| Der Zwerg | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Alexander von Zemlinsky | |
 The composer in 1908 | |
| Translation | The Dwarf |
| Librettist | Georg C. Klaren |
| Language | German |
| Based on | "The Birthday of the Infanta" by Oscar Wilde |
| Premiere | |
Der Zwerg (The Dwarf), Op. 17, is an opera in one act by Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky to a libretto by Georg C. Klaren, freely adapted from the short story "The Birthday of the Infanta" by Oscar Wilde.
Zemlinsky's choice of this story was a reflection of the end of his relationship with Alma Mahler, and the identification he felt with the drama's main character. [1] He completed the short score in December 1919 and the orchestration in January 1921. [2] The score was published by Universal Edition Vienna. [3]
The opera's premiere took place on 28 May 1922 at the Stadttheater Glockengasse in Cologne, Germany, under the baton of Otto Klemperer. Further productions followed in Vienna, Karlsruhe and Prague. [4] Its last performance in Zemlinsky's lifetime was in September 1926 at the Städtische Oper in Berlin-Charlottenburg. [5] The work runs for approximately 90 minutes and is usually paired with another work when performed.
In 1981, the Hamburg State Opera presented the first double-bill of Zemlinsky's two one-act operas Der Zwerg and Eine florentinische Tragödie . [5] Der Zwerg, however, was presented in an abridged version with a substantially altered libretto under the title The Birthday of the Infanta. The first modern performances of the opera as Zemlinsky intended were given in Cologne in February 1996 under the direction of James Conlon. [6] In 2004 'Der Zwerg' was one of the 'Eight Little Greats' season given by Opera North throughout the north of England.
In 2013, the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy, who had previously presented Zemlinsky's Der König Kandaules and Eine florentinische Tragödie , continued its exploration of his work with Der Zwerg, presented under the French title Le nain [7] with Erik Fenton as the Dwarf, Helena Juntuen as the Infanta, Eleanore Marguerre as Ghita and Pley Bryjak as Don Estoban. The staging was by Philipp Himmelmann with sets by Raimund Bauer and costumes by Bettina Walter.
The success of the performances in Nancy led to another adaptation in France in 2018 at the Opera de Rennes. [8]
Numi Opera Theatre's inaugural season presented Der Zwerg with excerpts from Oscar Wilde's "Birthday of the Infanta" in Los Angeles in 2019. [9]
In November 2022, Cologne Opera commemorated the centenary of the work's premiere there with a new production directed by Paul-Georg Dittrich and conducted by Lawrence Renes. [10]
| Role [3] | Voice type | Premiere cast, 28 May 1922 [11] (Conductor: Otto Klemperer) |
|---|---|---|
| Donna Clara, the Infanta | soprano | Erna Schröder |
| Ghita, her attendant | soprano | Käthe Herwig |
| Don Estoban, the chamberlain | bass | Hubert Mertens |
| The Dwarf | tenor | Karl Schröder |
| First Maid | soprano | Hedwig Werle |
| Second Maid | soprano | Hedwig Hertel |
| Third Maid | alto | Agnes Achnitz |
| Friends of the Infanta | sopranos and altos | Johanna Klemperer, Else Karsten, Adelheid Wollgarten |
Offstage music: 3 trumpets; clarinet in C, bassoon, 2 horns, tambourine, mandoline, strings
A sultan has sent a dwarf as a present to the Infanta (Spanish princess) Donna Clara on her birthday. The dwarf is unaware of his physical deformity and becomes infatuated with the Infanta. He sings her a love song and imagines himself her brave knight. She toys with him and gives him a white rose as a present. Left alone, he accidentally uncovers a mirror and sees his own reflection for the first time. In great agitation, he tries to obtain a kiss from the Infanta, but she spurns him and calls him a monster. His heart broken, he dies clutching the white rose as the Infanta rejoins the party.
James Conlon is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera, principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, and artistic advisor to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Franz Schreker was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality, timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and conception of total music theatre into the narrative of 20th-century music.
The English Cat is an opera in two acts by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by Edward Bond, based on Les peines de coeur d'une chatte anglaise by Honoré de Balzac. The opera was first performed in a German translation by the Stuttgart Opera at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen at the Schwetzingen Festival on 2 June 1983. The French premiere was at the Opéra-Comique, Paris in 1984. The first performance using the original English text was at Santa Fe on 13 July 1985. The UK premiere was at the Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, on 19 August 1987. A revised version was performed at Montepulciano in 1990 and this was given in London in 1991.
Eine florentinische Tragödie, Op. 16, is an opera in one act by Alexander von Zemlinsky composed in 1915–16 to a libretto adapted by the composer from a German translation by Max Meyerfeld of Oscar Wilde's unfinished play A Florentine Tragedy.
Der König Kandaules is an opera in three acts by the Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky. Its libretto was adapted by the composer from Franz Blei's German translation of the play Le roi Candaule by French author André Gide.
Der Traumgörge, Op. 11, is an opera in two acts and an epilogue by Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky. The libretto was written by Leo Feld based on the fairy tale "Vom unsichtbaren Königreiche" by Richard von Volkmann and the poem "Der arme Peter" by Heinrich Heine.
König Hirsch is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Heinz von Cramer after Il re cervo, a theatrical fable (1762) by Carlo Gozzi. He revised it as Il re cervo, premiered in 1963 at the Staatstheater Kassel.
Der ferne Klang is an opera by Franz Schreker, set to his own libretto. Begun in 1903, it was first performed by the Oper Frankfurt on 18 August 1912. It was the composer's breakthrough to fame, and was frequently performed up until 1931, shortly after which the composer's music was proscribed by the Nazi regime. Largely forgotten after World War II, it has been revived by several opera companies in the 21st century.
Das Märchen von der schönen Lilie, Op. 55, is an opera in two acts by Giselher Klebe, with a libretto by Lore Klebe, based on Goethe's fairy tale Das Märchen. On a commission by the SWR for the Schwetzingen Festival, it was premiered on 15 May 1969 at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen, staged by Oscar Fritz Schuh and conducted by Hans Zender. The opera was published by Bärenreiter.
Der Mond is an opera in one act by Carl Orff based on a Grimm's fairy tale with a libretto by the composer. It was first performed on 5 February 1939 by the Bavarian State Opera in Munich under the direction of Clemens Krauss. The composer describes it not as an opera but as Ein kleines Welttheater ; the performance lasts for about one hour and is often paired with Orff's Die Kluge.
Der Protagonist is an opera in one act by Kurt Weill, his Op. 15. The German libretto was written by Georg Kaiser based on his own play of the same name of (1920). Weill's first surviving opera has been described as Literaturoper.
Antony Beaumont is an English and German musicologist, writer, conductor and violinist. As a conductor, he has specialized in German music from the first half of the 20th century, including works by Zemlinsky, Weill, and Gurlitt. As a musicologist, he has published books on Busoni, Zemlinsky, and Mahler.
Die Gezeichneten is an opera in three acts by Franz Schreker with a German-language libretto by the composer.
Kleider machen Leute is a comic opera in a prologue and two acts by Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky. The libretto was written by Leo Feld, based on the 1874 novella of the same name by Gottfried Keller.
Es war einmal is a fairy-tale opera in a prologue and three acts by the Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky, composed during 1897-99. The libretto, an adaptation of Marie von Borch's German translation of the fairy-tale play Der var engang by the Danish author Holger Drachmann, was written by Maximilian Singer.
Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher.
Bluthochzeit is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Fortner. The libretto, also by Fortner, is based on Enrique Beck's German translation of García Lorca's 1933 play Bodas de sangre. It premiered at the Cologne Opera on 8 June 1957.
Symphonische Gesänge, Op. 20 is a set of songs for baritone and orchestra composed in 1929 by Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky.
Olivier Tambosi is an Austrian opera and operetta director.
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