Lohengelb or The Virgin of Dragant
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| Title: | Lohengelb or The Virgin of Dragant |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Franz von Suppè |
| Libretto : | Karl Costa and Moritz Anton Grandjean |
| Premiere: | July 23, 1870 |
| Place of premiere: | City Theater, Graz |
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Lohengelb or Die Jungfrau von Dragant is an operetta in three acts that presents itself as a parody of Lohengrin by Richard Wagner . The music comes from Franz von Suppè ; the libretto by Karl Costa and Moritz Anton Grandjean and goes back to a parody by Johann Nepomuk Nestroy called Lohengelb. When it was first performed, the operetta was only called “The Virgin of Dragant” without (Lohengelb). The first performance in Vienna was on November 30, 1870 at the Carltheater , the former Leopoldstädter Theater, in Vienna .
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In front of a river landscape in the Dutch mountains, Margrave and Gaugraf von Vogelsingen, known as Hans the Just, had a meeting called by his back and forth, at which he called for the fight against the enemy invading from the east. He also uses his presence to hold judgment. Knight Mordigall von Wetterschlund, accuses Elsa, the daughter of the late Duke von Dragant, of killing her brother, Prince Pafnuzzi, and demands a divine judgment; whoever wants to defend Elsa should compete against him in a duel. Only after two requests from the back and forth ruler suddenly comes a knight on a wagon, pulled by a white sheep. He only says that he comes from Fabelland and has had a dashing tour over hill and dale and mountain heights. He offers to fight a duel for Elsa and asks for her hand, but makes the condition that Elsa is not allowed to ask about his name and his origin. In the following duel, the knight throws the Mordigall down, but gives him his life. Mordigall sneaks out of the battlefield with his wife Gertrud, a well-known witch. Both swear vengeance.
While the people celebrate the restored honor of the Maiden of Dragant and the upcoming wedding all night, Mordigall's wife Gertrud is already hatching new plans. Mordigall is supposed to accuse the knight as a magician, she herself wants to throw doubts into the heart of Elsa regarding the unknown origin of her future husband. The next morning Gerdtrud insults the knight as the only question mark and Mordigall brings his charge of sorcery. The indictment can be thrown out with reference to the innocent lamb, with whom the traveling knight finally arrived. Now Mordigall and Gertrud are making plans to commit murder together with a henchman.
After the ceremony, which took place with great ceremony, Elsa and her husband confess their love to each other. Elsa, spurred on by Gertrud, cannot fail to complain that she cannot call her husband by name and ultimately asks the forbidden question. Meanwhile Mordigall and robber barons hired by him sneak into the bedchamber to carry out their murder, but are repulsed by Elsa's husband; Mordigall, remains headless on the battlefield.
The next morning the after-party of the wedding guests is disturbed on the one hand by the narration of the nightly outrage and on the other hand by the fact that the foreign knight announces that he has to move away because Elsa asked him his name despite the pronounced ban. Now he says that he was one of the knights of the kraal and that he was only on vacation. His name is tan yellow. Then Gertrud suddenly confesses that she enchanted Elsa's brother into a sheep and that only the kraal could redeem him. Then the kraal appears in person, which turns out to be a kind of good spirit. He releases the spell, the sheep becomes the prince again, Gertrud is mended and Mordigall is brought back to life, but is no longer allowed to rush and is therefore given a new head to be on the safe side. The kraal also solves Lohengelb's oath, which can now stay with Elsa.
music
The question arises as to whether the Virgo of Dragant is really an operetta and not a "throwback" to earlier antiquity. Even the criticism after the first performance confirmed that the operetta was "harmless, funny antics". It is also emphasized that Suppé “completely ignored” Lohengrin music and was content with “weaving in a few instrumental effects from the Tannhauser”. And so the operatic structures of earlier works are completely missing, although it would be appropriate for this subject.
Despite these objections, it can be said that the piece, as the criticism quoted above also stated, "... has some precious numbers" that are worth tearing from oblivion. First and foremost is the "Liebeswalzer", which is a wonderful parody of Strauss' waltzes. Another parodic highlight, which also exemplifies the implementation of the material by the authors, is the rapprochement between the warring Gertrud (Ortrud) and Elsas, in which both of them cheer a hilarious alpine yodeler in a duet. Other precious numbers: the romance "Mond du trauter" (Elsa's complaints to the air), the couplet of the "back and forth", the very parodistic lamentation of the bridesmaids, the multi-part duet of the newlyweds on their wedding night, which in its structure reminds of the great duets of Offenbach, the bandit dance from the best Viennese folk theater tradition and also the "Grail Tale", which amusingly satirized the original.
The love waltz from the piece was released on the album by Suppè Marches, Waltzes, Polkas .
The piece was performed in the Vienna Chamber Opera in 1984 , staged by Fritz Muliar and recorded by Austrian television ORF . The libretto was edited by Kurt Huemer and the punch lines of the piece were transferred to 1984. In this arrangement, original quotes from Wagner's music were often interspersed, but there were considerable lines in the original music. Unfortunately, almost all of the "delicious numbers" listed above fell victim to these lines and only the "harmless, funny antics" remained. In the finale, almost all known pieces from Suppé's works were quoted as compensation.
The piece was performed in Vienna with the following cast: Erich Padalewski (as Landvogt), Reinhard Brussmann (as Lohengelb), Josef Luftensteiner (as Mordigall), René Rumpold (as Ruaferl), Katharina Dau (as Gertrud), Sabine Rössert (as Elsa ).
In 1988 the WDR produced another version of the piece as a radio production. This version is more like the original.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Princess of Dragant, libretto, publisher of Wallershauser'schen bookstore, Vienna 1871
- ↑ Hans-Dieter Roser: Franz von Suppé, p. 137
- ^ Hans-Dieter Roser: Franz von Suppé, p. 138
- ↑ Soup: Marches / Waltzes / Polkas see: Homepage naxos.com