Vilkaču mantiniece
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| Title: | The heiress of the Vilkači farm |
| Original title: | Vilkaču mantiniece |
| Shape: | Opera in five acts |
| Original language: | Latvian |
| Music: | Bruno Skulte |
| Libretto : | Tonija Kalve |
| Literary source: | Ilona Leimane |
| Premiere: | June 3, 2011 |
| Place of premiere: | Latvian National Opera Riga |
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Vilkaču mantiniece (German: The heiress of the Vilkači court ) is an opera in five acts by the Latvian composer Bruno Skulte with a libretto by Tonija Kalve based on a novel by Ilona Leimane. It was premiered posthumously on June 3, 2011 at the Latvian National Opera in Riga in the presence of the President.
Work history
The composer fled the Red Army from Latvia to Oldenburg in 1944. Here he was inspired by the novel by the Latvian writer Ilona Leimane (1905–1989), who also fled, as the subject of an opera. He composed the vocal parts in 1947. After the piano reduction and the orchestration of the first act, Skulte turned to other projects. Skulte had meanwhile emigrated to New York. The instrumentation remained unfinished until after his death. Initially, only individual games were performed. It was not until 2005 that the composer and conductor Andrejs Jansons completed the instrumentation for the entire performance. Jansons has already conducted the first concert performances. The scenic world premiere took place in 2011 at the National Opera in Riga. A DVD of the performance was released in 2012.
Leimane's novel first appeared in 1942 in numbers 1 to 12 of the magazine Latvju Mēnešraksts. The first hardback edition was published in 1943 with woodcuts by Olģerts Ābelīte by Ernests Kreismanis. A current edition appeared in 2006. The novel was filmed in 1990 by Gunārs Cilinskis (1931-1992) with music by Pēteris Vasks .
action
Two neighboring farms in Latvia at the end of the 19th century are home to the warring families “Dievlodziņi” ( The Little Windows of God ) and “Vilkači” ( The Werewolves ). While the Vilkači succeed in everything and prosperity arises, the Dievlodziņi farm is haunted by bad luck. Here it is suspected that the success of the Vilkači people is based on witchcraft.
Similar to the families of the Capuletti and Montagetti in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , a love affair arises between the son from the Dievlodziņi house and the court heiress of Vilkači. This relationship has to trigger conflicts that lead to hearty arguments with a lot of emotion.
Quotes
“[...] Skulte cultivated a late romantic, opulent style of composition that does not even begin to question the tonality. While the very popular first act still reminds of Dvořák , in the following acts the piece develops more and more into a verismo cracker with the typical combination of dramatic intensification and melodic blossoming. "
“[Skulte] was clearly conversant with the operas of both Wagner (the 'midsummer night of love' enjoyed by the two romantic protagonists at the end of Act III draws on Wagner's love duets) and Dvořák, who provides the template for the incorporation of folkloristic elements into a complex operatic texture. "
“[Skulte] was clearly familiar with the operas of both Wagner (the ' Midsummer Night of Love' of the two romantic protagonists at the end of the third act is based on Wagner's love duets) and Dvořák, who provided the template for incorporating folkloric elements into offers a complex operatic texture. "
"[...] Verisms latviešu gaumē [...] Ne velti Vilkaču mantiniece jau tapusi nodēvēta par operas Skroderdienām."
"[...] Verism in the Latvian style [...] It is not for nothing that Vilkaču mantiniece has already been named as Skroderdienas [Silmačos] of the opera."
"Bruno Skultes operu var dēvēt par eksorcistu [...] Mani šajā gadījumā visvairāk interesēja naids un kā no tā atbrīvojamies caur mīlestību."
"Bruno Skultes opera can be explained as exorcism [...] My greatest interest in this case is hatred and the liberation from it through love."
Web links
- Work data with detailed table of contents (English) on the website of the Latvian National Opera ( Memento from July 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ LAIKS magazine from June 18, 2011. Report on the premiere (Latvian).
- ↑ a b Andreas Laska in Das Opernglas , edition 10/2012
- ↑ Skulte's works were cultivated especially in concerts by the Latvians in exile. There were performances of singing parts from the opera, for example. B. 1954 in Adelaide ( Austrālijas Latvietis , 23 October 1954), 1960 in Minneapolis ( LAIKS 13 April 1960) and 1981 in Chicago ( LAIKS , 7 November 1981).
- ↑ liveriga.com: The Vilkači heiress
- ↑ Mana Māja of April 10, 1943 (Latvian)
- ↑ Ilona Leimane: mantiniece Vilkaču. Jumava, Riga 2006, ISBN 9789984381961 .
- ↑ Two-part television production based on the book of the same name: Vilkaču mantiniece in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ a b Review by James Manheim on allmusic.com (English)
- ↑ The rural comedy Skroderdienas Silmačos ( Tailoring Days at the Silmači Farm) by Rūdolfs Blaumanis is the most popular play in Latvia. Skulte composed the music on this subject too.
- ↑ Lauma Mellēna in nra.lv
- ↑ Vilkaču mantiniece kā eksorcisms - naida izdzīšana