Die Gezeichneten
Encyclopedia
Die Gezeichneten is an opera
in three acts by Franz Schreker
, libretto
by the composer.
's Hidalla. However, Schreker decided to set the text himself and completed the composition in 1915. The score is published by Universal Edition
Vienna.
conducted by Felix Weingartner
.
The complete opera was first performed on 25 April 1918 by the Frankfurt Opera in the Alte Oper
, conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg
. It established Schreker as the pre-eminent opera composer of his generation and won him the support of Germany's foremost music critic, Paul Bekker
. Before the composer's music was banned in 1933 due to his Jewish ancestry, a further two dozen productions followed in fifteen different cities in Germany and Austria. The playbill of the first performance in Vienna (January 1920) mentions 66 previous performances of the opera in five different opera houses (Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich, Dresden and Breslau).
Conductor Michael Gielen
revived the opera at the Oper Frankfurt in 1979. The performance was recorded live. William Cochran
appeared as Alviano Salvago, Barry Mora
as Tamare, June Card
as Carlotta, and Günter Reich
as the duke.
A major staging took place at the Salzburg Festival
in 2005 directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and conducted by Kent Nagano
with Robert Brubaker
(Alviano) and Anne Schwanewilms
(Carlotta) in the leading roles, though the opera was heavily cut for this production.
The American premiere was staged at the Los Angeles Opera
on 10 April 2010, followed by three more performances. James Conlon
conducted and Robert Brubaker
(Salviago), Anja Kampe
(Carlotta) and Martin Gantner
(Tamare) sang the principal roles. This event was hailed by critics as the first ever performance of a Schreker opera in the Western Hemisphere
.
Also in April 2010 it was performed six times at the Teatro Massimo
in Palermo in a production by Graham Vick
.
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 Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, his style is characterized by aesthetic plurality , timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and...
, 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 the composer.
Composition history
Schreker wrote the libretto in 1911 at the request of Alexander Zemlinsky after Frank WedekindFrank Wedekind
Benjamin Franklin Wedekind , usually known as Frank Wedekind, was a German playwright...
's Hidalla. However, Schreker decided to set the text himself and completed the composition in 1915. The score is published by Universal Edition
Universal Edition
Universal Edition is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, and originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market...
Vienna.
Performance history
An expanded concert-version of the overture to the opera, entitled Vorspiel zu einem Drama, was performed at the Vienna Musikverein on 8 February 1914 by the Vienna Philharmonic OrchestraVienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....
conducted by Felix Weingartner
Felix Weingartner
Paul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
.
The complete opera was first performed on 25 April 1918 by the Frankfurt Opera in the Alte Oper
Alte Oper
The Alte Oper is a major concert hall and former opera house in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The building was inaugurated in 1880. Many important works have been premiered at the Alte Oper, including Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937....
, conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg
Ludwig Rottenberg
Ludwig Rottenberg was an Austrian/German composer and conductor.-Biography:Rottenberg came from a German-speaking Jewish family in Czernowitz, the then-capital of Bukovina, which at the time was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy...
. It established Schreker as the pre-eminent opera composer of his generation and won him the support of Germany's foremost music critic, Paul Bekker
Paul Bekker
Paul Bekker was one of the most articulate and influential German music critics of the 20th century....
. Before the composer's music was banned in 1933 due to his Jewish ancestry, a further two dozen productions followed in fifteen different cities in Germany and Austria. The playbill of the first performance in Vienna (January 1920) mentions 66 previous performances of the opera in five different opera houses (Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich, Dresden and Breslau).
Conductor Michael Gielen
Michael Gielen
-Professional career:Gielen was born in Dresden, Germany, to opera director Josef Gielen. Through his mother, Rose, he is the nephew of Eduard Steuermann and Salka Steuermann Viertel. He began his career as a pianist in Buenos Aires, where he studied with Erwin Leuchter and gave an early...
revived the opera at the Oper Frankfurt in 1979. The performance was recorded live. William Cochran
William Cochran (tenor)
William Cochran was born on June 23, 1943, in Columbus, Ohio, and is an internationally-noted Heldentenor. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Martial Singher. A winner of the Lauritz Melchior Heldentenor Foundation Award, he debuted with the Metropolitan Opera, as Vogelgesang in Die...
appeared as Alviano Salvago, Barry Mora
Barry Mora
Barry Mora is a New Zealand classical baritone who had an active international career in concerts and operas from the mid 1970s through the 1990s. Retired from the stage, he is currently a member of the board at The NBR New Zealand Opera....
as Tamare, June Card
June Card
June Card is an American soprano and stage director who had an active career in operas and concerts from the 1960s through the 2000s...
as Carlotta, and Günter Reich
Günter Reich
Günter Reich , also spelled Günther Reich and Gunther Reich, was an Israeli baritone of German birth...
as the duke.
A major staging took place at the Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
in 2005 directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and conducted by Kent Nagano
Kent Nagano
__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
with Robert Brubaker
Robert Brubaker (tenor)
Robert Brubaker is an American operatic tenor. Born in Manheim, Pennsylvania, he is an alumnus of the Hartt College of Music. He began his career at the New York City Opera as a baritone in the opera chorus...
(Alviano) and Anne Schwanewilms
Anne Schwanewilms
Anne Schwanewilms is a German lyric soprano. She studied gardening before training as a singer with the German bass, Hans Sotin, in Cologne...
(Carlotta) in the leading roles, though the opera was heavily cut for this production.
The American premiere was staged at the Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
on 10 April 2010, followed by three more performances. James Conlon
James Conlon
James Conlon is an American conductor and the current Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera.-Early years:Conlon grew up in a family of five children on Cherry Street in Douglaston, Queens, New York. His mother, Angeline L. Conlon, was a freelance writer. His father was an assistant to the New...
conducted and Robert Brubaker
Robert Brubaker (tenor)
Robert Brubaker is an American operatic tenor. Born in Manheim, Pennsylvania, he is an alumnus of the Hartt College of Music. He began his career at the New York City Opera as a baritone in the opera chorus...
(Salviago), Anja Kampe
Anja Kampe
Anja Kampe is an Italian operatic soprano of German birth. She is notable for her performances in major opera houses of the works of Richard Wagner and other German and Austrian composers.-Career:...
(Carlotta) and Martin Gantner
Martin Gantner
Martin Gantner is a German operatic baritone. He made his professional opera debut in Koblenz as Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. He soon after joined the roster of singers at the Deutsche Oper Berlin where he notably portrayed one of the gang members in the world premiere of Hans Werner...
(Tamare) sang the principal roles. This event was hailed by critics as the first ever performance of a Schreker opera in the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
.
Also in April 2010 it was performed six times at the Teatro Massimo
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
in Palermo in a production by Graham Vick
Graham Vick
Graham Vick CBE is an English opera director. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester....
.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast 25 April 1918 (Conductor: Ludwig Rottenberg Ludwig Rottenberg Ludwig Rottenberg was an Austrian/German composer and conductor.-Biography:Rottenberg came from a German-speaking Jewish family in Czernowitz, the then-capital of Bukovina, which at the time was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Duke Antoniotto Adorno | 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... |
Walter Schneider Walter Schneider (bass) -Professional career:Born in Bretzenheim, his initial musical ambition was to become a conductor, but in the end he decided on a singing career. His first engagement was at the Cologne Opera in 1903. During the 1904-1905 season he was engaged at the Stadttheater in Aachen... |
| Count Vitelozzo Tamare | 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... |
Robert vom Scheidt Robert vom Scheidt Robert vom Scheidt was a German operatic baritone. He created roles in several world premieres, including Wolf in Franz Schreker's Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin , Vitellozzo Tamare/Andrea in Schreker's Die Gezeichneten , Baliv in Schreker's Der Schatzgräber , and Rabbi Leone in Eugène... |
| Lodovico Nardi, Podestà | bass | Willy Roos |
| Carlotta Nardi, his daughter | 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... |
Else Gentner-Fischer Else Gentner-Fischer Else Gentner-Fischer was a German operatic soprano. Although she appeared in operas internationally, her career was mainly centered at the Frankfurt Opera where she was a resident artist from 1907-1935. She excelled in the dramatic soprano repertoire, drawing particular acclaim for her portrayal... |
| Alviano Salvago, a Genoan nobleman | 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... |
Karl Ziegler Karl Ziegler (tenor) Karl Ziegler was an operatic tenor, who was active in Germany and Austria during the first half of the 20th century.-Professional career:He began his career with an engagement at the Vienna Volksoper from 1908 till 1913... |
| Guidobald Usodimare, a Genoan nobleman | tenor | Hermann Schramm Hermann Schramm Hermann Schramm was a German tenor who sang at the Frankfurt Opera in the 1920s and made several recordings for HMV Germany.Although he was Jewish he escaped the deportation and subsequent fate of his colleagues at the Frankfurt Opera, Richard Breitenfeld, Magda Spiegel, bass Hans Erl and... |
| Menaldo Negroni, a Genoan nobleman | tenor | Erik Wirl |
| Michelotto Cibo, a Genoan nobleman | baritone | Rudolf Brinkmann |
| Gonsalvo Fieschi, a Genoan nobleman | baritone | Fritz Meurs |
| Julian Pinelli, a Genoan nobleman | bass | Josef Gareis |
| Paolo Calvi, a Genoan nobleman | bass | Josef Gareis |
| Capitaneo di Giustizia | bass | Leo Kaplan |
| Ginevra Scotti | soprano | Marta Uersfeld |
| Martuccia, Alviano's housekeeper | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Marie Welling-Bertram |
| Pietro, a cutthroat | tenor | |
| A youth | tenor | Franz Wartenberg |
| His friend | bass | Willy Schürmann |
| A young girl | soprano | Elisabeth Kandt |
| First senator | tenor | Erik Wirl |
| Second senator | baritone | Rudolf Brinkmann |
| Third senator | bass | Josef Gareis |
| A servant | bass | |
| A maidservant | 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... |
Anita Franz |
| First citizen | tenor | |
| Second citizen | baritone | Carl Bauermann |
| Third citizen | bass | Willy Schürmann |
| Father | bass | Paul Neumann |
| Mother | contralto | Frieda Hammerschmidt |
| A small boy, silent part | ||
| First young man | tenor | Franz Wartenberg |
| Second young man | baritone | Carl Bauermann |
| Third young man | bass | Willy Schürmann |
| A giant citizen | bass | Karl Kröff |
Instrumentation
The orchestral score requires:- 4 fluteWestern concert fluteThe Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
s (all 4 doubling piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), 4 oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s (oboe 4 doubling English horn), 4 clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s (in A/B-flat, 4 doubling E flat clarinet), bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
in B-flat (doubling basset horn), 2 bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
; - 6 hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s in F, 4 trumpets in C (4 doubling bass trumpetBass trumpetThe bass trumpet is a type of low trumpet which was first developed during the 1820s in Germany. It is usually pitched in 8' C or 9' B today, but is sometimes built in E and is treated as a transposing instrument sounding either an octave, a sixth or a ninth lower than written, depending on the...
), 3 tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, bass tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
(doubling contrabass tuba); - timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, percussion (3 players), 2 harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s, celestaCelestaThe celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
; - stringsString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
(violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s I, violins II, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, violoncellos, double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es).
Act 1
The young Genoan nobleman Alviano Salviago, hunchbacked and deformed, has renounced the love of women. He wants to donate to the people of Genoa the island paradise called "Elysium" he has created. His friends, a group of dissolute young noblemen, have been using an underground grotto on the island to celebrate orgies with young women abducted from prominent Genoan families, and intervene with duke Adorno to stop the transfer of ownership. One of them, count Tamare, has set his sights on Carlotta, daughter of the Podestà. Carlotta rejects him, as she is only interested in Salviago, whose soul she wants to paint.Act 2
Infuriated by Carlotta's rejection, Tamare swears to Adorno that he will take her by force. He also reveals the secret of the grotto. In order to avoid the consequences of this secret becoming public, Adorno agrees to vetoing the transfer. While Salviago is sitting for Carlotta, she tries to bring out his soul, thereby applying all her female charms. Salviago misinterprets these signs, and thinks she is in love with him.Act 3
The citizens of Genoa take possession of the island. Salviago asks the Podestà for Carlotta's hand in marriage. She evades him, wanders off alone, and in the grotto finally succumbs to Tamare. The duke accuses Salviago of masterminding the abductions. Salviago, besides himself with worry for Carlotta, leads everyone to the underground grotto. Carlotta lies senseless on a bed, while Tamare prides himself on his conquering abilities. Salviago stabs him. Carlotta awakens, Salviago rushes to her side, but with her dying breath she calls for Tamare. Salviago, completely deranged, stumbles over Tamare's body as he makes his way through the stunned crowd.Recordings
- In 1995 DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
released a recording made at the Jesus-Christus-Kirche in Berlin-DahlemDahlem (Berlin)Dahlem is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. Dahlem is one of the most affluent parts of the city and home to the main campus of the Free University of Berlin with the...
in August 1993 / February 1994 as part of their Entartete Musik series, with Lothar ZagrosekLothar ZagrosekLothar Zagrosek is a German conductor. As a youth, he sang in the Regensburg Cathedral choir, including performances as the First Boy in The Magic Flute at the 1954 Salzburg Festival...
conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester BerlinDeutsches Symphonie-Orchester BerlinThe Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1946 by American occupation forces as the RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester . It was also known as the American Sector Symphony Orchestra...
. The principal roles were sung by Heinz Kruse (Salviago), Elizabeth Connell (Carlotta) and Monte PedersonMonte PedersonMonte Pederson was an American operatic bass-baritone. He sang in leading roles with important opera houses internationally, including La Scala, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Vienna State Opera...
(Tamare). - In 2003 ORFEOORFEOORFEO is a German classical record label founded in 1979 and launched in 1982. It has released the archives of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. The record label was used by its owner F. Axel Merhle as a tax shelter, which resulted in his prosecution for fraud in December 1985.-...
released a 1984 live recording from the Salzburger Festspiele, with Gerd AlbrechtGerd AlbrechtGerd Albrecht is a German conductor. He was a first-prize winner at the International Conductors Competition in Besançon at age 22. His first post was as a repetiteur at the Stuttgart State Opera. Later, he became Senior Kapellmeister at the Mainz Municipal Theatre, and Generalmusikdirektor in...
conducting the Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien.