Kálmán_Imre_cropped_(Willinger_Vilmos,_1924)

Die Bajadere is an

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 ...

in 3 acts composed by Hungarian composer

Emmerich Kálmán Emmerich Kálmán ( hu, Kálmán Imre; 24 October 1882 – 30 October 1953) was a Hungarian composer of operettas and a prominent figure in the development of Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most popular works are '' Die Csár ...

. 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 ...

was written by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. The work premiered in Vienna at the

Carltheater The Carltheater was a theatre in Vienna. It was in the suburbs in Leopoldstadt at Praterstraße 31 (at that time called Jägerzeile). It was the successor to the Leopoldstädter Theater. After a series of financial difficulties, that theater had ...

on 23 December 1921. With the English-language title of ''The Yankee Princess'', the work received its first New York City performances in October 1922.

Roles

Synopsis

The operettas is set in 1921.

Act 1

Act One begins after a performance in Paris by the great singing actress, Odette Darimonde, who is starring at the Châtelet in the operetta La Bayadère. After witnessing many of her performances, the young Indian Prince Radjami von Lahore has fallen helplessly in love and asks the theater manager to arrange an introduction. He is anxious to make her his bride immediately, for his parents have an arranged marriage waiting for him back home. Odette makes it clear to him, however, that she has no interest in him. Radjami engages the help of a young man, Napoleon St. Cloche, to assist him in his cause. Napoleon has his own worries as he is trying to seduce a young married lady, Marietta, to whom he brags of world travels, tiger hunting in India, and, in fact, his acquaintance with the Prince. The Prince again expresses his love to Odette, hypnotising her with roses, and begs her to marry him. At an impromptu party he is throwing at his palace, she appears with roses in hand and seemingly under his spell.

Act 2

Act Two takes place in the Parisian palace of the Prince. At the party, Radjami tells Odette that before the night is over, she will succumb to his advances, all this as she is teaching him to waltz. Fully intent on a wedding that evening, Radjami calls on his "friend" Napoleon to be a witness, so impressing Marietta that she agrees to divorce her husband, Louis-Philipp, and wed her persistent suitor. As the ceremony uniting Radjami and Odette proceeds, she awakens from her trance, mocks his arrogance in assuming that she would ever be his, and leaves him humiliated. The act ends as he promises all that she will indeed love him some day.

Act 3

Act Three takes place at a little bar in Paris. Marietta and Napoleon are now married, but she has learned of his exaggerations and now finds him as boring as Louis-Philipp, who appears smartly dressed and newly appointed by Radjami as counsel to India. Napoleon, who is just as bored with Marietta as she with him, tells Louis-Philipp that he can have her back. Radjami engages Pimprinette, the theater claque leader, to help him stage a scene whereby it appears as if Radjami has returned to India. Odette is grief-stricken. Radjami appears, assured finally of her love, as she falls into his arms.

Selected recordings

* Newport Classics (title: ''The Bayadere, New English Version''): Eric Fennell, Buck Hujabre, Susan Miller, John Pickle, Julie Wright; Ohio Light Opera Orchestra and Chorus, c. J. Lynn Thompson. (rec. 1998) (2-CD set in English) * CPO: Heike Susanne Daum, Rainer Trost,

Anke Vondung Anke Vondung (born in Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate in 1972), is a German mezzo-soprano. She was a member of the Semperoper Dresden from 2003 to 2006. Career She won third prize in the 1998 ARD International Music Competition in Munich. She has s ...

, Stephan Genz, Miljenko Turk, Christian Sturm, Dirk Schmitz, Ulrich Hielscher, Yvonne Kálman;

WDR Rundfunkchor Köln The WDR Rundfunkchor Köln (West German Radio Choir Cologne) is the choir of the German broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), based in Cologne. It was founded in 1947. The choir premiered works by contemporary composers including Arnold Schoenb ...

, WDR Funkhausorchester Köln, c.

Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge ( ) (born 29 September 1930) is an Australian conductor and pianist. He is the widower of Australian dramatic coloratura soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. Bonynge conducted virtually all of Sutherland's operatic performances ...

. (rec. 2014) (2-CD set, in German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajadere Operas by Emmerich Kálmán Hungarian music German-language operettas Operas 1921 operas