Der Besuch der alten Dame (opera)

Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit of the Old Lady) is an opera in three acts by Gottfried von Einem to a German libretto by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, based on his 1956 play of the same name.

For the play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and other works based on it, see The Visit (play).
Der Besuch der alten Dame
Opera by Gottfried von Einem
TranslationThe Visit of the Old Lady
LibrettistFriedrich Dürrenmatt
LanguageGerman
Based onDürrenmatt's 1956 play The Visit
Premiere
23 March 1971 (1971-03-23)
Vienna State Opera

Performance history

The work was first performed at the Vienna State Opera on 23 May 1971, with Horst Stein conducting and Christa Ludwig in the principal role.[1] The German premiere was staged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 1 March 1972. Further productions followed in Strasbourg and Karl Marx Stadt in 1973, and in Stockholm in 1976.[2] The work had its United States premiere on 25 October 1972 at the San Francisco Opera in a production directed by Francis Ford Coppola and using an English translation by Norman Tucker.

Recent productions include a run of five performances at the Görlitz Theatre, Germany, in May/June 2010.[3]

Roles
Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role[4] Voice type[4] Premiere cast, 23 May 1971[1]
Conductor: Horst Stein
Claire Zachanassian, multi-millionairessmezzo-sopranoChrista Ludwig
Her husband No. 7actorWolfgang Peschel
Her husband No. 9tenorElmar Brenneis
The butlercharacter tenorHeinz Zednik
Toby, Roby, chewing chewing-gumactorsErich Trachtenberg, Klaus Peters
Koby, Loby, blindtenorsKarl Terkal, Fritz Sperlbauer
Alfred Illhigh baritoneEberhard Wächter
His wifelyric sopranoEmmy Loose
His daughtermezzo-sopranoLaurence Dutoit
His sontenorEwald Aichberger
The mayorheldentenorHans Beirer
The preacherbass-baritoneManfred Jungwirth
The teacherbaritoneHans Hotter
The doctorbaritoneSiegfried Rudolf Frese
The policemanbass-baritoneAlois Pernerstorfer
First womansoprano
Second womansoprano
Hofbauer, citizentenor
Helmesberger, citizenbaritone
Station masterbass-baritone
Train driverbass-baritone
Conductortenor
Reporterspoken role
Cameramanbass
A voicetenor
Chorus: citizens of Güllen

Recordings

A recording of the world premiere performance at the Vienna State Opera was released by Deutsche Grammophon on LP. This recording has been reissued on CD by Amadeo.[2]

References
  1. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Der Besuch der alten Dame, 23 May 1971". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  2. "Der Besuch der alten Dame von von Einem" (in German). operone.de. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  3. "Performances – Der Besuch der alten Dame". Operabase. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  4. "Gottfried von Einem – Der Besuch der alten Dame – opera". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
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