''Die Schule der Frauen'' is a 1957 German-language opera by

Rolf Liebermann Rolf Liebermann (14 September 1910 – 2 January 1999), was a Swiss composer and music administrator. He served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1959 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1988. He was also Artistic Director of ...

after

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

's ''

The School for Wives ''The School for Wives'' (french: L'école des femmes; ) is a theatrical comedy written by the seventeenth century French playwright Molière and considered by some critics to be one of his finest achievements. It was first staged at the Palai ...

''. The opera was premiered as a one-act work, ''The Wives School'', in English in Kentucky in 1955.Nicholas Ivor Martin, ''The Opera Manual'' 0810888696 2013, p. 335: "Premiered Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville Orchestra Society, December 3, 1955. Set in France in the ... version premiered as ''Die Schule der Frauen'' in Salzburg, 1957. The full three-act German version of the opera premiered at the

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 ...

in 1957 with Walter Berry as Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) who sits on the stage giving commentary but also plays three roles himself. The rest of the cast include

Kurt Böhme Kurt Böhme (5 May 1908 – 20 December 1989) was a German bass. He was born in Dresden, Germany, where he studied with Adolf Kluge at the Dresden Conservatory. He made his debut in 1930 in Bautzen in Der Freischütz, singing both Kaspar (a sig ...

as Arnolphe,

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 ...

as Agnes,

Christa Ludwig Christa Ludwig (16 March 1928 – 24 April 2021) was a German mezzo-soprano and occasional dramatic soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, lieder, oratorio, and other major religious works like masses, passions, and solos in symp ...

as Georgette,

Nicolai Gedda Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, known professionally as Nicolai Gedda (11 July 1925 – 8 January 2017), was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1951, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, when he made h ...

as Horace, and

Alois Pernerstorfer Alois Pernerstorfer (3 June 1912 – 12 May 1978) was an Austrian bass-baritone Born in Vienna, Pernerstorfer began his training in 1933 at the Wiener Musikhochschule with Theo Lierhammer and Josef Krips and made his opera debut in 1936 in Gra ...

as Oronte, 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 ...

conducted by

George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...

. A recording was made and was issued by Orfeo, then reissued by Line.

References

Operas 1957 operas German-language operas Operas based on works by Molière {{German-opera-stub