- Der Evangelimann
-
Wilhelm Kienzl 
Operas- Der Evangelimann (1895)
- Don Quixote (1898)
- Der Kuhreigen (1911)
Der Evangelimann (The Evangelist) is an opera in two acts by the Austrian composer Wilhelm Kienzl. The libretto, by the composer, is based on Leopold Florian Meissner's short story Aus den Berichten eines Polizeikommissärs.[1]
Contents
Composition history
Kienzl composed the opera in a relatively short space of time during 1894 in Graz and in the little Austrian town of Vöcklabruck. When he played extracts from the score to conductor Karl Muck and Count Hochberg (then artistic director of the Berlin Opera), they immediately secured the rights to the premiere.[2] The score was published by Musikverlages Bote & Bock Berlin GmbH, now part of Boosey & Hawkes.[1]
Performance history
The opera was first performed at the Neues Königliches Opernhaus, Berlin on 4 May 1895.[1][3] It was a triumphant success. Within only a few years most German and Austrian opera houses had the work in their repertory. Famous conductors such as Felix Mottl, Gustav Mahler, Franz Schalk and Richard Strauss gave it their support, and the title role of the Evangelist Mathias was sung by prominent tenors.[2]
Roles
Role[1] Voice type Premiere Cast[3]
4 May 1895
(Conductor: Karl Muck)Friedrich Engel, magistrate in the monastery of St. Othmar bass Josef Mödlinger Martha, his niece and charge dramatic soprano Bertha Pierson Magdalena, her friend contralto Marie Goetze Johannes Freudhofer, school teacher in St. Othmar baritone Paul Bulss Mathias Freudhofer, his younger brother, clerk in the monastery dramatic tenor Eloi Sylva Xaver Zitterbart, tailor buffo tenor Julius Lieban Anton Schnappauf, gun-smith buffo bass Rudolf Krasa Friedrich Aibler, an older citizen baritone Hermann Bachmann Aibler's wife mezzosoprano Frau Huber lyric soprano Hans, a farmer's boy lyric tenor Voice of the "skittle boy" lyric soprano Voice of the night-watchman bass Ragwoman mezzosoprano Boy soprano Synopsis
Act 1
- Place and time: the Benedictine monastery St. Othmar in Lower Austria, in the year 1820.
Mathias, clerk in the monastery of St. Othmar, is in love with Martha, the foster daughter of the magistrate Friedrich Engel. Mathias’s brother Johannes is jealous of Martha’s affection and starts an intrigue against him. When the magistrate is informed of what is happening between his charge and Mathias, he dismisses the clerk and expels him from the monastery. Martha resists Johannes’s intrusiveness. When Johannes witnesses Martha and Mathias swearing fidelity to each other at the farewell, his jealousy turns into blind hate and he sets the monastery on fire. It is not he, however, but Mathias, who is arrested as the alleged wrongdoer.
Act 2
- Place and time: Vienna, 1850
Mathias has served a twenty-year sentence and, having been denied re-integration into society, travels the country as an itinerant preacher (this act contains the most popular piece in the opera: Selig sind, die Verfolgung leiden um der Gerechtigkeit willen, sung by Mathias and a children's chorus). Martha took her life after his imprisonment, Johannes has become rich by dishonest means and lives in Vienna, now a severely ill man. Thirty years after the events at St. Othmar the brothers meet again. Mathias forgives Johannes, who can thus die in peace.
Recordings
- In 1997, EMI Classics re-released a recording made in October 1980 in Munich (Bavarian Radio, Studio 1). Lothar Zagrosek conducted the orchestra & chorus of Bavarian Radio Munich and the Tölzer Knabenchor. The principal roles were sung by Kurt Moll (Friedrich), Helen Donath (Martha), Ortrun Wenkel (Magdalena), Roland Hermann (Johannes) and Siegfried Jerusalem (Mathias).[4]
- In 2006, German label Capriccio released a DVD recording of a 2005 performance at the Vienna Volksoper conducted by Alfred Eschwe.[5]
Notes
- ^ a b c d "Wilhelm Kienzl - Evangelimann - Opera". United Kingdom: Boosey & Hawkes. http://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moreDetails.asp?musicID=26061. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- ^ a b Scherle, Arthur (1981). Release notes for Der Evangelimann by Wilhelm Kienzl. EMI Classics (566370-2).
- ^ a b "Musical events 4 May 1895". Italy: AmadeusOnline. http://amadeusonline.net/almanacco.php?Start=0&Giorno=4&Mese=05&Anno=1895&Giornata=&Testo=&Parola=Stringa. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- ^ "Review - Kienzl - Der Evangelimann". United Kingdom: Gramophone. September 1989. http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/September%201989/133/764841/. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- ^ "Wilhelm Kienzl: Der Evangelimann (DVD)". Germany: JPC. 2006. http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/lang/en/currency/EUR/hnum/4577050/art_hex/57696c68656c6d2d4b69656e7a6c2d4465722d4576616e67656c696d616e6e. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
Categories:- Operas by Wilhelm Kienzl
- 1895 operas
- German-language operas
- Operas
- Berlin State Opera world premieres
- Operas set in Austria
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