Der Besuch der alten Dame
| Operas by Gottfried von Einem |
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Operas
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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.
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[edit] 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]
[edit] 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 | ||
[edit] 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]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b "Almanacco 23 May 1971" (in Italian). AmadeusOnline. http://amadeusonline.net/almanacco.php?Start=0&Giorno=23&Mese=05&Anno=1971&Giornata=&Testo=&Parola=Stringa. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ a b "Der Besuch der alten Dame von von Einem" (in German). operone.de. http://www.operone.de/opern/besuch.html. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ "Performances - Der Besuch der alten Dame". Operabase. http://operabase.com/oplist.cgi?id=none&lang=en&adv=f&from=10+10+2009&to=&approx=0&is=der+besuch+der+alten+dame&by=&sel=&loc=&near=0&full=Y&sort=V. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ a b "Gottfried von Einem - Der Besuch der alten Dame - opera". Boosey & Hawkes. http://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moredetails.asp?musicid=995. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
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