Undine (Lortzing)

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Work data
Title: Undine
Original title: Undine
Shape: Singspiel
Original language: German
Music: Albert Lortzing
Libretto : Albert Lortzing
Literary source: Story "Undine" by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué
Premiere: April 21, 1845
Place of premiere: Magdeburg
Playing time: about three hours
Place and time of the action: Germany around 1450
people
  • Undine, foster daughter of Tobias and Marthe ( soprano )
  • Kühleborn, Water Prince ( baritone )
  • Bertalda, Duke Heinrich's daughter (soprano)
  • Knight Hugo von Ringstetten ( tenor )
  • Veit, Squire of the Previous (Tenor Buffo)
  • Hans, cellar master ( bass )
  • Tobias, an old fisherman (bass)
  • Marthe, his wife ( old )
  • Father Heilmann (bass)
  • Villagers, water spirits, nobles, heralds, pages, squires, hunting parties ( choir )
  • Larger tasks for ballet in the second and fourth act

Undine is a romantic magic opera in four acts (six images) by Albert Lortzing . As with many of his stage works, he was his own librettist here too. The premiere was on April 21, 1845 in Magdeburg . He used the story Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué as a template, which Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué himself had formed into a libretto for ETA Hoffmann's opera Undine almost thirty years earlier .

Orchestral line-up

Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings

action

first act

First picture: In a fisherman's hut by the lake

Knight Hugo von Ringstetten and his squire Veit found refuge in Tobias and Marthe's fisherman's hut a few months ago when they had to flee from a storm. Undine, the beautiful foster daughter of the fishermen, also lives in the fisherman's hut. You and the knight have fallen in love and the wedding is due to take place today. All but the squire Veit set off for the chapel.

Veit found a keg of wine on the lake shore. He gratefully tastes the grape juice. Suddenly, a proud man he has never seen enters the room. He calls himself Kühleborn and showered Veit with questions about his master. Because the wine has loosened Veit's tongue, he tells things that he would otherwise never say: For Hugo von Ringstetten, like so many women before her, Undine is just an adventure. Kühleborn is boiling with rage. He decides to stay close to Undine to protect her, his daughter, in case of danger.

The newly married couple return to the fisherman's hut with Marthe and Tobias, accompanied by a few villagers. Shortly afterwards, Father Heilmann, who had just married Hugo and Undine, also seems to follow. Only Undine notices that it is her father Kühleborn who has slipped into the role of the priest. After Undine said goodbye to her foster parents and the villagers, she set off with Hugo, Veit and the "Father".

Second act

Second picture: Hall in Duke Heinrich's palace

Veit tells his friend, the cellar master Hans, what he has experienced in the meantime. He comes to speak of his master's wedding with Undine. He suggests that Undine is actually not a person, but a mermaid .

Hugo and Undine join them. The knight asks his wife to finally reveal her true origin, which she only vaguely hinted at at the wedding. Undine answers the request and tells him everything. In fact, her report concludes, the only difference between humans and water spirits is that the latter have no soul. But if a person genuinely loves a mermaid, she too can be animated. Both sink into each other's arms.

The proud Bertalda enters the hall. Kühleborn is one of her entourage. This time he disguised himself as a diplomat from the Kingdom of Naples. Only now does Bertalda find out that Hugo, who once promised her marriage himself, is now married.

Undine, of course, does not hide the fact that the Neapolitan ambassador is her father Kühleborn. When Bertalda begins to scoff at Undine's low origin, Undine's can no longer hold back. He turns the tables and announces that Bertalda is really the daughter of the fishermen Marthe and Tobias. Duke Heinrich found them fifteen years ago on the shores of the lake and took them to his castle. Kühleborn then reveals himself as the water prince. Furious, he leaves the hall, hurries into the garden and disappears into the fountain. Meanwhile, Undine tries to comfort the desperate Bertalda.

Third act

Third picture: Romantic landscape near Ringstetten Castle

After the hunt that Hugo organized in his forest, the hunting party celebrates in a clearing near the lake. Bertalda manages to kindle a fire in Hugo that he finds her desirable again. When Undine joins them, she has to find out that her lover doesn't want anything more from her. Even Undine's warning of the revenge of the water spirits falls on deaf ears. Hugo hurries with Bertalda.

Kühleborn comes with his water spirits and leads Undine back into his wet realm.

Fourth act

Fourth picture: the courtyard of Ringstetten Castle

Hugo and Bertalda celebrate their wedding party. A lot of wine flows in the process. Veit and the cellar master can't get enough of it. The two of them proudly remove the large stone that had been placed on the opening of the well for fear of the revenge of the water spirits. As soon as they have returned to the wedding party in the ballroom, Undine rises from the fountain.

Fifth picture: Back in the ballroom

The hustle and bustle is suddenly interrupted when all the lights in the castle go out at midnight. A portent appears equal Undine's pale figure. Hugo sees his end approaching. But Undine's great love for him has not yet died out. A spark of love for Undine still glows in Hugo's heart, and no sooner has he seen her than the spark turns into a fire again. He is now sure that he can only find his inner peace again at Undine's side. They sink into each other's arms. Hugo's castle collapses.

Sixth picture: In Kühleborn's water kingdom

Kühleborn announces the verdict on Hugo: He has to stay with Undine forever in the realm of the water spirits.

music

Lortzing, best known for his folk buffo operas, turned to more serious subjects with Undine ; some critics accuse the work of having struggled with the tragic drama and that its characters therefore often lack character depth. Nevertheless, there are also melodies in Undine that have become popular. These include:

In the first act:

  • Quintet (Undine, Tobias, Marthe, Pater, Hugo): "Oh, what joy, what bliss!"
  • Hugo's romance: "I rode to the big gun game"
  • Vitus drinking song with choir in the finale: "It's the wine"
  • Undine's farewell to her foster parents, also from the final: "I am now leaving your midst"

In the second act:

  • Recitative and aria by Undine, in which she reveals her origins to Hugo von Ringstetten:
So know that in all elements
There are beings who look almost like you.
Salamanders play in the flames,
The gnomes dwell in the depths of the earth,
Lives in the blue of aether and in the rivers
The widespread race of spirits.
  • Kühleborn's story in the finale: “A poor fisher couple lives on Seegestade”.

In the third act:

  • Veits Lied: "I don't have father, mother, sisters, brothers in the world any more"
  • Duet Bertalda / Hugo: "I won't let you!"
  • the finale, in which Kühleborn and the water spirits bring Undine back: “Now it's done! You are returning home. "

In the fourth act:

  • The cellar master's song: "There is only truth in wine!"
  • Big final.

literature

  • Undine. In: Georg Richard Kruse : Albert Lortzing (= Famous Musicians. Life and Character Pictures with an Introduction to the Works of the Masters. Volume VII). Harmonie, Berlin 1899 ( online in the Internet Archive ).

See also

Works that deal with the same mythical subject:

Web links