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 play of the same name.
Der Besuch der alten Dame | |
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Opera by Gottfried von Einem | |
Translation | The Visit of the Old Lady |
Librettist | Friedrich Dürrenmatt |
Language | German |
Based on | Dürrenmatt's play The Visit |
Premiere |
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
Role[4] | Voice type[4] | Premiere cast[1] 23 May 1971 (Conductor: Horst Stein) |
---|---|---|
Claire Zachanassian, multi-millionairess | mezzo-soprano | Christa Ludwig |
Her husband No. 7 | actor | Wolfgang Peschel |
Her husband No. 9 | tenor | Elmar Brenneis |
The butler | character tenor | Heinz Zednik |
Toby, Roby, chewing chewing-gum | actors | Erich Trachtenberg, Klaus Peters |
Koby, Loby, blind | tenors | Karl Terkal, Fritz Sperlbauer |
Alfred Ill | high baritone | Eberhard Wächter |
His wife | lyric soprano | Emmy Loose |
His daughter | mezzo-soprano | Laurence Dutoit |
His son | tenor | Ewald Aichberger |
The mayor | heldentenor | Hans Beirer |
The preacher | bass-baritone | Manfred Jungwirth |
The teacher | baritone | Hans Hotter |
The doctor | baritone | Siegfried Rudolf Frese |
The policeman | bass-baritone | Alois Pernerstorfer |
First woman | soprano | |
Second woman | soprano | |
Hofbauer, citizen | tenor | |
Helmesberger, citizen | baritone | |
Station master | bass-baritone | |
Train driver | bass-baritone | |
Conductor | tenor | |
Reporter | spoken role | |
Cameraman | bass | |
A voice | tenor | |
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
- "Almanacco 23 May 1971" (in Italian). AmadeusOnline. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- "Der Besuch der alten Dame von von Einem" (in German). operone.de. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- "Performances - Der Besuch der alten Dame". Operabase. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- "Gottfried von Einem - Der Besuch der alten Dame - opera". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 11 September 2010.