Star high
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| Title: | Star high |
| Shape: | Opera in ten pictures |
| Original language: | Esperanto |
| Music: | Ivan Acher |
| Libretto : | Ivan Acher |
| Literary source: | Ladislav Klíma : The sufferings of the prince star high |
| Premiere: | April 7, 2018 |
| Place of premiere: | New stage of the Prague National Theater |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ½ hours |
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Star high is a opera in ten scenes (original title: "Komorní taneční opera tragikomická ludibrionistní"; German about: tragicomic ridiculously playful chamber dance opera ') by Ivan Acher (music and libretto ) after the 1928 posthumously published novel The Sorrows of princes star high of Ladislav Climate . The sung text is in the artificial language Esperanto . The opera premiered on April 7, 2018 in the New Stage of the Prague National Theater.
action
First picture: "The Dream"
Prince Sternenhoch fell asleep drunk. In his dream he sees the ghost of his dead wife Helga, who tries to seduce him with her singing: “Kiel mirakle bela vi estas! Serafo! Dio! La dio de la Suno - la Suno mem "(" How beautiful you are! Seraph! God! Sun god - the sun itself ").
Second picture: "The Ball"
As the stars wake up, he is confused in the middle of a wild dance event. There he sees Helga for the first time. Although he finds her repulsively ugly, he feels magically drawn to her and decides to marry her. He thinks she ought to be grateful to him for that, because no one else shows any interest in her. The witch cow dung mocks him and sells him an expensive amulet that is supposed to cure him of his madness. The ball ends with a "satanic mazurka ".
Third picture: "Around the hand"
Star high asks Helga's father, a retired officer, for her hand. Cow dung comments cynically with the remark: "You who enter, give up all hopes". The father is extremely derogatory to both Star High and his daughter. First he asks for his ID: “If you are really a prince, then the whore is yours; if it's not you, you'll fly out the door! ”Although Sternenhoch's legitimation is actually not enough for him, he agrees, as he's happy to get rid of Helga.
Fourth picture: "The wedding"
At the wedding meal, guests feast at a long table. Helga becomes pregnant and gives birth to her son Helmutek on the dining table. His wife continues to find disgusting star-high, but is proud of his son: “Eagles rose from swamp lizards”.
Fifth picture: "Helmutek"
In his Rattentempel / Saustein castle, Sternenhoch laments the coldness of his sleeping wife. He caresses his son, in whom he does not see any resemblance to his mother. When Helga wakes up, she accuses her husband of “tainting” her by forcing her to “wear nothing for nine months”. She never wants to speak to him again, takes the child out of his arms and brutally kills him.
Sixth picture: "The tryst"
Unmoved, Helga meets a mysterious lover, a poet to whom she gives herself completely, even though he abuses her. The couple is caught star high and murdered the poet.
Seventh picture: "In the cell"
Despite everything, Sternenhoch still has feelings for his wife. He declares his love for her and tries to approach her. However, she pushes him off with insults. Thereupon Sternenhoch beats her up, locks her in the dungeon of his castle and leaves her.
Eighth picture: "Cow dung"
The meanwhile half-mad star high seeks advice from the witch cow dung. After some haggling, she brews him a magic remedy called "Podex romanus" ("Roman ass"), which, together with the saying "Demon, jump in my ass!", Is supposed to cure him of his delusions.
Ninth picture: "Delirium"
Completely foggy star high goes to the dungeon, where his wife appears to him in confused visions. Cow dung infuses him with a brew that increases his delirium. He fantasizes about Helga, her father and the poet.
Tenth picture: "Grande Finale"
Helga starved to death in prison. Star high she considers alive and reconciles with her in his fantasy. He dreams of a happy married life before discovering that she is dead. She appears to him again in a vision. Together they both sing Helga's song from the first picture: “Kiel mirakle bela vi estas! Serafo! Dio! La dio de la Suno - la Suno mem ".
layout
The live instrumental line-up consists only of a contrabassoon , a zither (also electric) as well as a violin and viola . The two string instruments were played in the premiere production as stage music by the actress Tereza Marečková, the witch. The ensemble is supported by plenty of electronics. Large parts of the music were recorded in advance with a large orchestra and played over loudspeakers. Acher justified this with the dilapidation of the new stage and the acoustics there.
The connection between music and dance appears to be reminiscent of the opera ballets by Jean-Philippe Rameau as well as of contemporary music theater, in which the transgression of genre boundaries is the order of the day.
In an interview, Acher explained his decision to use the artificial language Esperanto , with which he had already gained experience. It is a very melodious language that is well suited for bel canto expression and that met his intention of creating a parody of 19th century opera without making it ridiculous. The only difficulty was that the singers had to learn the long text of the opera even though they had never spoken the language.
Work history
The first opera by the Czech composer Ivan Acher, who has already written over a hundred theater and film music, is star- high. It is a work commissioned by the Prague National Theater . Acher wrote the original form of the libretto himself. It is based on the expressionist "grotesque Romanetto" , created between 1907 and 1909 and published posthumously in 1928, Die Leiden des Fürsten Sternenhoch by Ladislav Klíma , who Acher had known since the 1990s. In 2007 he composed the music for a play based on this model. Miroslav Malovec translated the opera libretto into the target language Esperanto .
The opera premiered on April 7, 2018 in the New Stage (“Nová scéna”) of the Prague National Theater. Petr Kofroň was the musical director. The production was by Michal Dočekal, the stage by Marek Cpin, the costumes by Eva Jiřikovská, the lighting design by Ondřej Kyncl, the sound design by Eva Hamouzová and the choreography by Lenka Vagnerová. The dramaturge was Beno Blachut. Michal Müller (zither), Lukáš Svoboda (contrabassoon) and Tereza Marečková (violin, viola) played in the instrumental ensemble. Sergey Kostov (starry), Vanda Šípová (Helga), Tereza Marečková (cow dung), Luděk Vele (Helga's father) and Jiří Hájek (Helga's lover) sang. The composer took on other instruments and voices.
A video recording of the production was made available on the Operavision internet platform.
Recordings
- 2019 - Petr Kofroň (conductor), Michal Dočekal (staging), Marek Cpin (stage), Eva Jiřikovská (costumes), Ondřej Kyncl (lighting), Lenka Vagnerová (choreography), Beno Blachut (dramaturgy), Eva Hamouzová (sound design).
Sergey Kostov (star high), Vanda Šípová (Helga), Tereza Marečková (cow dung), Luděk Vele (Helga's father), Jiří Hájek (Helga's lover).
Michal Müller (zither), Lukáš Svoboda (contrabassoon), Tereza Marečková (violin, viola).
Video; Recording of the premiere production from the Prague National Theater .
Video stream at Operavision.
Web links
- Libretto (Czech / Esperanto), part 1 and part 2 on svetadivadlo.cz
- Work information and video stream at Operavision. Video available until March 26, 2020
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d work information and video stream at Operavision, accessed on October 24, 2019.
- ↑ Frank Kuznik: Starry high: Delightful depravity in Prague on bachtrack.com, April 10, 2018, accessed on October 25, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Martina Schneibergová: Starry high: macabre opera grotesque on radio.cz, 23 May 2018, accessed on 25 October 2019.
- ↑ Boris Klepal: Partitura a provedení - Ivan Acher: Star high. Work information (Czech) on hisvoice.cz, April 11, 2018, accessed on October 25, 2019.
- ↑ Interview with the star-high composer Ivan Acher, National Theater Prague on YouTube , accessed on October 25, 2019.
- ↑ a b work information (Czech) on svetadivadlo.cz, accessed on October 25, 2019.