Der Kreidekreis (opera)
| Alexander von Zemlinsky |
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Operas
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Der Kreidekreis (Op. 21) is a 1933 opera in 3 acts by Alexander von Zemlinsky to a libretto by the composer after the play Der Kreidekreis by Klabund – a telling of the Chalk Circle story. The opera was written 1930/31 and premiered 14 October 1933 in the Zürich Opera House.[1] Among the singers were Artūrs Cavara,[2] Maria Madlen Madsen[3] Maria Bernhard-Ulbrich;[4] Fred Destal, Georg Oeggl, Peter Klein;[5] it was directed by Karl Schmid-Bloß,[4] the stage design was by Roman Clemens.[6]
It was planned to premiere the work simultaneously on four German stages, Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, and Nuremberg. This became impossible when the Nazis came to power early in 1933. Still, the work was performed in January 1934 in Stettin, Coburg, Berlin, and Nurembeg, then in February in Graz.[7] It was also performed in Prague and Bratislava.[8]
The opera was revived in Zürich in 2003.[9]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 14 October 1933 Conductor: Robert Kolisko[8] |
|---|---|---|
| Tchang-Haitang, a tea house girl, second wife of Ma | soprano | Madlen Madsen |
| Yü-Pei, First Wife of Ma | mezzo-soprano | |
| Ma, the tax collector | bass | Fred Destal |
| Prince Pao, honest official | tenor | Artūrs Cavara |
| Tschu-tschu, a dishonest judge | bass | |
| Tschao, law court official | bass-baritone | |
| Tong, marriage broker | bass-baritone | |
| Tschang-Ling, brother | baritone | Georg Oeggl |
| Mrs Tschang | mezzo-soprano | |
| Hebamme (midwife) | mezzo-soprano | |
| Ein Mädchen (a girl) | soprano | |
| 2 Kulis, court clerks, police, soldiers, flower girls, a master of ceremonies | ||
Recording
- 2013: Renate Behle (soprano), Gabriele Schreckenbach (alto), Bengt-Ola Morgny (tenor), Roland Hermann (baritone), Gidon Saks (baritone), Reiner Goldberg (tenor), Warren Mok (tenor), Hans Helm (baritone), Celina Lindsley (soprano), Siegfried Lorenz (baritone), Gertrud Ottenthal (soprano), Kaja Borris (alto), Peter Matić (narrator), Uwe Peter (tenor); Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Stefan Soltesz. Capriccio C5190[10]
References
- ↑ The American Scholar, vol. 61, p. 587. 1992 "Even those operas considered to be his best, Kleider machen Leute and Der Kreidekreis, both based on good texts, suffer in..."
- ↑ Liner notes Der Rosenkavalier, 1936, Teatro Colón, Marston Records]
- ↑ Adler, Guido; Wessely, Othmar (1982). Studien zur Musikwissenschaft (Hans Schneider) 33. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - 1 2 Suter, Paul (2005). "Maria Bernhard-Ulbrich". In Kotte, Andreas. Theaterlexikon der Schweiz (in German). Zürich: Chronos. p. 179.
- ↑ "Das tägliche Kalenderblatt – 14. Oktober 1982", tamino-klassikforum, citing Reclams Opernlexikon (2001), p. 1419
- ↑ Pisk, Paul A. (January 1933). "Zemlinskys Kreidekreis". Anbruch – Monatsschrift für moderne Musik 15 (1): 145–147.
- ↑ Reevers, Peter. "III. Musikdramatische Ostasienrezeption". Das Fremde und das Vertraute (in German). p. 204. in Archiv für Musik-Wissenschaft (Franz Steiner Verlag) (41). 1997. ISBN 9783515071338. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - 1 2 Blackburn, Robert (1999). "Zemlinsky's The Chalk Circle: Artifice, Fairy-tale and Humanity" (PDF). Revista Música (São Paulo) 9 (10): 104. (Original publication)
- ↑ Alexander Zemlinsky: Der Kreidekreis, October 2003, Zürich Opera House, cast and reviews (German)
- ↑ Der Kreidekreis, 2013 recording
External links
- Details, synopsis, libretto, Opera-Guide.ch
- Der Kreidekreis, Universal Edition