Mateo Falcone
Mateo Falcone is the protagonist of a story of the same name by the French writer Prosper Mérimée . The story was written in 1829 and published in a Paris magazine in the same year with the subtitle Mœurs de la Corse (English: Corsican customs and traditions ). In 1831 a ballad in Terzinen by Adelbert von Chamisso was published , which follows the course of Mérimée's story very faithfully. In 1906, César Cui turned the story into an opera of the same name, which premiered on December 14, 1907 in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow , but was a failure.
action
The story is set in Corsica at the beginning of the 19th century , not far from the city of Porto Vecchio . Mateo Falcone is a respected and respected man who owns a small estate with his wife and son Fortunato. The special respect is based, among other things, on the fact that Mateo is considered a good shooter and is known for not avoiding any conflict.
One day he leaves with his wife to look for a herd. He leaves 10-year-old Fortunato behind for a few hours with the task of guarding the house and yard. During this time the boy heard a shooting, shortly afterwards a bandit shot by the police came into the courtyard and sought refuge there. Fortunato hides him in a haystack, but only after the bandit has given him money. A few minutes later the police also come and ask Fortunato whether he saw the bandit. The boy says no, but one of the policemen doesn't believe him and promises him a pocket watch if he reveals the hiding place. Fortunato can't resist the temptation and points to the haystack.
At that moment Mateo and his wife return and witness the arrest of the bandit. He angrily accuses the Falcones house of being a traitor before the police take him away. For Mateo, the betrayal of his son is a violation of family honor. He feels compelled to shoot him.
The text was set to music several times as an opera, in 1884 by Heinrich Zöllner , in 1898 by Theodor Gerlach, in 1906 by César Cui . Éric Vuillard filmed the story in 2009.
German edition
- Translator Rosa Luxemburg , (without naming names) in the magazine "For our children". Supplement to Die Equality : No. 6, 1914, pp. 41–43; 7, 1914, pp. 49-52 and 8, 1915, pp. 57-59
notes
- ↑ Luxemburg's authorship results from this., Gesammelte Briefe, ed. Annelies Laschitza , Günter Radzun, vol. 5, Dietz, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3320004522 , p. 13. Text not in the collected works.