Ulysses (opera)
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Original title: | Ulysses |
| Shape: | Musical show game |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Reinhard Keizer |
| Libretto : | Friedrich Maximilian von Lersner |
| Literary source: | Henri Guichard |
| Premiere: | 1722 |
| Place of premiere: | Copenhagen |
| Place and time of the action: | Ithaca in ancient times |
| people | |
Ulysses is a baroque - opera in a prologue and three acts of Reinhard Keizer ( music ) with a libretto by Friedrich Maximilian von Lersner . The work was first performed in November 1722 at the Copenhagen Court Theater . The text is based on the French opera Ulysse by Henri Guichard, performed in 1703 at the Académie royale de musique with music by Jean-Féry Rebel .
action
The piece is a homage to the Danish royal couple Friedrich IV and Sophie , whose "marital fidelity" was symbolized by the two main characters Ulysses and Penelope . Friedrich's birthday is honored in the prologue.
The content of the opera deals with the return of Ulysses (Odysseus) to Ithaca after the Trojan War and his ten-year odyssey . It is very different from Homer's epic. Despite Ulysses' long absence, his wife Penelope has remained loyal to him. Urilas, one of her disappointed admirers, allies with the sorceress Circe . She had come to Ithaca to seduce Ulysses with her magic. She summons infernal spirits who are supposed to make Penelope love Urilas. Penelope remains steadfast, however. When Ulysse arrived in Ithaca, he first met Circe. She informs him that Penelope is planning to kill him. She also gives him a magical sword that makes him believe that he doesn't love Penelope, but her. When Penelope welcomes him happily, he accuses her of treason. Ulysses Captain Eurilochus has found out the background. He takes the sword from Ulysses and breaks the spell. The enraged Circe tries to stab Penelope, but the god Mercurius intervenes and drives her away. After putting down a rebellion of Urilas, Ulysses is happily reunited with Penelope. The opera ends with another praise to King Friedrich and his Queen.
layout
The Ulysses is one of Keiser's most impressive works. In addition to intense dramatic moments, there are light graceful passages. The use of four trumpets in the overture should also be emphasized. The sheet music for this intrada in 9 D major avanti l'opera “Ulysses” has been published separately. An older thesis of the musicologist Friedrich Chrysander , according to which this opera was a reworking of Keiser's earlier double opera Circe or the Ulisses first part and Penelope or Ulysses the other , has been refuted.
Performance history
The date originally scheduled for the premiere on October 11, 1722, the king's birthday, could not be kept because the singer Margaretha Susanna Kayser, originally intended for the role of Penelope, fell seriously ill at short notice. The performance could only take place in November. The substitute singer insisted on adding four Italian arias to the originally purely German-language opera. Two of these arias were by Giuseppe Maria Orlandini .
More recently the opera was performed in 2000 in the painting gallery of the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig in a production by Joachim Rathke . Christine Hintz-Kosfelder was the musical director. The singers were Hale Al Orfali and Anna Manasiants (Circe), Susanna Pütters (Penelope), Miriam Sharoni (Cephalia), Matthias Gerchen (Ulysses), Frank Wörner (Urilas), Raphael Pauß (Eurilochus), Kenneth Bannon (Mercurius and Arpax) and Frank Wörner (Die Zeit).
Another scenic performance took place in 2001 in the Germering town hall with the Bavarian Singing Academy under the musical direction of Gerd Guglhör and directed by Georg Blüml . Among others, Andreas Dellert (Ulysses), Benedikt Weiss, Stephanie Hampl and Maria Zeichenart (Cephalia) sang here.
literature
- Georg Feder (Ed.): Reinhard Keizer. Ulysses , score for choral music / solo part / orchestra ( The Legacy of German Music - Section 4: Opera and Solo Singing, Vol. 12 - Volume 107), Schott Musik International, Mainz 1995.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Johannes Wolf, Walter Lott, Helmuth Osthoff, Werner Joachim Wolffheim: Festschrift für Johannes Wolf , Berlin 1929, ISBN 3 487 06538 X , p. 82 f (preview on Google Books ).
- ↑ a b c John H. Roberts: Ulysses (i). In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ^ Record of the Intrada in 9 D major avanti l'opera "Ulysses" in the German National Library , accessed on August 23, 2014.
- ↑ Details on the 2000 performance on the website of the director Joachim Rathke, accessed on August 23, 2014.
- ↑ Contact folder of the director Georg Blüm (PDF), accessed on August 23, 2014.
- ↑ Profile of the singer Andreas Dellert on the website of the ensemble LaTriviata , accessed on August 23, 2014.
- ^ Profile of the singer Benedikt Weiss ( memento from September 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) at BR-Klassik , accessed on August 23, 2014.
- ^ Profile of the singer Stephanie Hampl ( memento from February 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) at cantica nova , accessed on February 18, 2016.
- ↑ Profile of singer Maria Zeichart on the website of the Tyrolean Singers' Union, accessed on August 23, 2014.