Sorbas (musical)
Sorbas (in the original: Zorba ) is a musical based on the novel Nikos Kazantzakis . The music is by John Kander , the lyrics by Fred Ebb . The book was written by Joseph Stein . It premiered on November 16, 1968 at the Imperial Theater , New York . After 305 performances, the last one took place on August 9, 1969. Directed by Harold Prince . The German-language premiere was on January 28, 1971 in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna . The German texts are by Robert Gilbert and Gerhard Bronner . Among others, Yossi Yadin , Luise Ullrich , Dagmar Koller , Peter Fröhlich and Olivia Molina played and sang at the German premiere .
background
The musical adapts the novel Alexis Sorbas by Nikos Kazantzakis, which was published in 1946. The film adaptation from 1964 with Anthony Quinn in the leading role is very well known . The idea was to musically bring the urge for personal freedom described in the book on stage in the form of Sorbas and also to do justice to the southern flair of the place where the action takes place (Greece). For John Kander it was the eighth work on Broadway .
action
A Greek bouzouki circle plays the story of Sorbas: In a harbor cafe in Piraeus, Nikos, a young intellectual who is on his way to Crete, where he inherited an old, disused mine, meets Sorbas. The humanity, the wit and the vitality of Sorbas fascinate Nikos immediately, so that he did not think twice when Sorbas offered him his services. They both travel to Crete. The small village is already curiously waiting for the new owner of the mine, the opening of which could bring the villagers work and thus bread. Nikos and Sorbas take up residence with the elderly French chansonnière Hortense, who immediately - and with success - begins to court Sorbas. In order to get the tools necessary to open the mine, Sorbas travels to Khania, where he and a light girl manage most of Nikos' money. Hortense is of course forgotten. Nikos tries to console her with a lie: Sorbas had announced in a letter that he would marry Hortense after his return. When Sorbas actually returns home, he has to bite the bullet and get engaged to Hortense. While Sorbas was away, Nikos fell in love with a young widow in the village who was stalked by a young villager, Pavli, with pathological passion. When Pavli Nikos sees the widow's house at night, he drowns himself out of disappointed, unhappy love. His father vows to avenge his son's death. While going to church, the young widow is surrounded by the villagers and brutally murdered. Nikos and Sorbas have to watch helplessly.
When Hortense also dies of a cold and the mine collapses when it is blown up before opening, Nikos and Sorbas decide to leave the island. The days in Crete have not been empty for Nikos. He learned from Sorbas that life is different from what is described in the books, that knowledge alone does not make you happy, but every fulfilled moment of our existence.
success
Sorbas was released two years after Cabaret , Kander's most famous musical. However, Kander could not build on this success with Sorbas, and nowadays the work is in many places forgotten. However, there was a revival show that started on October 16, 1983 and ended on September 2, 1984 after 362 performances, more than the original production. The revival took place in the Broadway Theater in New York .
Songs
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Individual evidence
- ^ Fritz Walden : Without loss, with a lot of profit . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung , January 30, 1971, p. 6.