' (German for ''Danton's Death'') is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Gottfried von Einem Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ. Biog ...

to a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (he ...

and Gottfried von Einem after

Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...

's 1835

play of the same name Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

. Its first performance took place in Salzburg on 6 August 1947. It was revised in 1955. The successful premiere of Gottfried von Einem's opera ' at the 1947

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

and its quick staging by European houses were due to more than the strong drama of Einem's score. This was a first step toward the rehabilitation of German musicians after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; an opera by a young Austrian composer who had not collaborated in the former regime's cultural policies. ' dramatizes legalized governmental terror, a plague which the world at the time realized had not been eradicated with the end of the war.

Roles

Synopsis

''Dantons Tod'' was adapted from Georg Büchner's play by von Einem and his teacher, composer Boris Blacher. The

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

is Georges Danton, a leader in the French government during the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. When he turned against

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

's tactics—including terror—he was

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

d in April 1794. The opera's first act establishes Danton's confrontation with Robespierre. In the first scene Danton and Camille Desmoulins express their desire for an end of the daily executions to a group of their friends playing cards. Scene two introduces the volatile crowd. Robespierre enters and in an

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

sways the crowd and promises more

executions Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. Danton confronts him. After Danton leaves, Robespierre and his colleague Saint-Just decide that he and Camille must be killed. In the last scene of the act Danton announces to Camille and his wife Lucile that he is to be arrested, but he refuses to flee. Act 2 depicts Danton's trial and death. Two scenes before the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (french: Tribunal révolutionnaire; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. It eventually became one of the ...

are separated by one with Danton and Camille in prison. Lucile comes to see Camille; she has lost her reason. In the trial scenes the crowd swings between demanding Danton's death and falling under the spell of his eloquent oratory. At the end, in the

Place de la Révolution The Place de la Concorde () is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's 8th arrondissement of Paris, eighth arrondissement, at the eastern e ...

, the condemned prisoners sing "

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

" in counterpoint to the crowd dancing the

Carmagnole "La Carmagnole" is the title of a French song created and made popular during the French Revolution, accompanied by a wild dance of the same name that may have also been brought into France by the Piedmontese. It was first sung in August 1792 and ...

. Danton and Camille are guillotined. After the crowd disperses, Lucile enters and sits on the steps of the guillotine. She cries ''Es lebe der Konig'' (Long live the king) and is arrested as the curtain falls. Von Einem revised the score slightly after the premiere, replacing an orchestral prelude with the

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord (as ...

that now open the opera, cutting an orchestral passage after Danton's death, and revising the final scene with Lucile.

Recordings

Paul Schöffler Paul Schöffler (15 September 1897 – 21 November 1977) was a German operatic baritone, particularly associated with Mozart, Wagner, and Strauss roles. Born in Dresden, he studied at the Music Conservatory there with Rudolf Schmalmauer and Wald ...

as Danton,

Julius Patzak Julius Patzak (9 April 189826 January 1974) was an Austrian tenor distinguished in operatic and concert work. He was particularly noted in Mozart, Beethoven and in early 20th-century German repertoire. Biography Julius Patzak was born in Vienn ...

as Desmoulins and

Maria Cebotari Maria Cebotari (original name: Ciubotaru, 10 February 1910 – 9 June 1949) was a celebrated Bessarabian-born Romanian soprano and actress, and a significant opera and singing star of the 1930s and 1940s. Beniamino Gigli stated that Cebotari ...

as Lucile. This is a live recording taken from the premiere in Salzburg on August 6, 1947 with the

Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...

and

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

Chorus conducted by

Ferenc Fricsay Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen. Biography Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, E ...

. A recording is available on Allegro Corporation's Opera D'Oro label.''Dantons Tod''
allegro-music.com *

Theo Adam Theo Adam (1 August 1926 – 10 January 2019) was a German operatic bass-baritone and bass singer who had an international career in opera, concert and recital from 1949. He was a member of the Staatsoper Dresden for his entire career, and sang ...

, Werner Hollweg, Horst Hiestermann,

Krisztina Laki Krisztina Laki (born 16 September 1944) is a Hungarian coloratura soprano who worked mainly on the opera stage in Germany, with guest appearances in major European opera houses. She has held master classes internationally. Career Born in Érd, ...

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

Chorus and Orchestra,

Lothar Zagrosek Lothar Zagrosek (born 13 November 1942 in Otting, Germany) is a German conductor. As a youth, he sang in the Regensburg Cathedral choir, including performances as the First Boy in ''The Magic Flute'' at the 1954 Salzburg Festival. From 1962 to ...

Orfeo 1983

References

External links

''Dantons Tod''
work details, including full score,

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-base ...

Work details
opera-guide.ch *,

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

, conductor:

Ferdinand Leitner Ferdinand Leitner (4 March 1912 in Berlin – 3 June 1996 in Zürich) was a German conductor. Leitner studied under Franz Schreker, Julius Prüwer, Artur Schnabel and Karl Muck. He also was a composition student with Robert Kahn. Starting as ...

, director:

Otto Schenk Otto Schenk (born 12 June 1930, in Vienna) is an Austrian actor, and theater and opera director. Life and career Schenk was born to Catholic parents. His father, a lawyer, had Jewish roots and therefore lost his job after the Anschluss in 1938. ...

(1963) {{Authority control 1947 operas Death in music German-language operas Operas Operas set in the French Revolution Operas based on real people Operas based on plays Operas set in France Operas set in the 18th century Operas by Gottfried von Einem Works about Georges Danton Cultural depictions of Georges Danton Cultural depictions of Maximilien Robespierre Adaptations of works by Georg Büchner