Neues vom Tage
| Paul Hindemith |
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Operas
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Neues vom Tage (News of the Day) is an opera (lustige Oper) in three parts by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer.
The opera is a satire of modern life, celebrity and marriage, involving parodies of both Puccini's music and Berlin cabaret. The opera became notorious for a scene with a naked soprano (Laura) singing in the bath about the wonders of modern plumbing, though Hindemith replaced her with the tenor (Hermann) in the revised version.
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[edit] Performance history
It was first performed on 8 June 1929, at the Kroll Opera House, Berlin, under the musical direction of Otto Klemperer. Hindemith revised the opera, changing the text and adding a little new music, for the Teatro San Carlo, Naples on 7 April 1954. The United States premiere of the work was at the Santa Fe Opera in 1961.
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 8 June 1929 (Conductor: Otto Klemperer) |
Revised version, 7 April 1954 (Conductor: Paul Hindemith) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laura | soprano | Grete Stückgold | Mercedes Fortunati |
| Eduard, Laura's husband | baritone | Giuseppe Valdengo | |
| Hermann, a professional co-respondent | tenor | Erik Wirkl | Gino Sinimberghi |
| Herr M | tenor | Arthur Cavara | Alessandro Pellegrini |
| Frau M | mezzo-soprano | Sabine Kalter | Adamo |
| Baron d'Houdoux, an entrepreneur | bass | Deszö Ernster | Giuseppe Modesti |
| Frau Pick, a newspaper reporter | contralto | Myriam Pirazzini | |
| Uli | bass | Fritz Krenn | Coriolano Jorio |
| Hotel director | bass | Gerardo Gaudiosi | |
| Room maid | soprano | ||
| Guide | bass | Plinio Clabassi | |
| Head waiter | tenor | ||
| Registrar | bass | Giovanni Amodeo | |
| First manager | tenor | Nino Adami | |
| Second manager | tenor | Silvio Santarelli | |
| Third manager | tenor | Gianni Avolanti | |
| Fourth manager | tenor | Piero De Palma | |
| Fifth manager | bass | Aldo Terrosi |
[edit] Recordings
Hindemith: Neues vom Tage - WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln
- Conductor: Jan Latham-König
- Principal singers: Elisabeth Werres (Laura), Claudio Nicolai, (Eduard), Ronald Pries (Hermann) / Horst Hiestermann (Herr M), Martina Borst (Frau M), Oscar Garcia de Gracia (Hotel director), Arwed Sandner (registrar) / Celso Antunes (1st manager; head waiter), Wolf Geuer (2nd manager), Thomas Donecker (3rd manager), Christoph Scheeben (4th manager; guide), Dieter Gillessen (5th manager), Heribert Feckler: bass (6th manager), Sabine Bitter (room maid)
- Recording date: 1987
- Label: WERGO - 28 61922 (CD)
[edit] References
- Amadeus Almanac, accessed 20 August 2008 (1929 premiere)
- Amadeus Almanac, accessed 20 August 2008 (1954 revision)
- Skelton, Geoffrey (1992), 'Neues vom Tage' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
