Wallenberg (Opera)

Work data
Title:	Wallenberg
Shape:	Opera in two acts
Original language:	German
Music:	Erkki-Sven Tüür
Libretto :	Lutz Huebner
Premiere:	May 5, 2001
Place of premiere:	Dortmund Opera
Playing time:	about 2 hours
Place and time of the action:	Sweden and Hungary, 1944–1945
people
	Raoul Wallenberg , Swedish diplomat ( bass baritone ); Adolf Eichmann , SS-Obersturmbannführer , bass ; Wallenberg two ( tenor ); Ronald Reagan , the 40th President of the United States ( baritone ); Jacob Wallenberg , banker, member of the Wallenberg family (tenor); American General (bass baritone); American soldier (baritone); German officer (baritone); First survivor ( mezzo-soprano ); Second survivor (tenor); Third Survivor (Bass); 1. Saved (mezzo-soprano); 2. Rescued (tenor); 3. Rescued (bass); First guest (tenor); Second guest (bass baritone); Third guest (baritone); First diplomat ( soprano ); Second diplomat (mezzo-soprano); Third diplomat ( old ); A lady (mezzo-soprano); The woman (soprano); First Russian Officer (tenor); Second Russian Officer (tenor); Three Gulag prisoners (baritone, bass, baritone); Choir;

Wallenberg is an opera in two acts by Erkki-Sven Tüür . It is about the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and his work to save Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust . Wallenberg was later deported to Moscow . The opera libretto is by Lutz Hübner . The world premiere was on May 5, 2001 at the Dortmund Opera . In 2012 the opera was performed at the State Theater in Karlsruhe .

action

The plot listed here follows the Karlsruhe production from 2012. The director divided the two acts into 19 scenes.

1. Voices can be heard in the prologue asking: "Do we honor a living or a dead?"
2. The conference (I). The time and place is Sweden 1944. At the reception, guests clap about Wallenberg. Diplomats trust the Wallenberg Mission, which was sent to the Swedish embassy in Hungary.
3. Train station (I). The place is Hungary in 1944. Wallenberg sees the human tragedy surrounding the deportation of the Jews (aria "A thousand Jews, every day ...")
4. The plan (I). Wallenberg decides that Swedish protection passports should turn Jews into Sweden.
5. Train station (II). Wallenberg rescues several people with false passports (aria: "Passport beats gun.")
6. The rescued. A group of rescued people shows the fragility of life with the aria “Life is more than not being dead”, and Wallenberg understands it.
7. The plan (II). Wallenberg sings “Not enough. I'm not doing enough! "
8. Eichmann (I). Wallenberg sees Adolf Eichmann mocking him.
9. Train station (III). A woman did not receive a Swedish protection pass and gives her passport back to Wallenberg. Wallenberg looks disappointed.
10. The plan (III). Wallenberg panics. A lady tells him several times to save himself.
11. The death march. Time and place are Hungary in January 1945. Eichmann scoffs at Wallenberg. The war is ending. Wallenberg wants to start a new life, but Russian soldiers arrest him.

12. The Russian secret service SMERSCH took Wallenberg to the Moscow State Prison. Official Russia says "We don't have it!"
13. The Conference II. Several diplomats seek and find Wallenberg. You tell Wallenberg that this would only mean half the war. This remains in the gulag .
14. Gulag (I). Wallenberg is brutally interrogated and endures the difficult life in the camp (Aria: "The Swede is dead. The Swede is alive.").
15. Gulag (II). Wallenberg forgets the time and his name in the camp. He sings "There's a hole in my head." In an interlude, Wallenberg's traces are erased.
16. The fight. Wallenberg two sings "I am your hero, you will not get rid of me."
17. Eichmann (II). Eichmann looks forward to his execution and is executed.
18. The conference (III). Wallenberg is still hoping. Three diplomats ask childlike questions. Wallenberg sings the aria "What for?"
19th Wallenberg circus. People celebrate the "Wallenberg Art Event". Ronald Reagan makes him an honorary citizen of the United States. Wallenberg two sings “No trace of a doubt!” At the end, a woman's voice reminds of the “dead people”.

Klaus Stübler, Christine Wolf: Harenbergs composers lexicon. Harenberg Lexikon Verlag, Dortmund 2001, ISBN 3-611-00978-4 .

Work data
Title:	Wallenberg
Shape:	Opera in two acts
Original language:	German
Music:	Erkki-Sven Tüür
Libretto :	Lutz Huebner
Premiere:	May 5, 2001
Place of premiere:	Dortmund Opera
Playing time:	about 2 hours
Place and time of the action:	Sweden and Hungary, 1944–1945
people
Raoul Wallenberg , Swedish diplomat ( bass baritone ) Adolf Eichmann , SS-Obersturmbannführer , bass Wallenberg two ( tenor ) Ronald Reagan , the 40th President of the United States ( baritone ) Jacob Wallenberg , banker, member of the Wallenberg family (tenor) American General (bass baritone) American soldier (baritone) German officer (baritone) First survivor ( mezzo-soprano ) Second survivor (tenor) Third Survivor (Bass) 1. Saved (mezzo-soprano) 2. Rescued (tenor) 3. Rescued (bass) First guest (tenor) Second guest (bass baritone) Third guest (baritone) First diplomat ( soprano ) Second diplomat (mezzo-soprano) Third diplomat ( old ) A lady (mezzo-soprano) The woman (soprano) First Russian Officer (tenor) Second Russian Officer (tenor) Three Gulag prisoners (baritone, bass, baritone) Choir