''Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend'' is a German-language opera by
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. A major figure of the musical life of post-war Germany, he has been described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century.
Life
Born in Munich, the son ...
to a libretto by
Hermann Scherchen, Wolfgang Petzet and the composer after
Jakob von Grimmelhausen's picaresque novel ''
Simplicius Simplicissimus
''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' () is a picaresque novel of the lower Baroque style, written in five books by German author Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen published in 1668, with the sequel ''Continuatio'' appearing in 1669. Inspired b ...
''. The opera was written 1934-1935 structured in three acts and more scenes, to which was added in 1939 an overture in homage to
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
, and premiered in 1948. It was extensively revised as ''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' in 1957.
The title role of the Simplicius, a naive shepherd boy is sung by a soprano, the Einsiedler is sung by a baritone.
Recordings
*1957 revised version,
Helen Donath,
Eberhard Büchner, König, Brinkmann, Scholze, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks,
Heinz Fricke 1985
Wergo
*1935 original version,
Claudia Mahnke, Frank van Aken, Heinz Göhrig, Staatsorchester Stuttgart, conducted by Kwamé Ryan
ArtHaus DVD 2008.
*1948 version,
Camilla Nylund,
Christian Gerhaher, Will Hartmann,
Michael Volle,
Die Singphoniker, RO München,
Ulf Schirmer BR-Klassik 2008
*1957 revised version,
Juliane Banse, Peter Marsch, Will Hartmann, Netherlands Radio Choir, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra,
Markus Stenz Challenge Classics 2013
References
Compositions by Karl Amadeus Hartmann
1935 operas
German-language operas
Operas
Adaptations of works by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
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