Der Evangelimann

Der Evangelimann (The Evangelist) is an opera in two acts by the Austrian composer Wilhelm Kienzl. The libretto, by the composer, is based on Leopold Florian Meissner's short story "Aus den Berichten eines Polizeikommissärs".[1] It was adapted in 1924 as a silent film The Evangelist.

For the silent film, see The Evangelist (film).

Wilhelm Kienzl

Composition history

Kienzl composed the opera in a relatively short space of time during 1894 in Graz and in the little Austrian town of Vöcklabruck. When he played extracts from the score to conductor Karl Muck and Count Bolko von Hochberg (then artistic director of the Berlin Opera), they immediately secured the rights to the premiere.[2] The score was published by Bote & Bock Berlin, now part of Boosey & Hawkes.[1]

Performance history

The opera was first performed at the Neues Königliches Opernhaus Berlin on 4 May 1895.[1][3] It was a triumphant success. Within only a few years most German and Austrian opera houses had the work in their repertory. Famous conductors such as Felix Mottl, Gustav Mahler, Franz Schalk and Richard Strauss gave it their support, and the title role of the Evangelist Mathias was sung by prominent tenors.[2] On 17 January 1927, Kienzl celebrated his 70th birthday by conducting the work at the Vienna State Opera, with Lotte Lehmann, and Richard Tauber in the leading roles. The cast also included Hermann Wiedemann, Bella Paalen and Franz Markhoff.[4]

Roles
Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role[1] Voice type Premiere cast, 4 May 1895[3]
Conductor: Karl Muck
Friedrich Engel, magistrate in the monastery of St. OthmarbassJosef Mödlinger
Martha, his niece and chargedramatic sopranoBertha Pierson
Magdalena, her friendcontraltoMarie Goetze
Johannes Freudhofer, school teacher in St. OthmarbaritonePaul Bulß
Mathias Freudhofer, his younger brother, clerk in the monasterydramatic tenorEloi Sylva
Xaver Zitterbart, tailorbuffo tenorJulius Lieban
Anton Schnappauf, gun-smithbuffo bassRudolf Krasa
Friedrich Aibler, an older citizenbaritoneHermann Bachmann
Aibler's wifemezzo-soprano
Frau Huberlyric soprano
Hans, a farmer's boylyric tenor
Voice of the "skittle boy"lyric soprano
Voice of the night-watchmanbass
Ragwomanmezzo-soprano
Boysoprano

Synopsis

Act 1
Place and time: the Benedictine monastery St. Othmar in Lower Austria, in the year 1820.

Mathias, clerk in the monastery of St. Othmar, is in love with Martha, the foster daughter of the magistrate Friedrich Engel. Mathias’s brother Johannes is jealous of Martha’s affection and starts an intrigue against him. When the magistrate is informed of what is happening between his charge and Mathias, he dismisses the clerk and expels him from the monastery. Martha resists Johannes’s intrusiveness. When Johannes witnesses Martha and Mathias swearing fidelity to each other at their farewell, his jealousy turns into blind hate and he sets the monastery on fire. It is not he, however, but Mathias, who is arrested as the alleged wrongdoer.

Act 2
Place and time: Vienna, 1850

Mathias has served a twenty-year sentence and, having been denied re-integration into society, travels the country as an itinerant preacher (this act contains the most popular piece in the opera: "Selig sind, die Verfolgung leiden um der Gerechtigkeit willen", sung by Mathias and a children's chorus). Martha took her life after his imprisonment, Johannes has become rich by dishonest means and lives in Vienna, now a severely ill man. Thirty years after the events at St. Othmar the brothers meet again. Mathias forgives Johannes, who can thus die in peace.

Recordings

Notes
  1. "Wilhelm Kienzl – Evangelimann – Opera". United Kingdom: Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  2. Scherle, Arthur (1981). Der Evangelimann (Media notes). Wilhelm Kienzl. EMI Classics. 566370-2.
  3. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Der Evangelimann, 4 May 1895". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  4. Neue Freie Presse, Vienna, 17 January 1927, page 10.
  5. "Review – Kienzl – Der Evangelimann". Gramophone. United Kingdom. September 1989. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  6. "Wilhelm Kienzl: Der Evangelimann (DVD)". Germany: JPC. 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
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