Waiting for the Barbarians (Opera)
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| Title: | Waiting for the Barbarians |
| Shape: | Opera in two acts |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Philip Glass |
| Libretto : | Christopher Hampton |
| Literary source: | JM Coetzee |
| Premiere: | September 10, 2005 |
| Place of premiere: | Theater Erfurt |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ¼ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Fictional state structure, open time frame |
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Waiting for the Barbarians is an opera in two acts based on the 1980 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize winner JM Coetzee . The composer Philip Glass worked on the material together with the playwright Christopher Hampton . The work was premiered on September 10, 2005 in the Erfurt Theater.
action
The novel by JM Coetzee is an "allegory on the war between the oppressor and the oppressed". The prefect of a border town works diligently for his country. He does not allow himself to be influenced by the threatening conflict with the neighboring barbarians. A special army unit under Colonel Joll and Sergeant Mandel appears. They take prisoners, torture them and do not shrink from murder in order to produce evidence of the dangerousness of the barbarians and to justify a campaign. The prefect takes sides with the barbarians. He takes in a badly abused barbarian girl, takes care of her and finally brings her back to her family. He was then arrested himself as a traitor, publicly humiliated and tortured. After the campaign against the barbarians failed shamefully, the army withdrew. In the end, the prefect is free again, but broken inside and full of questions.
first act
Scene 1. In a remote border town, the prefect leads a group of guards and the two officers Joll and Mandel across a barracks yard into a dilapidated hut where an old man and a boy are being held captive. Colonel Joll wears dark sunglasses; Staff Sergeant Mandel is a young man with piercing blue eyes. The prisoners have so far refused to testify, and Joll has come to get them to speak. He unties the old man to use his own safe interrogation methods.
Scene 2 (first dream image). On the snow-covered main town square, children are building a castle out of snow with a little red flag. The prefect approaches them. All the children except one girl disappear. The prefect carefully watches how the castle gate is designed.
Scene 3. After the interrogation, the old man lies dead under a blanket while the frightened boy has withdrawn to a corner. Joll reports the interrogation to the prefect. The old man lied and then attacked him. He, Joll, pushed him back, whereupon the man fell against the wall and broke his neck. Then the boy confessed to everything: As suspected, the western “barbarians” have joined forces with those of the north and someone is delivering them weapons. That explains the recent attacks on the border patrols and travelers. To get more prisoners for questioning, the boy would lead them to the barbarian camp the next day. The prefect questions the truthfulness of the intimidated boy's testimony. After Joll leaves the scene, he asks the guards how the interrogation is going. They mechanically confirm Joll's statement. The prefect examines the old man's body and notices that he is missing one eye - which was hardly caused by the fall. He orders the boy to be untied and to bring him something to eat. He also advises him not to lead the soldiers to his people under any circumstances.
Scene 4. At the inn the prefect is writing his report on the interrogation. He talks to the cook, a former lover, about Joll's "criminal stupidity" and his brutal interrogation methods with apparently completely harmless prisoners. The cook brings the prefect's current mistress, the pretty kitchen maid "the star".
Scene 5. In his untidy office in the courthouse, the prefect drinks tea with a dinghy and almond. The two justify their torture methods with the current emergency situation. Joll notices a few pieces of antique wood with unknown characters on the desk - archeology is a hobby of the prefect. He assures the prefect how important the results of the interrogations are. The prefect sarcastically replies that the citizens can now sleep peacefully. After the officers leave, he orders all prisoners to be released immediately.
Scene 6. In the evening the prefect reads a book in his apartment. A soldier leads in a dark-skinned barbarian girl who was caught begging. When he confronts her about it, she replies that her people left her behind. Apparently she has problems with her eyes and can only see out of the corner of her eye. The prefect offers her to stay with the cook in the inn and do his laundry. He then examines her bandaged feet and finds that her ankles have been broken. He washes her feet carefully and then collapses on his bed, exhausted. The girl lies down in front of the fireplace.
Scene 7 (second dream image). It is still snowing in the main square. The children continue to build their snow castle. The prefect approaches again and all but one girl disappear. She turns around and shows her face: a smooth white surface like ice. The prefect offers her a coin. She shows no reaction.
Scene 8. The prefect is preparing a pool for a bath in his apartment. He asks the girl if she likes living in town and how she's getting on in the inn. In doing so, he undresses her. She goes into the basin and is carefully washed by him. Then examines her eyes more closely and discovers a small scar. He leads her to the bed, massages her and asks her about the scar. After some hesitation, she talks about the torture. They pretended to blind them with a glowing fork and accidentally touched them. She doesn't want to talk any more about it and lies down on the carpet in front of the fireplace.
Scene 9. In the inn, the prefect is having dinner with the two officers. Mandel indicates that a major offensive against the barbarians is planned. The prefect points out to him the rights of the barbarians who only want to live freely in the land of their ancestors. He doesn't think a war can be successful. Almond leaves the room hurt. The prefect regrets what he said to the cook.
Scene 10. The prefect returns to his apartment at night. The barbarian girl sleeps in his bed. The prefect offers to massage her feet. She asks him if he doesn't want more. But he does not want to take advantage of their situation. She tells more details about her torture: Her father had to watch and would have admitted everything, although he knew nothing at all. He was then murdered. The only reason she stayed in town was because she wanted to be close to him. The prefect promises to bring them back to their people.
Scene 11 (third dream image). It is no longer snowing on the main square. The children are still building their castle. The ground is covered with a thick layer of snow, making it difficult for the prefect to approach them. The children don't run away this time. The girl turns to him and smiles at him. It's the barbarian girl - young and unharmed. He holds out a hand to her. After a while the girl stops smiling and turns back to Burg.
Scene 12. The prefect and the girl are in a tent somewhere in the desert at night. The wind is howling. Both cannot sleep. They love each other.
Scene 13. The prefect and the girl have arrived at the mountain with their guide and two soldiers. You meet a group of barbarians. While the girl is talking to the barbarians, the prefect explains the purpose of the trip to the soldiers. The barbarians have meanwhile agreed to take the girl in and bring her to her family. At the last moment the prefect tries to persuade the girl to return to town with him. However, she never wants to see this place again and joins the barbarians.
Scene 14. After his journey, the prefect has been arrested and taken to the hut in the first scene. Mandel accuses him of high treason.
Second act
Scene 1. The prefect has been in his cell for two months. He thinks of the captivity and torture of the barbarian girl in the same place. A little girl brings him food. The prefect tries in vain to start a conversation with her.
Scene 2 (fourth dream image). This time there is no snow on the main square, but the wind howls like in the desert scene when the prefect and the barbarian girl had come closer. Here the girl kneels in the middle of the square, facing away from the wind. The prefect approaches her. She shows him her ankle injuries. The prefect massages her feet.
Scene 3. The barracks yard is in bright sunlight. Musket volleys can be heard in the distance. Then a bell rings. The residents gather in the main square. Soldiers march in. They are carrying a litter from Colonel Joll. Meanwhile, the word “barbarians” is spreading among the inhabitants. The soldiers lead a group of prisoners who are tied up with barbed wire. On an order from Joll's assistant, the guard opens the prefect's cell. The soldiers now also begin to sing. Their word "enemy" is gradually drowning out the residents. This word was also engraved on the prisoners' backs. The prisoners kneel and Joll takes out a hammer in front of the prefect. When the prefect protested this unjust and shameful treatment of the prisoners, a sergeant knocked him down. Two soldiers carry him back to the barracks. Joll lifts the hammer and slams as the scene darkens.
Scene 4. Joll has settled in the prefect's office. With him is almond. Two soldiers bring in the injured prefect. Joll asks him about the meaning of the old pieces of wood he kept in the office. He suspects that there are encrypted messages between him and the enemy. The prefect invents some of these messages: the first is a greeting to the sender's daughter; the second reports of the arrest of his son, whom he found after several days with broken ankles and blinded in a barrack; the third contains the barbaric symbol for “war”, which, viewed from the side, is also the symbol for “justice”. Joll explains to the prefect that he is by no means as respected among the people as he thinks. On the contrary, he is seen as an annoying old fool who trivializes the enemy. The prefect replies that Joll himself is the enemy. There were no problems before his arrival and the threat was fabricated. Joll asks him to give detailed information about his contacts with the enemy. The prefect declares that they are purely personal. Joll hands him over to Mandel's supervision.
Scene 5. The main square fills with grumbling townspeople. Mandel and some soldiers lead in the prefect, who is struggling to keep himself upright. In order to humiliate him, women's clothes have been put on him. The people insult and mock him as an “enemy” and “barbarian lover”. Mandel has a mock execution carried out in which the prefect is hanged from a mulberry tree.
Scene 6. Back in his cell, the prefect tries to eat a meal despite his contorted shoulders. Almond enters and pushes the bowl away. He explains that one can no longer afford to feed him. He releases the prefect. However, he has confiscated his apartment himself, so the prefect has to live on the street. The prefect asks him how he manages to get something to eat in the evening after his work. Mandel brutally pushes him out and verbally abuses him. The prefect sits in the shade of the mulberry tree.
Scene 7 (fifth dream image). The barbarian girl works on the snow castle on the snow-covered main square. The prefect approaches her with difficulty through the strong wind, which the girl doesn't seem to mind. When he reaches her and their hands brush, the storm blows him back.
Scene 8. One night the prefect is sitting under the mulberry tree in the deserted main square. He made a bed out of cardboard and burlap there. Suddenly soldiers appear with a litter. Some of them are wounded. Colonel Joll gets out of the litter - for the first time without his sunglasses. The prefect, whose wounds have healed in the meantime, grabs one of the soldiers and asks him what happened. The soldier reports on their unsuccessful campaign. They were lured into the desert and wiped out there without really seeing the attackers. There is a brief contemptuous exchange between the prefect and Joll. The townspeople appear one by one. Joll announced that the military would withdraw to the capital for the following winter. The residents now insult him as an "enemy" and throw stones. Joll withdraws into the litter and leaves the place with the soldiers. The prefect explains to the people that the army looted them and terrorized the city, leaving them defenseless. The barbarians couldn't have raged any worse - but they have no interest in the city.
Scene 9. The prefect lies in bed in his apartment at night. The cook is getting dressed. She thinks that he would actually rather be with the "star", but she fled the city with a young man. The barbarian girl, on the other hand, never understood what he wanted from her and was deadly unhappy about it. The prefect hopes the girl will be there when the barbarians invade the city. He is sure that in this case they would not harm anyone.
Scene 10. Snow falls on the main square and the barracks yard. A couple of kids are building a snowman. One of the children wears the same coat as the barbarian girl in the prefect's dreams. The cook empties a bucket of water on the floor. The prefect tries to be clear about what has happened. He still understands far too little about it. He approaches the children and pulls back the child's hood with the cloak. It's not the barbarian girl.
layout
occupation
The opera has the following cast:
Primary vocal line-up
- 2 sopranos
- 2 baritones
- 2 basses
Secondary vocal line-up
- 4 tenors
- 2 baritones
- A child
orchestra
- 2 flutes (also piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (clarinet in A and double bass clarinet / bass clarinet), 2 bassoons
- 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones with bass trombone, tuba
- 5 drummers
- Harp, piano, celesta
- Strings (12 first violins, 10 second violins, 8 violas, 6 cellos, 4 double basses)
structure
The opera consists of a prelude and fourteen scenes in the first act and ten scenes in the second act:
- first act
- Prelude
- Scene 1: "In Fact, We Never Had a Prison"
- Scene 2: Dreamscape No. 1 (first dream image)
- Scene 3: "You Sent for Me"
- Scene 4: "You're Working Late"
- Scene 5: "Normally Speaking, We Would Never Approve of Torture ..."
- Scene 6: "Take off Your Cap"
- Scene 7: Dreamscape No. 2 (second dream image)
- Scene 8: "Do You Like Living in the Town?"
- Scene 9: "... To Demonstrate Our Strength to the Barbarians"
- Scene 10: "Did you have a good evening?"
- Scene 11: Dreamscape No. 3 (third dream image)
- Scene 12: "What is it?"
- Scene 13: "Can you see them?" (Trip into the Mountains)
- Scene 14: "Who Gave You Permission to Desert Your Post?"
- Second act
- Scene 1: "Here, In the Dark"
- Scene 2: Dreamscape No. 4 (fourth dream image)
- Scene 3: "What is Going On?"
- Prologue to scene 4
- Scene 4: "Perhaps You Would Be So Kind"
- Scene 5: "Enemy, Barbarian Lover!"
- Scene 6: "So We're Still Feeding You Well?"
- Scene 7: Dreamscape No. 5 (fifth dream image)
- Scene 8: "Tell Me, What Has Happened"
- Scene 9: "You Don't Have to Go"
- Scene 10: "Our Town is Beautiful"
Work history
The work was commissioned by the Erfurt Theater . The world premiere took place there on September 10, 2005 under the musical direction of Dennis Russell Davies . The production was by Guy Montavon , the set by George Tsypin and the costumes by Hank Irwin Kittel. The actors were Richard Salter (Prefect), Eugene Perry (Joll), Michael Tews (Almond), Elvira Soukop (Barbaric Girl), Kelly God (Cook), Marisca Mulder (Star), Andreas Mitschke (Old Man) and Grit Redlich ( Little girl).
Another series of performances took place in Amsterdam in 2006. In the United States, it was first performed on January 19, 2007 by the Austin Lyric Opera in the Bass Concert Hall on the University of Texas at Austin campus . In 2008 there were performances at the Barbican Center in London with the Erfurt Ensemble. A CD was released in 2008 by Orange Mountain Music (OMM0039).
literature
- Rana Esfandiary: Waiting for the Barbarians. Dissertation from the University of Kansas, 2013 ( Online, PDF )
Web links
- Work information on philipglass.com
- Work information and preview of the score and piano reduction at Music Sales Classical
- Program of the 2008 performance in the Barbican Hall (PDF)
- Richard W. Amero: Review of Waiting for the Barbarians (PDF)
- Steffen Kühn: World premiere: Philip Glass' opera “Waiting for the Barbarians” in Erfurt. Reviewed September 17, 2005 in the Leipzig Almanach
Individual evidence
- ↑ Work information on philipglass.com , accessed on May 22, 2019.
- ↑ Waiting for the Barbarians on philipglass.com , accessed May 22, 2019.
- ↑ Waiting for the Barbarians (WP 10.9.2005) at the Theater Erfurt ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
- ^ Robert Faires: An Opera for Wartime. January 19, 2007 article in the Austin Chronicle , accessed December 23, 2015.
- ↑ Steve Smith: In Austin, Echoes of a Distant War in an Opera's American Premiere. Performance review , January 22, 2007 in the New York Times , accessed December 23, 2015.
- ↑ discography and performance history on musicsalesclassical.com , accessed December 23, 2015.