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Königskinder

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This article is about the stage work. For the West German film, see Royal Children. For the East German film, see Star-Crossed Lovers (film).

Template:Humperdinck operas Königskinder (German for The King's Children) is a stage work by Engelbert Humperdinck that exists in two versions: as a melodrama and as an opera or more precisely a Märchenoper. The libretto was written by Ernst Rosmer (pen name of Else Bernstein-Porges), adapted from her play of the same name.

In 1894, Heinrich Porges asked Humperdinck to write incidental music for his daughter Else's play. Humperdinck was interested in making the story into an opera but since Else Bernstein-Porges initially refused, he opted for the play to be staged as a melodrama – that is with spoken dialog taking place along with an instrumental backdrop. (The work also included operatic arias and choruses, as well as unaccompanied dialog.)

In the melodramatic passages, Humperdinck designed an innovative hybrid notation that called for a text delivery somewhere between singing and speech. With this notation, the singer was expected to deliver a substantial portion of the text with approximate pitched melodies. This version was first staged at the Munich Hoftheater, with Hedwig Schako as the goose girl, on 23 January 1897 and enjoyed some success. However, Else Bernstein-Porges finally relented in 1907 and agreed that Humperdinck could transform the work into an opera.

Performance history

Königskinder was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 28 December 1910, conducted by Alfred Hertz, with Geraldine Farrar as the Goose-Girl, Herman Jadlowker as the King's Son, Louise Homer as the Witch and Otto Goritz as the Fiddler. Farrar trained her own flock of geese in preparation for the role; according to a New-York Tribune review of the first performance, "Miss Farrar caused 'much amusement' by appearing before the curtain with a live goose under her arm."[1]

A Berlin premiere followed on 14 January 1911, conducted by Leo Blech with Lola Artôt de Padilla as the Goose-Girl and Walter Kirchhoff as the King's Son. Though the work lay in the shadow of its "sister" fairy-tale work Hänsel und Gretel for many years, it has been regularly revived in Germany, and with increasing frequency abroad since 1986 (Wexford Festival). Other notable productions include the 1992 English National Opera, directed by David Pountney and conducted by Sir Mark Elder; a 1997 staging at Sarasota Opera; from 2005 to 2007 at the Bavarian State Opera; and in 2007 at the Zurich Opera House. In 2010, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble gave a performance celebrating the hundredth anniversary of its premiere in New York City. It has also been frequently recorded.

Roles

Geraldine Farrar as the Goose-Girl, Metropolitan Opera, 1910
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 28 December 1910
(Conductor: Alfred Hertz)
Goose-Girl (Gänsemagd) soprano Geraldine Farrar
Witch (Hexe) contralto Louise Homer
King's son (Köningssohn) tenor Herman Jadlowker
Fiddler (Spielmann) baritone Otto Goritz
Woodcutter bass Adamo Didur
Broom-maker tenor Albert Reiss
Stable girl contralto Marie Mattfeld
Innkeeper's daughter mezzo-soprano Florence Wickham
First gatekeeper tenor Ernst Maran
Second gatekeeper baritone William Hinshaw
Innkeeper bass Antonio Pini-Corsi
First child soprano Edna Walter
Second child soprano Lotte Engel
Senior councillor baritone Marcel Reiner
Tailor tenor Julius Bayer

Recordings

References

Notes

  1. ^ Metropolitan Opera Archives, world premiere in the presence of the composer, review from the New-York Tribune by Henry Krehbiel. "Königskinder, Metropolitan Opera House: December 28, 1910".. Met performance CID 49510. Accessed 31 March 2013.

Sources

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