''Das Christ-Elflein'' (''The Little Elf of Christ'') is an opera in two acts by Hans Pfitzner to a German-language

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 ...

by Pfitzner and

Ilse von Stach Ilse von Stach (originally ''Stach von Goltzheim'') (17 February 1879 – 22 August 1941) was a German writer. Life Born near Borken, von Stach was the daughter of a Lutheran Protestant estate owner. After the early death of her mother, she was r ...

. The work was originally premiered in 1906 as a Christmas play by von Stach with

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

by Pfitzner. It was later revised by the composer into a two-act opera (the version performed today) which premiered in Dresden on 11 December 1917.

Background and performance history

''Das Christ-Elflein'' began life as incidental music by Pfitzner for a Christmas fairy-tale play by the German writer Ilse von Stach (Pfitzner's lover at the time). This version premiered on 11 December 1906 at the Prinzregententheater in Munich conducted by

Felix Mottl right Felix Josef von Mottl (between 29 July/29 August 1856 – 2 July 1911) was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which ''Agnes Bernauer'' (Weima ...

with the actress Maja Reubke in the title role. The premiere was not a success. The German critic Eduard Wahl wrote:

It would fain be simple and childlike; it is childish. It would fain be religious; it is sentimental. ..It would fain be serious; it is in bad taste, it is ridiculous.Hale, Philip (1912)
Programme notes to "Overture to ''Das Christ-Elflein''"
pp. 92-94.
Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
.

During the summer of 1917 Pfitzner revised the work as a two-act ''

spieloper In the 19th century, Spieloper ('opera play') was understood to mean a light opera genre, developed from Singspiel. Works typical of the genre include those by Albert Lortzing, such as ''Zar und Zimmermann'', and Otto Nicolai's '' The Merry Wives ...

'' (comic opera). He adapted and shortened the play and turned some of the speaking and silent roles into ones for singers. The revised version premiered on 11 December 1917 at the Königlich-Sächsisches Hoftheater in Dresden conducted by Fritz Reiner with Richard Tauber as Frieder and Grete Merrem-Nikisch in the title role. Otto Klemperer was an admirer of the work, but Bruno Walter spoke of it as a " Lernaean serpent he librettistwho had slain Hercules

he composer He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

.Cowan, Rob (2 February 2001)
"The Arts: Classical - The Compact Collection"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Retrieved via

Highbeam HighBeam Research was a paid search engine and full text online archive owned by Gale, a subsidiary of Cengage, for thousands of newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines, and encyclopedias in English. It was headquart ...

15 December 2012 . The revised version continues to be performed occasionally in German-speaking countries, e.g. by the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg in 2008, and was heard in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

for the first time in 1954 when it was given a concert performance in Jordan Hall by the New England Conservatory of Music. The opera was broadcast on German television NWDR in 1955, conducted by

Wilhelm Schüchter Wilhelm Schüchter (15 December 1911 – 27 May 1974) was a German conductor. He was Generalmusikdirektor in Dortmund and left a legacy of opera recordings. Career Born in Bonn, Schüchter studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, comp ...

with

Anneliese Rothenberger Anneliese Rothenberger (19 June 191924 May 2010) was a German operatic soprano who had an active international performance career which spanned from 1942 to 1983. She specialized in the lyric coloratura soprano repertoire, and was particularly adm ...

in the title role, and has subsequently had two more full-length recordings.

Roles

*Christ-Elflein, ''the little Christ- Elf'' (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

) *Das Christkindchen, ''the little

Christ Child The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, a ...

'' (soprano) *Tannengreis, ''"Old Fir Tree", Christ-Elflein's friend'' (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

) *

Knecht Ruprecht Knecht Ruprecht (; English: ''Farmhand Rupert'', ''Servant Rupert'' or ''Farmhand Robert'', ''Servant Robert'') is a companion of Saint Nicholas as described in the folklore of Germany. He is the most popular gift-bringing character in Germany ...

(bass) *Herr von Gumpach (

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

) *Frieder, ''his son'' (

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

) *Franz, ''a servant of Gumpach'' (bass) *Jochen, ''a servant of Gumpach'' (tenor) *Trauchten, ''Frieder's sister'' (spoken role) *The village doctor (spoken role) *Frau von Gumpach, ''Frieder and Trauchten's mother'' (silent role) *Sankt Petrus, ''

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

'' (silent role) *Choruses of village children and angels

Synopsis

Act 1 ''A forest in midwinter'' Knecht Ruprecht und das Christkind

Elflein, a little elf living in the forest, asks his friend Tannengreis, an old tree spirit, why humans ring bells and sing at Christmas and what it all means. Tannengreis expresses his dislike and mistrust of humans. Frieder appears in the forest on his way to the village doctor. His sister Trautchen is dying and he no longer believes in God. He tells the elf that he too has no time for his questions about Christmas. Franz and Jochen, servants of Frieder and Trautchen's father, enter the forest to cut down a Christmas tree and end up having an encounter with

whom they initially assume is a toy seller and then a warlock. The

appears and announces that he will bring Trautchen the Christmas tree this year. Elflein is fascinated by him, but Tannengreis warns him to stay away from humans and their religion. After a dance by young men and forest maidens prevents the servants from cutting down a tree, angels appear to announce that it is Christmas Eve, a holy night. The Christ Child leaves for the von Gumpach house. Elflein goes with him. Act 2 ''The von Gumpach house on Christmas Eve'' Herr von Gumpach scolds Franz and Jochen for not having returned with a Christmas tree. They protest that they have seen the living Christ Child, but he doesn't believe them and Frieder openly mocks them. Tannengreis comes looking for the little elf and is hidden behind the stove by Frieder. Trautchen is brought into the room, and Knecht Ruprecht arrives with village children to explain the tradition of the Christmas tree. The Christ Child appears with the little elf bringing the tree for Trautchen but tells everyone that he has also come to bring the sick child to heaven. The elf takes pity on Trautchen and offers to take her place. The Christ Child agrees, grants the elf a soul, and gives permission for him come back to earth every Christmas to visit Tannengreis. His new name will be "Christ-Elflein" (Christ's Little Elf). Christ-Elflein is brought up to heaven by the angels. Trautchen is cured, Frieder regains his belief in God, and Tannengreis is reconciled to humans. All present join in the Christmas celebrations.

Recordings

* ''Das Christ-Elflein'' (with dialogue) – Rundfunkorchester Hamburg conducted by

with

as Christ-Elflein (1955) Label:

NDR NDR may refer to: Computing * Non delivery report, a return email message to a sender indicating failed message delivery * Network Data Representation, an implementation of the OSI model presentation layer Science and technology * Negative differ ...

* ''Das Christ-Elflein'' (dialogue replaced with text narrative by Alois Fink) –

Münchner Rundfunkorchester The Munich Radio Orchestra (German: ''Münchner Rundfunkorchester'') is a German symphony broadcast orchestra based in Munich. It is one of the two orchestras affiliated with the Bavarian Radio (Bayerischer Rundfunk), the other being the Bavarian ...

conducted by

Kurt Eichhorn Kurt Peter Eichhorn (4 August 1908 – 29 June 1994), was a German conductor. Eichhorn was born in Munich, the son of a painter. He studied music at the conservatory in Würzburg with Hermann Zilcher and progressed through provincial houses. His ...

with

Helen Donath Helen Jeanette Donath (née Erwin; born July 10, 1940) is an American soprano with a career spanning fifty years. Biography She was born in Corpus Christi, Texas and studied there at Del Mar College. Later she studied in New York with Paola Nov ...

as Christ-Elflein, Janet Perry as the Christ Child, and

Alexander Malta Alexander Malta (28 September 1938 as Alexander Lagger – 23 August 2016) was a Swiss operatic bass-baritone. Life Born in St. Gallen, after the Matura at the , he studied in Zürich and Italy and made his debut in 1966 in Stuttgart as Monk i ...

as Tannengreis (recorded live 30 November 1979, released 1999). Label: Orfeo Chicago Public Library
''Das Christelflein'' (sound recording) / Hans Pfitzner
Retrieved 15 December 2012. * ''Das Christ-Elflein'' (dialogue replaced with text narrative by Alois Fink) –

conducted by

Claus Peter Flor Claus Peter Flor (born 16 March 1953, Leipzig) is a German conductor. Flor studied violin and clarinet at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Zwickau. He continued his music studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar and the HMT Felix ...

with

Marlis Petersen Marlis Petersen (born 3 February 1968)Heinrich (2018) is a German operatic coloratura soprano. Career Born in Sindelfingen, Baden-Württemberg, Marlis Petersen won six important piano competitions before eventually going to the Stuttgart Conser ...

as Christ-Elflein, Martina Rüping as the Christ Child, and Friedmann Rohlig as Tannengreis (2004). Label:

cpo CPO may refer to: Occupations * Certified Professional Organizer * Certified Protection Officer, a professional certification for security officers from the International Foundation for Protection Officers * Chief people officer, a corporate of ...

References

External links

Score of ''Das Christelflein'', Op.20
at the

International Music Score Library Project The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project, which uses MediaWiki software ...

Pfitzner, Hans ''Das Christ-Elflein'' (1906, rev.1917)
on

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...

(orchestration, roles, and brief synopsis)
Review
of the 2004 recording of ''Das Christ-Elflein'' (cpo 777 155–2) on Opera Today. {{DEFAULTSORT:Christ-Elflein, Das German-language operas 1906 operas Christmas operas Operas Operas by Hans Pfitzner Operas based on plays

Background and performance history

Roles

Synopsis

Recordings

See also

References

External links