Der Protagonist

Der Protagonist (The Protagonist) is an opera in one act by Kurt Weill, his Op. 15. The German libretto was written by Georg Kaiser based on his own play of the same name of (1920). Weill's first surviving opera has been described as Literaturoper.[1]

This article is about the 1926 opera and 1920 play. For other topics, see protagonist (disambiguation).

Der Protagonist
Literaturoper by Kurt Weill
The composer in 1932
LibrettistGeorg Kaiser
LanguageGerman
Premiere
27 March 1926 (1926-03-27)
Semperoper, Dresden

Performance history

It was first performed on 27 March 1926 at the Semperoper in Dresden, when it was directed by Josef Gielen and conducted by Fritz Busch. It was given again at the Städtische Oper Berlin in October 1928 directed by Walter Brügmann and conducted by Robert F. Denzler, this time as a double bill with Der Zar lässt sich photographieren.

Post-war performances have included productions at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf, in April 1958 (the first German post-war performance), directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Andreas and conducted by Friedrich Brenn; Santa Fe Opera from 31 July 1993, directed by Jonathan Eaton and conducted by George Manahan (coupled with Der Zar lässt sich photographieren). An Austrian premiere of the opera took place only on 17 November 2000 in a production of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna at Schönbrunn Palace, directed by Sebastian Müller and conducted by Marino Formenti. It was followed by the Bregenz Festival from 21 July 2004, with the direction of Nicolas Brieger and conducted by Yakov Kreizberg (coupled with Weill's Royal Palace).[2]

Roles
Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 27 March 1926[3]
Conductor: Fritz Busch
The protagonist tenor Curt Taucher
His sister soprano Elisa Stünzner
First actor bass Robert Büssel
Second actor baritone Rudolf Schmalnauer
Third actor contralto Elfriede Haberkorn
The majordomo of the duke tenor Ludwig Eybisch
Young lord baritone Paul Schöffler
Innkeeper bass Adolf Schoepflin
Eight musicians

Recordings

Weill: Der Protagonist – Berlin German Symphony Orchestra

  • Conductor: John Mauceri
  • Principal singers: Corby Welch, Matthias Koch, Alexander Marco-Buhrmester, Robert Worle, Jan Buchwald, Matteo de Monti, Johannes von Duisburg, Amanda Halgrimson
  • Recording date: 1 May 2002
  • Label: Capriccio – 60 086 (CD)

References
  1. "The Protagonist, Op. 14 (1925)", analysis by Bryan Gilliam (1996), American Symphony Orchestra
  2. "Der Protagonist / Royal Palace", performance details, Bregenz Festival, Summer 2004 (in German)

Further reading
  • Hinton, Stephen (1992), "Der Protagonist", The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
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