The Wives of the Dead (Opera)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Work data
Title: The women of the dead
Original title: The Wives of the Dead
Shape: Opera in two versions
Original language: English , German
Music: Alois Bröder
Libretto : Alois Bröder
Literary source: Nathaniel Hawthorne : The Wives of the Dead
Premiere: February 2, 2013
Place of premiere: Theater Erfurt
Playing time: about 100 minutes
Place and time of the action: A living room and two bedrooms on the upper floor of a two-story house. A day and night in the fall of around 1730 in the Bay Province, Massachusetts
people

The Wives of the Dead (dt .: The Women of the Dead ) is an opera in two versions of the same story by Nathaniel Hawthorne . Alois Bröder set up the libretto and is also responsible for the composition. The first version of the story is articulated in English, while the second version is partly in German. The commissioned work was premiered on February 2, 2013 in the Erfurt Theater.

action

The story takes place in the Bay Province, Massachusetts, in the mid-18th century. Two young women - the quiet pious Mary and the lively and spirited Margaret - live in a common house with their husbands, who are brothers. Both recently received news of the death of their husbands. Mary's husband perished at sea and Margaret's husband died as a soldier in Canada. Several mourners come to express their condolences. A pastor recites the biblical story of Lazarus . After the guests leave, the two women talk to each other about their pain. In contrast to Margaret, Mary seems to be patient with fate. After dinner, they retreat to their separate bedrooms on the upper floor. Mary will soon fall asleep. Margaret, however, finds no rest. After a while she hears a knock on the front door. It's her neighbor, Parker. He tells Margaret that he recently saw her husband alive. Margaret wants to share her happiness with Mary, but then it occurs to her that by doing so she would add to her own grief. She refrains from waking Mary and goes back to sleep. A little later there is another knock. This time Mary wakes up and receives the message from her former admirer Stephen that her husband is still alive. Out of consideration for her sister-in-law's feelings, she also refrains from waking her. Instead, she just directs the troubled sheets on Margaret's bed. At that moment "she" wakes up. This is where Hawthorne's story ends. It remains open who is meant by “she”. If it's Margaret, there's a happy ending. On the other hand, if Mary is meant, it could be that she or both women merely dreamed the incident. The first part of the opera, which Bröder called "dreamy reality", ends with Mary trying to suffocate Margaret with the sheet.

In the second part of the opera, the entire story is repeated with changes after the funeral service. Bröder described this part as a "realistic dream". This time the two messengers harass the women and cause great despair. Both women commit suicide. Finally, the mourning community moves through the common room. All questions remain open.

Instrumentation

The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:

Work history

The opera was written between 2008 and 2010. It was a commission from the Erfurt Theater. According to the composer's preliminary remarks, Nathaniel Hawthorne's story The Wives of the Dead fulfilled all the requirements for his project, as it is little known, does not require any cuts, has a limited number of people, "ambiguously colorful, narrative open" and "legendarily timeless" and strict is formally laid out.

Marisca Mulder (Mary), Mireille Lebel (Margaret), Marwan Shamiyeh (Margarets Mann and Stephen), Florian Götz (Marys Mann and Parker) and Manuel Meyer (Pastor) sang at the world premiere on February 2, 2013 in the Großer Haus of the Erfurt Theater . The Erfurt Theater Choir and the Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra were directed by Johannes Pell. The production was done by Gabriele Rech , the dramaturgy by Berthold Warnecke , the set design by Norman Heinrich and the costumes by Gabriele Heimann. It was a cooperation with the Thuringia Philharmonic Gotha .

Sound carrier

2013, Erfurt: Live recording of the world premiere. Dreyer.Gaido, CD 2017.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ In the original Hawthornes the last sentence is: "But her hand trembled against Margaret's neck, a tear also fell upon her cheek, and she suddenly awoke."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Die Frauen der Toten (The Wives of the Death) (Premiere February 2, 2013) at the Erfurt Theater ( Memento from March 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ Program The Women of the Dead. Theater Erfurt, 2012/13 season.
  3. ↑ a b c work information on the website of the composer Alois Bröder , accessed on April 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ Friedeon Rosén: Erfurt: The women of the dead from Alois Bröder. Review in Online Merker , accessed on April 24, 2016.
  5. ↑ Joachim Lange: Escape into the gray area between dream and reality. Review in Online Musik Magazin , accessed April 24, 2016.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Wicht: "The Women of the Dead" celebrates its premiere in Erfurt. Review of February 4, 2013 in the Thüringer Allgemeine , accessed on April 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ Michael S. Zerban: Game of Possibilities. Reviewed January 12, 2013 on Opernnetz , accessed April 24, 2016.
  8. ↑ Thomas Hilgemeier: Nocturnal messages. Review on Theater Pur , accessed April 24, 2016.
  9. ↑ Werner Häußner: ERFURT: DIE FRAUEN DER TOTEN by Alois Bröder - premiere review in Online Merker , accessed on May 18, 2016.
  10. ^ Preliminary remarks by the composer Alois Bröder on his website , accessed on April 24, 2016.