(''Blood Wedding'') 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. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

, also by Fortner, is based on German translation of García Lorca's 1933 play ''

Bodas de sangre ''Blood Wedding'' ( es, link=no, Bodas de sangre) is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed at Teatro Beatriz in Madrid in March 1933, then later that year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

''. It premiered at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, 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 th ...

on 8 June 1957.

Composition

Fortner was asked by

Karl-Heinz Stroux Karl Heinz Stroux (25 February 1908 – 2 August 1985) was a German actor, film and theatre director, and theatre manager. As the director of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus from 1955 to 1972 he opened the new building in 1970.(12 August 1985Gest ...

to write incidental music for a performance of Lorca's play ''Bodas de sangre'' in Hamburg in the early 1950s. The composer was impressed by the drama and felt that acting was not enough to "sing the tragedy to an end" ("die Tragödie zu Ende zu singen"), and decided to set longer sections to music. Fortner wrote the opera's libretto himself based on Enrique Beck's German translation of the play. ''Bluthochzeit'', a "literary opera" like

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sm ...

's ''

Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama '' Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at ...

'' and ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

'', is driven by the action, as the composer comments: "The compulsion of the words drives the music." He scored the work for singing and speaking parts, following the text which is at times in prose, at times in poetry. Fortner used dodecaphony but included traditional Spanish instruments, such as

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a simil ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, tho ...

and guitars.

Giselher Klebe Giselher Wolfgang Klebe (28 June 19255 October 2009) was a German composer, and an academic teacher. He composed more than 140 works, among them 14 operas, all based on literary works, eight symphonies, 15 solo concerts, chamber music, piano work ...

noted in an introduction to the performance in Düsseldorf that Fortner, who was exposed to twelve-tone technique rather late in life, used the restriction of its rules to heighten expressiveness. In 1962 Fortner revised the scores of both ''Bluthochzeit'' and his 1954 dramatic scene ''Der Wald'' (''The Forest'') and used both of them in the score for a new opera, ''

In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa ' (In his garden Don Perlimplín loves Belisa) is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Fortner. The libretto, also by Fortner, is based on Federico García Lorca's play '' Amor de don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín''. It premiered at the opening ...

'' with a libretto based on another play by Garcia Lorca ('' Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín''). This new opera premiered on 10 May 1962 at the Cologne Opera.

Roles

Performance history

''Bluthochzeit'' premiered at the

on 8 June 1957 in a production directed by Eric Bormann and conducted by

Günter Wand Günter Wand (7 January 1912, in Elberfeld, Germany – 14 February 2002, in Ulmiz near Bern, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and composer. Wand studied in Wuppertal, Allenstein and Detmold. At the Cologne Conservatory, he was a co ...

.Gelli, Piero and Poletti, Filippo (eds.) (2007)
"''Bluthochzeit''"
''Dizionario dell'opera'', pp. 159–160. Dalai Editore It was the first world premiere to be staged in the rebuilt opera house. The performance by Stuttgart Opera in 1964 was filmed live and released on DVD in 2005. The opera was chosen to open the Opernhaus Düsseldorf with a performance on 12 October 1986 by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, conducted by

Hans Wallat Hans Wallat (18 October 1929 – 11 December 2014) was a German conductor, GMD in Bremen, at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, Theater Dortmund and Deutsche Oper am Rhein. A specialist for the stage works of Richard Wagner, he appeared at the Bayre ...

and staged by Kurt Horres. ''Bluthochzeit'' was revived in January 2013 with a new production at the

Wuppertal Opera Opernhaus Wuppertal (Wuppertal Opera House) is a German theatre in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. It houses mostly performances of operas, but also plays, run by the municipal Wuppertaler Bühnen. The house is also the venue for dance perfo ...

, directed by Christian von Götz and conducted by Hilary Griffiths. A performance of this production was filmed and released on DVD in 2014.

Recordings

*''Bluthochzeit'' – Gürzenich-Orchester and chorus of

, conducted by

(recorded 1 and 6 July 1957 by

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

, released 2007 as Volume 12 of ''The Günter Wand Edition''). Label: Profil PH05044. *''Bluthochzeit'' – Orchestra and chorus of Stuttgart State Opera, conducted by

Ferdinand Leitner Ferdinand Leitner (4 March 1912 in Berlin – 3 June 1996 in Zürich) was a German conductor. Leitner studied under Franz Schreker, Julius Prüwer, Artur Schnabel and Karl Muck. He also was a composition student with Robert Kahn. Starting as ...

(recorded and filmed live in 1964, released on DVD 2005). Label: Immortal 950017.Steiger, Karsten (2008)
''Opern-Diskographie''
p. 633. Walter de Gruyter *''Bluthochzeit'' – Orchestra and chorus of

, directed by Christian von Götz and conducted by Hilary Griffiths (recorded and filmed in 2013, released on DVD 2014). Label:

Wergo WERGO is a German record label focusing on contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1962 by German art historian and music publisher (1903–1975) and the musicologist Helmut Kirchmeyer. Their first release, filed under "WER 60001", was ...

MV 8075.

References

External links

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fo ...

''Bluthochzeit'' – orchestration and roles
*

''Bluthochzeit'' – production photos and commentary on the January 2013 production
{{Authority control Operas by Wolfgang Fortner 1957 operas German-language operas Operas based on plays Operas