Schwarzschwanenreich

Schwarzschwanenreich (Realm of the Black Swan[1]), Op. 7, is an opera in German in three acts composed by Siegfried Wagner in 1910 to his own libretto. It premiered on 5 November 1918 in Karlsruhe at the court theatre Großherzogliches Hoftheater.

Schwarzschwanenreich
Opera by Siegfried Wagner
Hoftheater Karlsruhe, the location of the opera's premiere
TranslationRealm of the Black Swan
LibrettistSiegfried Wagner
LanguageGerman
Premiere
5 November 1918 (1918-11-05)
Hoftheater Karlsruhe

History

Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard Wagner, composed several operas on fairy tale and legendary topics. He completed the first act of Schwarzschwanenreich on 13 April 1909 in Santa Margherita Ligure, worked on the second act in November 1909 in Bayreuth and finished the opera with the third act on 10 April 1910 in Santa Margherita.[2] The background of the action is provided by witch trials during the Thirty Years' War. As many women in Bohemia were burned as witches, the heroine Hulda, afraid of the Inquisition, has killed her illegitimate child and buried it in the forest. When the scene opens she is in the forest and sings of her regret and the dream of a friend whose understanding could free her from the burden of remorse.[2]

Roles

The action takes place in Bohemia in the 17th century.[3]

Role Voice type Premiere cast, 5 November 1918
Conductor: Fritz Cortolezis[2]
Hulda (Linda) soprano Edith Sajitz
Liebhold (Ludwig) tenor Helmut Neugebauer
Ursula, Liebhold's sister mezzo-soprano Margarete Bruntsch
Oswald baritone Benno Ziegler
Aschenweibchen contralto Marie Mosel-Tomschik
Gefängniswärter (prison guardian) bass Gottfried Hagedorn
Versucher baritone Rudolf Maly-Motta
Young man tenor Franz Schwerdt
Girl soprano Nelly Schlager

Performances

The opera was premiered at the Großherzogliches Hoftheater Karlsruhe on 5 November 1918, on the occasion of the birthday of the Großherzogin (Grand duchess) ("Zur Feier des Geburtsfestes Ihrer Königlichen Hoheit Der Großherzogin", conducted by Fritz Cortolezis and staged by Peter Dumas.[2]

It was revived in a concert performance at the Theater der Stadt Solingen in Solingen on 12 June 1983. Bernhard Lang conducted the Städtisches Orchester Solingen, with Carmen Reppel as Hulda and Raffaele Polani as Liebhold.[4]

The opera was recorded live in June 1994 as part of the Rudolstädter Festspiele[5] at the Theater Rudolstadt (Thüringer Landestheater), conducted by Konrad Bach.[1] The leading parts were performed by Beth Johanning and Walter Raffeiner.[5]

References
  1. "S. Wagner: Schwarzschwanenreich / Bach, Lukic, Thüringian So". classical-music.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  2. "Schwarzschwanenreich" (in German). wagnerportal.de. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  3. "Schwarzschwanenreich" (in German). Internationale Siegfried Wagner Gesellschaft, Bayreuth. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  4. "Schwarzschwanenreich / Theater der Stadt Solingen" (in German). Internationale Siegfried Wagner Gesellschaft, Bayreuth. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  5. Steiger, Karsten (2008). Opern-Diskographie: Verzeichnis aller Audio- und Video-Gesamtaufnahmen (in German). Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-095596-2.
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