''Die wundersame Schustersfrau'' (''The Wondrous Cobbler's Wife'') is an opera in two acts by Udo Zimmermann, with a libretto which he wrote with Eberhard Schmidt based on the 1930 Spanish play ''

La zapatera prodigiosa ''The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife'' (''La zapatera prodigiosa''), also known as ''The Shoemaker's Wonderful Wife'' and ''The Shoemaker's Prosperous Wife'', is a play by the twentieth-century Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was writ ...

'', a ''farsa violenta'' by Federico García Lorca and translated by Enrique Beck. The opera was first performed on 25 April 1982 at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen, staged by

Alfred Kirchner Alfred Kirchner (born 22 May 1937) is a German actor, theatre director (especially for opera) and theatre manager who is based in Berlin. He worked at theatres such as Theater Bremen, Schauspielhaus Bochum, the Burgtheater in Vienna and the Staat ...

History

''Die wundersame Schustersfrau'' is Zimmermann's fifth opera and the first not premiered in the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. He wrote it on a commission by the broadcaster Süddeutscher Rundfunk after the success of his opera '' Der Schuhu und die fliegende Prinzessin'' at the 1977 Schwetzingen Festival. The libretto, based on 's German version of Lorca's ''

'', was written by the composer and Lutz Eberhard Schmidt. Zimmermann completed the composition in 1981. The premiere, as part of the Schwetzingen Festival at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen on 25 April 1982, was produced by the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

, conducted by

Peter Gülke Peter Ludwig Gülke (born 29 April 1934) is a German conductor and musicologist. Biography Born in Weimar, Gülke studied cello and musicology at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar. He completed his doctorate in philosophy in Leipzi ...

and staged by

. During the same season, the opera was performed in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

, Bielefeld and the

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspi ...

, the first performance in the GDR. The stage director wrote a version suitable for small stages in 1985, which was performed in Bautzen,

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

, at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, and in 1988 at the first Munich Biennale. It was performed in Bonn in 1989 (conducted by the composer),

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

in 1992,

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

in 1993, and at the

Deutsche Oper am Rhein The Deutsche Oper am Rhein (German Opera on the Rhine) is an opera company based in Düsseldorf and Duisburg. The opera also has an associated classical ballet company. Axel Kober has been its Music Director since 2009. The resident orchestra, th ...

in Duisburg in 1996.

Roles

Music

A critic of the premiere noted the opera's expressivity, beginning with a beginning of one central tone, intensified in rhythm and dynamics, a "chiffre" repeated in emotional situations. Other elements are fake-folklore, use of the

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

reminiscent of Mozart, and repeated strong beats marking rage. Zimmermann wrote complex ensembles in octets of women.

Recording

Excerpts from Act 2 were recorded as part of the series ' under the title ''Nach- und Nachtgesänge – Oper 1977–1987 – Werke von Kirchner, U. Zimmermann, Matthus, W. Zimmermann, Rihm''. As in the premiere, Peter Gülke conducted the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg..

References

External links

Die wundersame Schustersfrau
(synopsis) opera-guide.ch
The Wondrous Cobbler's Wife
Breitkopf & Härtel * Manfred Rückert
Die wundersame Schustersfrau
(detailed synopsis) ''tamino-klassikforum'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wundersame Schustersfrau, Die Operas German-language operas 1982 operas Operas by Udo Zimmermann Operas based on plays