The consul
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| Title: | The consul |
| Original title: | The Consul |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Gian-Carlo Menotti |
| Libretto : | Gian-Carlo Menotti |
| Premiere: | March 15, 1950 |
| Place of premiere: | Philadelphia |
| Playing time: | approx. 2¼ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Somewhere in Europe, around 1950 |
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The Consul (Engl. The Consul ) is an opera in three acts (6 pictures) by Gian Carlo Menotti , who like most of his works for the musical theater the libretto has written himself. The successful premiere took place on March 15, 1950 in Philadelphia . In the same year Menotti was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in the music category.
action
first act
1st picture: In Sorel's apartment, early morning
On the run from the police the freedom fighter John Sorel escapes wounded in his apartment. He tells his wife Magda and his mother about the danger he is in. When the police enter his house, John is able to hide on the roof and therefore remains undetected. After the police withdrew, John announced that he would go into hiding abroad. He instructs Magda to get the necessary visa for emigration for herself and the child at the consulate beforehand . He himself will follow later. John says goodbye to his wife and mother and leaves the apartment ( trio : Now, o lips, say good-bye "Lips says goodbye").
2nd picture: In the consulate, later that day
Various people are waiting for their visas at the consulate. This is where the secretary does her job: she checks papers, distributes questionnaires, rejects visa applications and makes everyone wait inconsiderately. Among the applicants are a Mr. Kofner, whose papers are again not in order, and an Italian whose story has to be translated from Italian by her sick daughter. Magda enters the consulate and asks the secretary to be admitted to the consul. She introduces herself as the wife of the freedom fighter Sorel; it's free - you don't give her an appointment, instead just forms that she has to fill out first. The bureaucracy takes its course. Resigned, she sits down with the other people waiting ( quintet : In endless waiting rooms, the hour stands still, “The time stands still when waiting endlessly”).
Second act
1st picture: In Sorel's apartment, in the evening, a month later
Four weeks later, Magda is still in the apartment because she has not yet had an appointment with the consul. Your child is dying. Terrible dreams torment her: John and the secretary appear to her as threatening visions. Magda wakes up screaming and is comforted by her mother. Suddenly a stone flies through the window, which is the expected sign to call the liaison Assan. The police secret agent appears and tries to get Magda to betray John and his accomplices. She angrily points him out. Assan appears and says that John is still hiding in the mountains on the border. He will only go abroad as soon as he is sure that Magda has the visa. Magda implores Assan to lie to John that her papers are in order. She knows that this is the only way she can save her husband. Meanwhile, the mother discovers that the child has died. Both women do not complain about the dead child, but about John, who will never see it again.
2nd picture: In the consulate, a few days later
The same applicants are sitting in the waiting room. The secretary found Anna Gomez's request and informed him that the case was not unique and that she did not know what to do for Ms. Gomez. Magda enters and asks the others to be admitted. The magician Magadoff reluctantly agrees, but the secretary denies it as "against the principle". When trying to identify himself through his art, the magician shows all kinds of tricks and puts everyone into a trance ( scene : My charming Ma'moiselle "Charming Mademoiselle"). The secretary, meanwhile, complains vehemently about the disruption of the office process. Magda begs the secretary to finally be admitted to the consul. She is put off again, which results in Magda's flaming indictment against the bureaucracy (Magda's aria : To this we've come “We're ready”). The secretary tells Magda that she will be admitted to the consul as soon as an important visitor has left. When the door to the consul's room opens, the secret agent comes out. Magda faints.
Third act
1st picture: In the consulate in the late afternoon a few days later
Magda waits again at the consulate and sees Vera Boronel finally receiving her documents. Assan enters the consulate to tell Magda that John will be back despite the adverse circumstances he finds himself in. Magda rushes home. A few minutes before the office closes, John comes to the consulate. The police follow him and break into the consulate. Despite the secretary's protest against the arrest on extraterritorial territory, John is taken away. The secretary promises John to telephone Magda.
2nd picture: In Sorel's apartment, the same evening
The phone rings and falls silent when Magda comes home. She is finished and determined to commit suicide. Frustrated, she opens all the gas taps (scene: I've never meant to do this "I would never have thought of that"). In a vision, the dying woman's mother, John, the secretary and all the other people from the consulate appear. When the phone rings again, Magda wakes up. But she no longer has the strength to answer, the phone continues to ring.
Discography
- Louis Otey (John), Susan Bullock (Magda), Jacalyn Kreitzer (mother), Victoria Livengood (secretary), John Horton Murray (Magadoff), u. a .; Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Richard Hickox (cond.). Chandos 9706 (2).
literature
- Rudolf Kloiber , Wulf Konold , Robert Maschka: Handbook of the Opera. Original edition. 11th revised edition. Bärenreiter et al., Kassel et al. 2006, ISBN 3-7618-1764-9 .
- Gian Carlo Menotti: The Consul. Vocal score. G. Schirmer Inc., New York NY 1950.
- Gerhart von Westerman : Knaur's opera guide. A history of the opera . With a foreword by Hans Knappertsbusch. Knaur Nachf., Munich 1952.