(''The Snow Queen'') is a

fairy-tale opera Fairy-tale opera may refer to any of several traditions of opera based on fairy tales. *Opéra féerie is a French genre of opera or opéra-ballet, often with elements of magic in their stories. *The English genre of "fairy opera" includes Gilbert ...

George Alexander Albrecht George Alexander Albrecht (15 February 1935 – 21 December 2021) was a German conductor and composer, who also worked as a musicologist and academic teacher. A prolific composer at a young age, he was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Staatsope ...

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 ...

by Peter Truschner based on Andersen's "

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...

". It premiered at the

Nationaltheater Weimar The (DNT) is a German theatre and musical organisation based in Weimar. It is a twin institution, consisting of the theatrical (German National Theatre, now solely based in Weimar) and the symphony orchestra known as the . It has a total of ...

in 2015. The vocal parts are scored for professional soloists and children's choir, with choir members acting.

History

On an initiative by

Gudrun Schröfel Gudrun Schröfel (born 1 February 1943) is a German choral conductor, conductor and academic teacher. She led choirs, namely the Mädchenchor Hannover, to competition successes and awards for recordings. Life Schröfel studied music pedagogy, c ...

, the conductor of the Mädchenchor Hannover,

composed his only opera as an opera for children, to be performed by soloists and a chorus of children who also have to act. At the time, he was already aged 78, and had worked mostly as an opera conductor. The libretto was written by Peter Truschner, who wrote a rhymed version of Andersen's "

". The opera premiered at the

in 2015, conducted by

Dominik Beykirch Dominic is a name common among Roman Catholics and other Latin-Romans as a male given name. Originally from the late Roman-Italic name "Dominicus", its translation means "Lordly", "Belonging to God" or "of the Master". Variations include: Domini ...

, and directed by Maximilian von Mayenburg with set designs and costumes by Thilo Reuther. The premiere was prepared by a series of lectures at the

Musikhochschule Weimar The University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar (in German: Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar) is an institution of music in Weimar, Germany. The Hochschule Franz Liszt, who spent a great deal of his life in Weimar, encouraged the founding of ...

Roles

Source:

Music

The vocal parts are scored for professional soloists and children's choir, with choir members acting in roles such as flowers (''Blumen''), ravens (''Raben''), robbers (''Räuber''), snow flakes (''Schneeflocken''), wind and ice crystals. The music around the Snow Queen character is set

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a s ...

, contrasting with the human world. The children, Gerda and Kay, are characterised by song-like music, the troll declaims like Mime in Wagner's ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

'', the Snow Queen sings in extremely high register, and scenes for ravens and robbers resemble

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

. The opera takes around 80 minutes to perform. The score calls for an orchestra including flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, tuba, timpani, 2 drums, harp and strings.

Reception

Roland H. Dippel wrote in a review published in ''

Leipziger Volkszeitung The ''Leipziger Volkszeitung'' or ''LVZ'' (German for ''Leipzig People's Newspaper'') is a daily regional newspaper in Leipzig and western Saxony, Germany. First published on 1 October 1894, the LVZ was formerly an important publication of the ...

'', ''Oper & Tanz'' and '' Neue Musikzeitung'', that the opera deals with great emotions, proving oneself in dangers, and faith in the good. ("") He summarised: "A real opera with a large orchestra that fascinates its young audience for the art form" ("").

References

External links