Love chains
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Love chains |
Title page of the score, 1912 |
|
| Shape: | Opera in three acts |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Eugen d'Albert |
| Libretto : | Rudolf Lothar |
| Premiere: | November 12, 1912 |
| Place of premiere: | Volksoper Vienna |
| Place and time of the action: | in a Breton fishing village around 1830 |
| people | |
Love chains is an opera in three acts by the composer Eugen d'Albert . Rudolf Lothar wrote the libretto based on the literary model La filla del mar by Àngel Guimerà . The world premiere took place on November 12, 1912 at the Volksoper in Vienna . A new version of this work was shown for the first time on March 8, 1918 at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin .
action
First elevator
The rocky seashore, the village church and to the left of it the inn
The pilot commander Peter Martin is young, handsome and fun-loving. Last year he loved Caterina and this year he fell in love with Marion, the wife of the host Noel. Marion, young and pretty, has nothing against an affair with Peter Martin; but she is afraid of her jealous husband. In order to dispel his suspicions, she persuades Peter Martin to appear to be in love with Sadika. Sadika is a young Turkish woman who was the only survivor who survived a shipwreck years ago and has lived with Noel and Marion since then.
The rich merchant Balthasar was a witness of this misfortune at the time. Since then he has been coming to the village regularly to do business with the fishermen. At first Peter Martin refuses to agree to Marion's plan, but when he has spoken to Sadika, he accepts. In order to get to know Sadika better, he also takes her out to sea to fish.
second elevator
Taproom of the inn
Marion has achieved her goal. Peter Martin has been coming to her every night for 14 days, but the whole village - especially Noel - thinks he is sneaking up on Sadika. Peter Martin has really fallen in love with Sadika and wants to marry her. Since he doesn't know how to end his relationship with Marion, he wants to spend one last night with her.
Sadika notices this and ambushes her lover. Full of jealousy, she makes a scene for him and reveals this tête-à-tête to Noel. When he shows up full of anger and distrust, she can't bring herself to betray Peter Martin and accuses herself. Noel throws her out of the house immediately because of her dissolute lifestyle, and she is supposed to take her lover with her too. But since she feels betrayed by Peter Martin, she doesn't want anything more to do with him and leaves the house alone.
third elevator
The rocky seashore, the village church and to the left of it the inn
There was a final discussion between Sadika and Peter Martin. When he tries to explain everything to Sadika, Marion intervenes. For her part, she neither wants to lose her lover nor share it with Sadika. An argument ensues when Noel - jealously sneaking behind his wife - realizes that she has cheated on him with Peter Martin. Full of anger, he reaches for a boat hook to knock down the rival. Sadika notices the danger and throws herself protectively in front of Peter Martin. Fatally wounded, she sinks to the ground and dies at the feet of Peter Martin. Shaken, he turns away and moves to Iceland with the fishermen; there in the loneliness of the North Sea he wants to find death.
Orchestral line-up
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : three flutes (3rd also piccolo ), three oboes (3rd also English horn ), three clarinets (3rd also bass clarinet ), three bassoons
- Brass : four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , bass tuba
- four timpani , percussion : triangle , cymbals , snare drum , wooden rattle , glockenspiel
- Celesta
- harp
- Strings : 16 first and 16 second violins , 12 violas , 16 cellos , 8 double basses
literature
- Eugen d'Albert: love chains. Opera in three acts . Libretto. Schott, Mainz 1912 ( urn : nbn: de: hebis: 30-1096936 ).
- Angel Guimerà: La filla del mar. Dram . New edition. Editoria 62, Barcelona 1990, ISBN 84-297-2649-7 .
- Leo Melitz: Guide through the operas . Globus-Verlag, Berlin 1914, pp. 161–162.
Web links
- Love Chains : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Work data on love chains ( memento from January 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at Operone
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information in the score