Schwanda, the bagpiper
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| Title: | Schwanda, the bagpiper |
| Original title: | Švanda dudák |
| Original language: | Czech |
| Music: | Jaromír Weinberger |
| Libretto : | Miloš Kareš |
| Premiere: | April 27, 1927 |
| Place of premiere: | National Theater , Prague |
| Playing time: | approx. 2½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Bohemia in fairytale time |
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Schwanda, the bagpiper ( Czech: Švanda dudák ) is a folk opera in 2 acts / 5 pictures. The Czech libretto was written by Miloš Kareš , it was translated into German by Max Brod , the music was composed by Jaromír Weinberger , and the stage set was designed by Georg Jilovsky . The premiere took place on April 27, 1927 in the Prague National Theater , the German premiere on December 16, 1928 in Breslau .
plot
The libretto is based on an old folk tale, written down in 1847 as a drama by Josef Kajetán Tyl : The Bagpiper von Strakonitz (Czech: Strakonický dudák aneb Hody divých žen ). The bagpiper Schwanda lives happily in the country with his pretty young wife Dorota. The robber Babinsky , who hides from his pursuers, two mercenaries, penetrates this idyll . After their departure, he makes court to Dorota, who does not accept it and instead invites him to dinner. Here Babinsky persuades Schwanda to free the enchanted queen. Babinsky and Schwanda leave the hut and Dorota secretly and without saying goodbye. Schwanda arrives at the queen's court, whose heart has been turned into ice by an evil magician. Here he uses the power of his bagpipes to warm the queen's heart again. Suddenly someone calls his name. It's Dorota. The queen feels deceived by Schwanda. Your heart turns to ice again. Schwanda is captured, handed over to the judge and sentenced to be beheaded. Before he was executed in front of the city gate, Schwanda asked for his bagpipes again. However, it is not found. The sword is already whizzing through the air, but in flight Babinsky swaps it for a broom. Schwanda receives his bagpipes from him and plays himself free. He gives his jealous Dorota an oath that he has been loyal to her, and then he sinks into hell. By magic, the devil, Schwanda, who does not want to play anything on his bagpipes for him, succeeds in buying the soul so that he has to remain in the devil's power. Then Babinsky appears in hell, happily greeted by the infernal residents. In a card game he succeeds in outsmarting the devil and freeing Schwanda again. Before saying goodbye to hell, Schwanda greets the devils and then returns to his home, cured of his thirst for adventure, satisfied with his Dorota.
music
The opera was initially compared as the new national folk opera with the " Bartered Bride " by Smetana . The Bohemian folk music with Polka , Furiant , Odzemek and Dumka is offered here in a late romantic orchestral sound. There is no genuine Weinberger style of music. Rather, there are echoes of “ My Fatherland ” by Smetana and the operas “ Fra Diavolo ” by Auber , “ Der Bärenhäuter ” by Siegfried Wagner , “ Hans Heiling ” by Marschner and “ Die Rose vom Liebesgarten ” by Pfitzner .
Performance history
Interestingly, the opera was more popular outside of what was then Czechoslovakia than in the composer's home country. After the premiere in Prague, Max Brod arranged for the piece to be translated into German. The first performance in Wroclaw was a brilliant success for the composer and the opera in this version conquered the most important stages in Europe, and in 1931 also the Metropolitan Opera . Nevertheless, the opera was only given the fate of the “glamorous one-day fly” ( Marcel Prawy ). The piece was performed for the last time in Prague in 1933 and, with the spread of National Socialism, the work of the composer, who had meanwhile emigrated, also disappeared from the German and Austrian repertoire.
After the Second World War, the piece was rarely performed. In Theater Augsburg was in October 2007, a new production on the game board. In the 2011–2012 season, the opera is on the program of the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Theater Görlitz-Zittau (production: Klaus Arauner ). From March 2012 the opera was performed in a new production by Axel Köhler in a choreography by Gaetano Posterino at the Semperoper Dresden. The great success (the magazine Opernwelt named the production the rediscovery of the year in 2012) led to further performances at the Semperoper Dresden in 2014 and 2016 as well as in 2014 at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo. In addition, a recording of a production by the Wexford Festival Opera is now available on CD.
Discography
- GA 1979/80 (studio); Heinz Wallberg; Hermann Prey (Schwanda), Lucia Popp (Dorota), Siegfried Jerusalem (Babinský), Gwyndolyn Killebrew (queen), Alexander Malta (magician), Siegmund Nimsgern (devil); Munich Radio Orchestra (CBS); Recording in German.
- GA 2003 (live); Julian Reynolds; Matjaz Robavs (Schwanda), Tatiana Monogarova (Dorota), Ivan Choupenitch (Babinský), Larisa Kostyuk (queen), Alexander Teliga (magician, devil); Prague Chamber Choir ; National Philharmonic Orchestra of Belarus (NAXOS); Recording in the Czech language.
- GA 2012 (live); Constantin Trinks; Christoph Pohl (Schwanda), Marjorie Owens (Dorota), Ladislav Elgr (Babinský), Tichina Vaughn (Queen), Michael Eder (Devil); Semperoper Dresden (PROFIL / Haenssler); in Czech language
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ernst Krause: Opera from A – Z, Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, 1962, p. 926 ff.