Rothschild's violin

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Anton Chekhov

Rothschild's Violin ( Russian Скрипка Ротшильда , Skripka Rotschilda) is a story of Russian writer Anton Chekhov , which in the February 6, 1894 Moscow newspaper Russkiye Vedomosti published.

Alexander Brauner's translation into German was published by Hermann Zieger in Leipzig in 1896. Other translations: 1894 into Serbo-Croatian ( Rotšildove gusle ), 1895 into Slovak ( Rothschildove husle ), 1897 into Czech ( Rotschildovy housle ), 1903 into English ( Rothschild's Fiddle ), 1905 into Polish ( Skrzypce Rotszylda ) and into Norwegian ( Rothschilds fiolin ).

action

The 70-year-old coffin maker Jakow Matwejitsch lives with his 69-year-old wife Marfa in a small town. Because few die, they both feel bad. As a temporary measure, Jakow plays the violin in Schachkes' orchestra. Schachkes keeps a large part of the fee for himself. In the orchestra, to Jakow's left, the flute of a red-haired, gaunt Jew complains . This “damned” flautist is called Rothschild like Croesus . Jakow is annoyed because Rothschild conjures up a wistful piece even from the most cheerful play. In return, Jakow hates the flautist and even transfers his hatred to all Jews in his vicinity.

Marfa falls ill and dies. For Jakow, life loses its meaning. Why did he only yell at Marja for fifty-two years? Now it is too late. Jakow takes measurements at Marfa and builds a coffin for her. In his little book the pessimist Jakow notes everything that he did not deserve - including: "A coffin for Marfa Ivanovna - 2 rubles 40 kopecks ." Death - Jakow thinks at the open coffin of his wife - actually only has advantages for the dead . Eating, drinking, paying taxes and offending people are eliminated. So Jakow looks forward to his death without self-pity. Everything is perishing on earth anyway. On his deathbed, Marfa had reminded Yakov with a bitter smile of their daughter with the blond curls who had to die fifty years ago. But there is still Jakow's violin. What about that?

On his deathbed, Jakow said to the priest: “You give the violin to Rothschild.” After Jakow's death, Rothschild gave up playing the flute and favors his new violin. When he repeats Jakow's pieces on the miracle instrument, they sound so despondent and sad that the audience cries.

Adaptations

Opera

1968 Maxim Shostakovich performs Weniamin Fleischmann's posthumous opera fragment Rothschild's violin in Leningrad . The libretto was freely adapted from Anton Chekhov at the suggestion of Dmitri Shostakovich .

radio play

2013 SRF Basel : Rothschilds violin by Fritz Zaugg with André Jung as narrator, Norbert Schwientek as Jakow and Renate Steiger as Marfa. 1 CD, 48 min, ISBN 978-3-85616-601-4

reception

Heinrich Böll wrote on December 28, 1983 that when he was eighteen he had not found the right contact with Anton Chekhov. For example, at the time he was not able to cope with the “openness” of the ending of some of Chekhov's short stories. It was only in old age, when he tried again, that Heinrich Böll learned to appreciate such texts as Mein Leben (Russian Моя жизнь, 1896), Rothschild's violin , Die Bauern and Auf dem Gutshof . These would presumably bring the "real Russia" closer than many a grandiose treatise. Heinrich Böll assesses: "Above everything with Čechov there is an almost metaphysical melancholy, with which the ephemeral becomes imperishable."

German-language editions

  • Anton Pavlovič Čechov: The narrative work in ten volumes. Part: Rothschild's violin. Stories 1893–1896. Translated from the Russian by Gerhard Dick . 334 pages. Diogenes, Zurich 1976, ISBN 3-257-20265-2

Used edition

  • Rothschild's violin. Translated from the Russian by Ada Knipper and Gerhard Dick , pp. 394–405 in: Anton Chekhov: Weiberwirtschaft . Master stories , volume from: Gerhard Dick (Ed.), Wolf Düwel (Ed.): Anton Chekhov: Collected works in individual volumes. 582 pages. Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1966 (1st edition)

Secondary literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerhard Dick (Ed.) In the edition used, p. 568, 8th Zvo and Russian reference to first publication
  2. ↑ see also 1915 engl. Rothschild's Fiddle , translator Marian Fell
  3. ↑ Notes on translations
  4. ↑ Polish. Skrzypce Rotszylda
  5. ↑ norw. Rothschilds fiolin
  6. ^ Böll cited in Urban, p. 234, 9. Zvo