Kaspar, the bassoonist, or: The magic zither

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Kaspar, the bassoonist, or: The Magic Zither is a singspiel in three acts that was premiered on June 8, 1791 at the Leopoldstadt Theater in Vienna. The libretto is by Joachim Perinet , the music by Wenzel Müller , the theater's conductor at the time.

backgrounds

The piece is a typical Perinet " Punch and Judy " in the form of a Singspiel. It belongs to the type of Viennese puppet and magic opera , which emerged in the second half of the 18th century as a non-courtly counterpart to the baroque opera. The magic posse deals with the main motif of the struggle between good and evil, as already known from the Contes des Fées by the French fairy tale writer Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy and Wieland's Dschinnistan . In Kaspar the bassoonist this fight is carried out by the fairy godmother and the evil magician. The typical fairy tale structure is, however, expanded to include the Kaspar story and the motifs of the Kasperle comedy. The machine comedy form is also newer. Perinet puts a lot of effort into the stage technology and the props, there are transformations in the open scene and spectacular, magical confrontations. The magic instruments can be seen as the main motifs.

Kaspar, the bassoonist, is strongly reminiscent of Emanuel Schikaneder 's Magic Flute, which was premiered with Mozart's music only a few months later . Both works use motifs from the story Lulu or the Magic Flute from Wieland's Dschinnistan. Since Schikaneder's text at the time of the world premiere of Kaspar, the bassoonist was not finished until the first finale and he wanted to avoid suspicion of plagiarism, he made changes at short notice. The break in the rating of the characters Sarastros and the Queen of the Night in the second act of the Magic Flute is probably due to this.

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Summary

In a “no man's land” the daughter of a powerful fairy was kidnapped by an evil magician and must be rescued . A young man receives this assignment, he sets off with his companion Kaspar and has to deal with all kinds of dangers with skill. Furthermore it are talismans spell aside, most importantly zither and Kaspars bassoon . In the end the evil forces are defeated, the young man marries the virgin and Kaspar also has a wife. Everyone is happy and happy and the fairy has her old power back.

First elevator

Armidoro, the prince of Eldorado , and Kaspar Bita, his companion, are on the hunt with their entourage. When Armidoro kills a deer with a gold collar, Perifirime, the radiant fairy, appears. Years ago, her gilded fire steel with a ghost-spitting function was stolen from her by the magician Bosphoro, as she believed she was too safe due to her powerful position. Only a young man who has never loved can bring it back to her. So she gives the prince this order and Kaspar the permission to accompany him.

The evil wizard is holding some virgins captive. One of them, Sidi, is the fairy's daughter. So that Bosphoro does not become suspicious, Perifirime gives Armidoro a magic ring. This can give it any desired external appearance. In addition, he gets a magic zither, which has the power to guide hearts through its play and to ignite or calm passions. Arriving at the wizard's palace, Armidoro takes the form of an old man and plays the zither. He tells the magician that he can tame unwilling girls with his game. Then Bosphoro lets him enter, because the virgins held captive do not develop according to his satisfaction. Kaspar, however, is not allowed in and turns to the fairy in despair. This reminds him of a magic word ("Pizichi") and when Kaspar calls it, a little genius appears. He hands him a large bassoon and advises him to play. The woman watchman Zumio is delighted and Bosphoro now also grants Kaspar entry to his palace. Kaspar is convinced that the bassoon will really enchant the girls.

second elevator

Armidoro and Kaspar are led into the girls' spinning mill. The prince falls in love with Sidi and Kaspar with Palmire, Sidi's confidante. When the prince and his companion begin to play their instruments, everyone, including the magician and the woman guard, is put into a trance, dancing and kissing. When Bosphoro and Zumio are gone, Armidoro shows his real form and now Sidi falls in love with him too. In front of the bad guys, the girls pretend they love them. But magician and Zumio become suspicious and plan to drown Armidoro and Kaspar on a boat trip with the help of evil spirits. Perifirime warns the youth, gives him a magic ball and Kaspar a magical hair. So they can save themselves and their loved ones while Bosphoro is driven ashore with the destroyed boat and Zumio falls into the water.

third elevator

Bosphoro and Zumio survive and now want to take revenge. So they plan to poison Armidoro and Kaspar while eating. But Palmire overhears the plan and warns the two good guys. The little genius Pizichi appears and explains to them how to protect themselves with their talismans. Almost everything is still blown during the meal, but Armidoro and Kaspar manage to put everyone into a deep sleep with the magic zither and bassoon. So you can take the fire steel from Bosphoro and save your girls. But the villains wake up again and want to give their enemies the poisoned drink. Then the fairy Perifirime appears and condemns the magician and the guardian of women underground for centuries. At the end the lucky ones return to their kingdom, Armidoro and Sidi become king and queen and Kaspar gets Palmire as his wife.

The comic figure of Kaspar

Kaspar no longer has so much in common with the earlier infantile Kasperle or Hanswurst , as he is known from Stranitzky , for example . In some cases he still shows typical puppet characteristics, but beyond that he can take on airs that do not correspond to his status at all. The fact that the diminutive is omitted shows the more important role of Kaspar. Perinet also replaces the family name “Larifari” with “Bita”. The jester is active in almost all scenes. He is still greedy, lazy and interested in women. But he is no longer so coarse and rude in terms of the choice of words. The comic language is an important factor in his humorous structure and at the same time helps him to shed the fearful behavior that is typical for Punch and Judy. Kaspar is still in the servant position, but appears self-confident and quick-witted. The entire built-in Kaspar story refers to Perinet's ironic relationship to the magical being.

literature

  • Eva-Maria Ernst: Between amusement and playmaker. The comic central figure at the Vienna Volkstheater in the 18th century. Edited by Peter J. Brenner, Volume 3, Literature-Culture-Media, Münster, Hamburg, London 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6730-7 .
  • Norbert Miller , Karl Riha (Ed.): Punch and Judy Theater for Adults . Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 1978.
  • Otto Rommel (Hrsg.): The machine comedy , Reclam (= baroque tradition in the Austrian-Bavarian Volkstheater 1), Leipzig 1935.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ulrich Schreiber : Opera guide for advanced learners. From the beginning to the French Revolution. 2nd Edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-7618-0899-2 , p. 490.