Jaromir Weinberger : Wallenstein (1937)
CPO 777963-2
Oper in sechs Szenen. Konzertante Aufführung in deutscher Sprache
German translation by Max Brod
ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien
Wiener Singakademie
Cornelius Meister Dirigent
Fritag, 15.06. Wallenstein
Wiener Konzerthaus, Wien
Roman Trekel Wallenstein, Herzog zu Friedland
Martina Welschenbach Thekla, seine Tochter
Ralf Lukas Octavio Piccolomini, Generalleutnant / Dragoner / Kapuziner
Daniel Kirch Max Piccolomini, sein Sohn
Roman Sadnik Graf Terzky
Dagmar Schellenberger Gräfin Terzky
Edwing Tenias Illo, Wallensteins Vertrauter
Georg Lehner Buttler
Benno Schollum Wrangel, schwedischer Obert / Wachtmeister
Oliver Ringelhahn Gordon / Kürassier / Soldat / Erster Kürassier
Dietmar Kerschbaum Graf Questenberg / Hauptmann
Nina Berten Marketenderin
Claudia Goebl Mädchen
Johannes Schwendinger Jäger / Bedienter
Humeur : dramatique, tragique.
Plus succinctement et infailliblement, vous ne pouvez pas sur l'apparence
générale d'un opéra, avec cette entrée dans les informations sur l'éditeur
pour l'opéra « Wallenstein » par Jaromir Weinberger. Alors que l'opéra est
en soi quelque chose mais concis ou court : moins de trois heures Jaromir
Weinberger a écrit la musique pour raconter l'histoire dramatique de cette
guerre. la première à Vienne a eu lieu en 1937. Après quelques
représentations, les ventes de Nazis le morceau du compositeur juif du
répertoire et le compositeur hors du pays. Après une production mise en
scène de l'opéra à Gera dans l'année 2009, cette performance viennoise avec
le RSO Wien est seulement le troisième comme « Wallenstein ».
« Wallenstein » trilogie de Friedrich Schiller est à la base du livret,
qui soit dit en passant, a été transféré de la tchèque original en allemand par Max Brod.
L'opéra se joue au milieu de la guerre de trente ans. Le drame de la général Wallenstein a
évolué dans un paysage dominé par les horreurs de la guerre. Sans de
dérouler l'histoire ici en détail : l'appareil général de puissance de sa
propre faute entre les avants, peut se traduire par des négociations
secrètes avec l'ennemi, tombe en disgrâce, s'échappe, est assassiné. C'est
une histoire de trahison multiples, fortement derrière la fidélisation,
changeant les alliances, les faux amis et les intrigants vrais - une
histoire de puissance et de la perte de puissance et sont en fait les deux
protagonistes imaginaires de l'opéra : le pouvoir politique et leurs effets
destructifs sur les gens.
Weinberger faisait également
référence au XXe siècle, où il a vécu alors qu'il a écrit sur la guerre de
trente ans du XVIIe siècle. « L'Art est une image miroir de la vie »,
note-t-il, "encore plus, c'est l'essence de la vie et l'instrument le plus
exact, l'état de santé de la société, de mesurer la situation sociale de
tout au long de la période. » Comment dramatiquement rapidement la «
situation sociale » sur son propre travail et vie baisseraient, mais
probablement aussi Jaromir Weinberger à la première de son opéra «
Wallenstein » n'a pas imaginé 1937 à Vienne.
Wallenstein (Valdstejn) (1937)
World Premiere (18/11/1937)
Operntheater, Wien
Dr. Lothar Wallerstein, director
Conductor: Wolfgang Martin
Company: Alfred Jerger (Wallenstein) / Fred Destal (Octavio) / Friedrich Ginrod
(Max) / Esther Réthy (Thekla)
Duration: 180 minutes
Musical tragedy in six scenes
Libretto by Milos Kares after Schiller; German translation by Max Brod
Scoring
2S, 5T, Bar, 2BBar, 3B; chorus; 3.2 (II=corA).2 (II=bcl).2 (II=dbn)-4.3.3.1-timp.perc-harp-strings.
Roles
WALLENSTEIN, Duke of Friedland, General of the Emperor's forces |
Baritone |
THEKLA, Princess of Friedland, his daughter |
Soprano |
OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI, lieutenant general under Wallenstein |
Bass Baritone |
MAX PICCOLOMINI, his son, colonel in a regiment of cuirassers |
Tenor |
COUNT TERZKY, Wallenstein's brother-in-law, commander of a regiment |
Bass |
COUNTESS TERZKY |
Soprano |
ILLO, Fieldmarshal, confidant of Wallenstein |
Bass Baritone |
BUTTLER, leader of a dragoon regiment |
Bass |
COUNT QUESTENBERG, imperial envoy |
Tenor |
WRANGEL, a Swedish colonel |
Bass |
GORDON, commanding officer of Eger |
Tenor |
SENI, an astrologer |
Tenor |
A SWEDISH CAPTAIN |
Tenor |
Soldiers, watchmen, monks, maidens etc |
|
Time and Place
1634, Northern BohemiaSynopsisGeneral Wallenstein – whose army, a very motley
crew, is devoted to him – conspires against the Emperor. A Capuchin friar
berates the soldiers for carousing on a Sunday and fulminates against
Wallenstein, whose negotiations with the Swedes have been discovered.
Wallenstein, whose fatal flaw is indecision, puts his trusted lieutenant,
Octavio Piccolomini, in charge of a large body of soldiers. The Emperor declares
Wallenstein a traitor and replaces him by Piccolomini, who tricks Colonel
Buttler, commander of the Dragoons, into deserting Wallenstein. Piccolomini’s
son Max, commander of the Cuirassiers, and Wallenstein’s daughter Thekla fall in
love, although her father intends her for a dynastic marriage. Max refuses to
join his father, because he realises that he is motivated more by ambition than
duty to the Emperor. When Wallenstein’s fall from grace becomes known several
regiments change sides. The Cuirassiers, believing Max to be Wallenstein’s
prisoner, march on his headquarters. Max’s duty lies with the Emperor: he leaves,
and is later killed in battle. Wallenstein, meanwhile, is cut off at Eger;
Buttler, Piccolomini’s henchman, convinces the garrison commander that
Wallenstein must die and all his supporters are murdered. Piccolomini arrives
with a message that Wallenstein is not to be killed, but it is too late.
Weinberger's Wallenstein in first Viennese performance since 1937
Counting this present concert performance,
public outings for Jaromir Weinberger’s 1937
opera Wallenstein may possibly have
reached double digits, and such reception
details, or indeed any information about the
opera beyond a basic synopsis, would have made a
welcome addition to the programme. With nothing
but a few passing references in the scholarly
literature this would have been a job for a
specialist, but Vienna is not lacking in these
and the programme note writer’s importance,
after all, increases in direct proportion to the
obscurity of the work performed. Here I can only
fill in some gaps and offer a few limited
observations.On paper Wallenstein is an operatic
setting of Schiller’s dramatic trilogy of the
same name, and presents a fall-from-grace story
arc ending in the murder of its titular
character, military leader Albrecht von
Wallenstein, a historical character active
during the Thirty Years’ War. Wallenstein
commands the respect of his men, though his own
loyalty to Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II
lessens with each day he spends in purposeless
conflict with his Swedish enemy. Overtures are
made to the Swedes which Wallenstein hopes will
push the emperor towards peace, though his co-conspirator
Octavio Piccolomini has secretly remained loyal
to the emperor. Piccolomini turns Wallenstein’s
army against him and the drama closes with a
bloodbath, bringing an end to Wallenstein, his
brother Terzky and his wife, and his comrade
Illo. Max, Piccolomini’s son, had in an earlier
scene fallen in love with Wallenstein’s daughter
Thekla, and with his loyalties wretchedly
divided between his father, Wallenstein and the
emperor, he ventures into futile battle with the
Swedes to meet certain death, after which Thekla
dies of grief.A straightforward political allegory may be
deciphered here, drawing from Weinberger’s
personal situation and the circumstances of the
work’s première (at the Vienna State Opera a
matter of months before Austria was annexed by
Nazi Germany). Wallenstein bears a
dedication to the then Austrian chancellor Kurt
Schuschnigg, who was struggling to maintain
Austria’s independence in the face of German
aggression; Schuschnigg’s predecessor Engelbert
Dollfuss, who had brutally suppressed Austria’s
labour movement and established authoritarian
rule in 1933, had been assassinated by Nazi
agents in a 1934 attempted putsch, and it is
quite probable that like many in Austria’s
Jewish community, Weinberger, a composer of
Jewish origin who escaped into American exile in
1939, supported the Dollfuss regime for its
scaling back of anti-Semitic measures and
commitment to the Austrian nation-state. And so
in Wallenstein, the parallels are
painted with a broad brush: the absolutist,
intolerant Ferdinand II as enemy belligerent
represents Germany, while Wallenstein is a stand
in for the slain Dollfuss. Historical loose
threads are left hanging aplenty, perhaps
because rather than in spite of Max Brod’s
libretto driving the point home with
unmistakable clarity. It is indeed a strange
achievement of this opera that the seriousness
of what is at stake registers so strongly that
Weinberger can be himself – a nostalgia
soundtrack for the former Austro-Hungarian
empire – and the entire thing (almost) doesn’t
sound absurd. Grim scene-setting with ominous
martial music gives way with ease to oom-pah
bands and Slavic-inflected melodic lyricism;
ethereal moments bordering on atonality dissolve
into plush Korngoldian statements with heart
firmly on sleeve. For the Max and Thekla sub-plot
Weinberger transitions into full-blown operetta
mode.That all of this sounded a faintly credible
mish-mash can be attributed squarely to
conductor Cornelius Meister, who segued
seamlessly from lilting Ländler to the dark hues
and musico-dramatic sweep required for
Wallenstein’s monologues. If there was a sense
of Weinberger hopelessly if poignantly clinging
on to an Austro-Hungarian identity that never
was, I do not believe it was my imagination, or
even simply there in the score. The RSO
Wien were on superb form in every department and
well-balanced, though the singers would not have
been overpowered had slightly more been given at
times. No reservations at all could be made
about the Wiener Singakademie’s contribution. As
Wallenstein, Roman Trekel’s menacing all-black
attire bordered on Fascist iconography, as if to
remind us of this martyr’s true colours, though
deheroization through textual and musical nuance
was quite enough, and the artistry indeed
undeniable. As Thekla, Martina Welschenbach’s
light voice was put through its paces with the
most vocally challenging part of the cast;
flexibility was not always there and phrasing
short on breath, but tone was attractive. The
only disappointments were the Piccolomini father
and son, Ralf Lukas and Daniel Kirch; Lukas
sounded a good deal too bland to commit betrayal,
while erratic singing almost brought Kirch to
grief in the operetta scenes. Standouts among
the smaller roles included soprano Dagmar
Schellenberger, who gave a sympathetic portrayal
of the Gräfin Terzky with full-lyric creaminess
and warmth, and resonant baritone Benno Schollum,
who was the best-cast villain of the piece.Zwölftöner,
04 mars 2013