Lear (opera)
| Work data | |
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| Title: | Lear |
| Shape: | Opera in two parts |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Aribert Reimann |
| Libretto : | Claus H. Henneberg |
| Literary source: | William Shakespeare : King Lear , German by Johann Joachim Eschenburg |
| Premiere: | July 9, 1978 |
| Place of premiere: | National Theater Munich |
| Playing time: | approx. 2½ hours |
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Lear is an opera in two parts. The music is by Aribert Reimann , the libretto by Claus H. Henneberg (based on Johann Joachim Eschenburg's translation of William Shakespeare's King Lear ). The world premiere took place on July 9, 1978 in the National Theater in Munich ; Gerd Albrecht was the musical director and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle directed . The suggestion to design the Lear material as an opera came from Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , who also took on the title role at the premiere. Lear is one of the most successful German operas of the 20th century and quickly advanced to become a classic of the avant-garde.
The score is largely designed in a well- composed form . The two parts consist of individual scenes, which, however, merge into one another without pauses.
action
First part
King Lear wants to withdraw from the affairs of government and divide the empire between his daughters Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. However, he links the division to a public declaration of love. While the two older daughters follow this request verbatim, the youngest daughter, Cordelia, decides to keep silent. Lear considers them ungrateful, disinherited and disowned them. She leaves England as the wife of the King of France. Their inheritance goes to Goneril and Regan. The Earl of Kent is ostracized when he tries to convince Lear of the folly of his decision. Edmund, Count Gloster's illegitimate son, succeeds in persuading his father, with an intrigue of letters, to cast his legitimate son Edgar out. Edgar flees into the heather. Instead of letting Lear spend the rest of his life in peace, Goneril and Regan urge the father to dismiss his entourage. Lear refuses and is chased away. Accompanied only by the disguised Kent and the fool, Lear wanders in progressive madness through the stormy heather. There he meets Edgar, who pretends to be "poor Tom". Gloster, who has followed Lear into the heather, brings him to Dover.
Second part
Because Gloster is still by Lear, Regan and her husband Cornwall tear his eyes out. Goneril makes Edmund her general and her lover. Meanwhile, the French army has landed in Dover to restore Lear and Cordelia to power. In the French army camp, Cordelia complains about her father, whose madness she learned about. Blind Gloster lets his son Edgar, whom he does not recognize, lead him to the coast to plunge into his death. The son prevents the father's suicide. Lear is taken to the French camp and there meets Cordelia, who is looking after him. Edmund defeated the French army and captured Lear and Cordelia. He orders Cordelia to be killed. The sisters fight for power. Regan is poisoned by Goneril. Edgar challenges his brother to a duel and kills him in the process. Goneril, who thinks everything is lost, stabs herself. Lear appears with Cordelia's body. He dies in despair.
Orchestral line-up
3 flutes (also 3 piccoli , 3rd also bass flute), 1 alto flute, 2 oboes , 1 English horn , 2 clarinets (2nd also E flat clarinet), 1 bass clarinet , 2 bassoons , 1 contrabassoon - 6 horns , 4 trumpets , 3 trombones , 1 tuba - timpani , percussion (5 bongos , 5 tom toms , 5 temple blocks , 3 slit drums , 1 beater drum, 1 snare drum , 1 bass drum , cymbals , 4 high and 3 low gongs , 4 tamtams , hanging bronze plates, metal foil, metal block, Wooden barrel) - 2 harps - Strings : 24 violins , 10 violas , 8 cellos , 6 double basses
Recordings / sound carriers
- 1978: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , Karl Helm, Hans Wilbrink, Georg Paskuda , Richard Holm , Hans Günter Nöcker , David Knutson , Werner Götz , Helga Dernesch , Colette Lorand , Júlia Várady , Rolf Boysen , Markus Goritzki, Gerhard Auer; Bavarian State Orchestra , Bavarian State Opera Choir ; Gerd Albrecht , Dir. Deutsche Grammophon 463 480-2
- 2008: Wolfgang Koch , Magnus Baldvinsson, Dietrich Volle, Michael McCown, Hans-Jürgen Lazar, Johannes Martin Kränzle , Martin Wölfel , Frank van Aken , Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, Caroline Whisnant, Britta Stallmeister; Frankfurt Museum Orchestra , Frankfurt Opera Choir , Sebastian Weigle , cond. Oehms classics OC 921
literature
- Klaus Schultz (Ed.): Aribert Reimann's ›Lear‹. Way of a new opera. dtv , Munich 1984, ISBN 3-423-10152-0 .
