' (In his garden Don Perlimplín loves Belisa) is an opera in two acts by
Wolfgang Fortner
Wolfgang Fortner (12 October 1907 – 5 September 1987) was a German composer, composition teacher and conductor.
Life
Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents, who were both singers, Fortner very early on had intense contact with music.
...
. The
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 ...
, also by Fortner, is based on
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
's play ''
Amor de don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín''. It premiered at the opening of the 1962
Schwetzingen Festival
The Schwetzingen Festival (German: Schwetzinger Festspiele, now Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele) is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany.
In 1952, the broadca ...
.
History
Wolfgang Fortner
Wolfgang Fortner (12 October 1907 – 5 September 1987) was a German composer, composition teacher and conductor.
Life
Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents, who were both singers, Fortner very early on had intense contact with music.
...
composed the opera on a commission of the broadcaster
Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SR) for the opening of the 1962
Schwetzingen Festival
The Schwetzingen Festival (German: Schwetzinger Festspiele, now Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele) is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany.
In 1952, the broadca ...
. The festival has a tradition of opening with a new work,
such as Werner Egk's ''
Der Revisor
' is a comic opera in five acts by Werner Egk, who was also the librettist. It is based on Nikolai Gogol's play ''The Government Inspector''. The premiere on 9 May 1957 at the Schwetzingen Festival was conducted by the composer.
Recording
* ''Der ...
'' in 1957,
Gerhard Wimberger
Gerhard Wimberger (30 August 1923 – 12 October 2016) was an Austrian composer and conductor.
Career
Wimberger studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. His teachers were Cesar Bresgen and Johann Nepomuk David for composition, and Clemens Krau ...
's ''La Battaglia'' in 1960, and Hans Werner Henze's ''
Elegie für junge Liebende
''Elegy for Young Lovers'' (German: ') is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman.
Background
The opera was first performed in a German translation by Louis, Prince of Hesse and by R ...
'' in 1961.
The composer chose again a play by
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
, as he had done already in ''
Bluthochzeit
(''Blood Wedding'') is an opera () in two acts by Wolfgang Fortner. The libretto, also by Fortner, is based on German translation of Federico García Lorca, García Lorca's 1933 play ''Blood Wedding, Bodas de sangre''. It premiered at the Cologne ...
''.
The opera's subtitle alludes to the play's subtitle, "Aleluya erotica en un prologo y tres escenas" ("An erotic lace-paper valentine in a prologue and three scenes"). It is in German "Vier Bilder eines erotischen Bilderbogens in der Art eines Kammerspiels von Federico García Lorca" (Four images of an erotic valentine in the way of a chamber play by F. G. Lorca), characterizing it as a
chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas such as Pergoles ...
.
' premiered at the
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (Schwetzingen palace theater) is a court theater in Schwetzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The historic building, opened in 1753, is part of Schloss Schwetzingen and since 1952 the principal venue of the Schwetzing ...
on 10 May 1962 in a production of the
Cologne Opera
The Cologne Opera (German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company
From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the city's court th ...
, staged by
Oscar Fritz Schuh
Oscar Fritz Schuh (15 January 1904 – 22 October 1984) was a German-Austrian opera director, theatre director and opera manager. He is known for directing Mozart operas at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival in productions that tour ...
and with
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist.
Biography
Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...
conducting choir and orchestra of the SR.
Roles
Music
Lorca had described his text as ever-changing between lyric and grotesque elements, and as fragmentary. Fortner focused on the serious aspects of a drama of the soul (''Seelendrama''), following the interpretation of the translator of the play, Enrique Beck. The sound is coloured by invisible choirs
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
,
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 ( ...
,
vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...
,
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
,
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
, guitar and percussion.
References
{{Authority control
Operas by Wolfgang Fortner
1957 operas
German-language operas
Operas based on plays
Operas