Tuttifäntchen

Tuttifäntchen is a 1922 German musical play, a Christmas fairy tale for children with music by Paul Hindemith. The play itself is subtitled, Weihnachtsmärchen mit Gesang und Tanz in drei Bildern von Hedwig Michel und Franziska Becker.

Plot

The woodcarver Tuttifant in carving a Kaspar or Punch puppet when it comes to life. Because Tuttifäntchen has no heart he takes the heart of Tuttifant's daughter Trudel, who while Tuttifäntchen lives continues to live. However when the puppet falls upon the fir tree from which he was taken and is absorbed back into the tree Trudel begins to die. Tuttifant's apprentice retrieves Trudel's heart and returns it to her, saving her life. The star of Trudel's dead mother appears above the fir tree.[1] Otto Erhardt recounts that Hindemith started work on the music without having read the full libretto.[2]

Recordings

A recording by soloists, the Berlin Radio Choir and Deutsches SO Berlin under Johannes Zurl was released by CPO in 2013.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Schott
  2. ↑ Stephen Luttmann Paul Hindemith: A Research and Information Guide 2013 "Otto Erhardt 1964 ...Hindemith's having written the music to Tuttifäntchen without carefully reading its story with decidedly mixed results"
  3. ↑ Hindemith: Tuttifäntchen – review