber operas were or are played in German-speaking countries at permanent venues such as in Hamburg ( Allee-Theater and Opernloft ), Neuburg an der Donau , Veitshöchheim and Vienna . There are ensembles without a permanent venue that are primarily dedicated to chamber opera. a. in Augsburg , Berlin , Frankfurt am Main , Cologne and Munich . The festival in Rheinsberg , named after the chamber opera, takes place every summer.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Chamber opera, in: The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, ed. by John Warrack and Ewan West, Oxford 1992, p. 132
  2. ^ Chamber opera, in: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. by John Warrack and Ewan West, Oxford 1992, p. 132
  3. ↑ Karin Marsoner, article "Chamber Opera", in: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online, https://www.musiklexikon.ac.at/ml/musik_K/Kammeroper.xml (accessed: July 12, 2020)
  4. ^ Jon C. Mitchell: A Comprehensive Biography of Composer Gustav Holst, Lewiston 2001, p. 83
  5. ↑ Jana Hřebíková: Reception of the works of Bohuslav Martinůs in German-speaking musical life from 1923–1939, Diss. University of Leipzig and Charles University of Prague 2011, pp. 176f.
  6. ↑ Jana Hřebíková: Reception of Bohuslav Martinů's Works in German-Speaking Musical Life from 1923–1939, Diss. University of Leipzig and Charles University in Prague 2011, p. 24.
  7. ↑ Inna Barsova: Documents on repression against Aleksandr Mosolov, in music between emigration and Stalinism. Russian composers in the 1930s and 1940s, ed. by Friedrich Geiger and Eckhard John, Stuttgart & Weimar 204, p. 142, note 23
  8. ^ Arnold Whittall: Opera (i) / VI. The 20th century, in Grove Music Online 2001 ( https://www-1oxfordmusiconline-1com-10012c1yi06ce.emedia1.bsb-muenchen.de/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040726 ) , Accessed July 12, 2020