Neues vom Tage | |
---|---|
Lustige Oper by Paul Hindemith | |
The composer in 1923 | |
Translation | News of the Day |
Librettist | Marcellus Schiffer |
Language | German |
Premiere |
Neues vom Tage (English: News of the Day) is a comic 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 Kabarett. 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.
The on-stage nudity particularly aroused the ire of Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstängel, Hitler’s musical advisor, and was later indirectly cited by Joseph Goebbels as evidence that the "degenerate art" of "cultural bolshevist" composers should be excluded from Germany. [1] [2]
Neues vom Tage 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 premiere of the work in the United States was at the Santa Fe Opera in 1961.
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 | Dezső 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 | |
Hindemith: Neues vom Tage – WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln
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