Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit of the Old Lady) is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in three acts by Gottfried von Einem

Gottfried von Einem

Gottfried von Einem was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.-Biography:...

 to a German libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Friedrich Dürrenmatt was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire...

, based on his play of the same name.

Performance history

The work was first performed at the Vienna State Opera

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...

 on 23 May 1971, with Horst Stein

Horst Stein

Horst Walter Stein was a German conductor.- Biography :...

 conducting and Christa Ludwig

Christa Ludwig

Christa Ludwig is a retired German mezzo-soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, Lieder, oratorio and other major religious works like masses and passions, and solos contained in symphonic literature...

 in the principal role. The German premiere was staged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Deutsche Oper Berlin

The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...

 on 1 March 1972. Further productions followed in Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

 and Karl Marx Stadt in 1973, and in Stockholm in 1976. The work had its United States premiere on 25 October 1972 at the San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...

 in a production directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

 and using an English translation by Norman Tucker

Norman Tucker

Norman Walter Gwynn Tucker was an English musician, administrator and translator. Trained as a concert pianist, he was invited to join Sadler's Wells Opera in 1947 in an administrative role, and from 1948 to 1966 he was the managerial head of the company.His translations of operas new to the...

.

Recent productions include a run of five performances at the Görlitz

Görlitz

Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...

 Theatre, Germany in May/June 2010.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast 23 May 1971 (Conductor: Horst Stein Horst Stein Horst Walter Stein was a German conductor.- Biography :... )
Claire Zachanassian, multi-millionairess	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...	Christa Ludwig Christa Ludwig Christa Ludwig is a retired German mezzo-soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, Lieder, oratorio and other major religious works like masses and passions, and solos contained in symphonic literature...
Her husband No. 7	actor Actor An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...	Wolfgang Peschel
Her husband No. 9	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Elmar Brenneis
The butler	character tenor	Heinz Zednik Heinz Zednik Heinz Zednik is an Austrian operatic tenor, closely associated with the character tenor roles of Wagner such as Mime and Loge and David...
Toby, Roby, chewing chewing-gum	actors	Erich Trachtenberg, Klaus Peters
Koby, Loby, blind	tenors	Karl Terkal Karl Terkal Karl Terkal was an Austrian operatic tenor, particularly associated with lyric roles of the German repertory, both opera and operetta.... , Fritz Sperlbauer
Alfred Ill	high baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Eberhard Wächter
His wife	lyric soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Emmy Loose Emmy Loose Emmy Loose was an Austrian operatic soprano of Czech birth, particularly associated with soubrette roles....
His daughter	mezzo-soprano	Laurence Dutoit
His son	tenor	Ewald Aichberger
The mayor	heldentenor	Hans Beirer Hans Beirer Hans Beirer was an Austrian heldentenor and Kammersänger. He was a regular company member at the Deutschen Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and Hamburgischen Staatsoper and is best known internationally as an interpreter of the work of Wagner.-Source:* K. J. Kutsch und Leo Riemens: Großes...
The preacher	bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...	Manfred Jungwirth
The teacher	baritone	Hans Hotter Hans Hotter Hans Hotter was a German operatic bass-baritone, admired internationally after World War II for the power, beauty, and intelligence of his singing, especially in Wagner operas. He was extremely tall and his appearance was striking because of his high, narrow face, wide mouth, and big, aquiline nose...
The doctor	baritone	Siegfried Rudolf Frese
The policeman	bass-baritone	Alois Pernerstorfer Alois Pernerstorfer Alois Pernerstorfer was an Austrian bass-baritoneHe began his training in 1933 at the Wiener Musikhochschule with Theo Lierhammer and Josef Krips and made his opera debut in 1936 in Graz singing the role of Biterolf in Tannhäuser...
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 Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
A voice	tenor
Chorus: citizens of Güllen

Recordings

A recording of the world premiere performance at the Vienna State Opera was released by Deutsche Grammophon

Deutsche Grammophon

Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...

on LP. This recording has been reissued on CD by Amadeo.