Bluebeard's Castle
Encyclopedia
Duke Bluebeard's Castle is a one-act opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók
. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs
, a poet and friend of the composer. It is in Hungarian
, based on the French fairy tale "Bluebeard
" by Charles Perrault
. The opera lasts only a little over an hour and there are only two singing characters onstage: Bluebeard (), and his new wife Judith (); the two have just eloped and Judith is coming home to Bluebeard's castle for the first time.
Bluebeard's Castle was composed in 1911 (with modifications made in 1912 and a new ending added in 1917) and first performed on May 24, 1918 in Budapest
. Universal published the vocal (1921) and full score (1925). The Boosey & Hawkes' full score includes only the German
and English singing translations while the Dover edition reproduces the Universal Edition Hungarian/German vocal score (with page numbers beginning at 1 instead of 5). A revision of the UE vocal score in 1963 added a new German translation by Wilhelm Ziegler, but seems not to have corrected any errata. Universal Edition and Bartók Records has published a new edition of the work in 2005 with new English translation by Peter Bartók, accompanied by extensive errata list.
in 1908, and wrote it during the following two years. It was first published serially in 1910 with a joint dedication to Kodály and Bartók, and in 1912 appeared with the prologue in the collection "Mysteries". Bartók was motivated to complete the opera in 1911 by the closing date of the Ferenc Erkel Prize competition, for which it was duly entered. A second competition, organised by the music publishers Rózsavölgyi and with a closing date in 1912, encouraged Bartók to make some modifications to the work in order to submit it to the Rózsavölgyi competition.
Little is known about the Ferenc Erkel Prize other than that Bluebeard's Castle did not win. The Rózsavölgyi judges, after reviewing the composition, decided that the work (with only two characters and a single location) was not dramatic enough to be considered in the category for which it was entered: theatrical music. It is thought that the panel of judges who were to look at the musical (rather than the theatrical) aspects of the competition entries never saw Bartók's entry.
In 1913 Balázs produced a spoken performance at which Bartók played some piano pieces on a separate part of the program. A 1915 letter to Bartók's young wife, Márta, (to whom he dedicated the opera) ends:
in 1917 paved the way for the May 1918 première with the same conductor, Egisto Tango
. Oszkár Kálmán was the first Bluebeard and Olga Haselbeck the first Judith. Following Balázs' exile in 1919 and the ban on his work there were no revivals until 1936. Bartók attended rehearsals and reportedly sided with the new Bluebeard, Mihály Székely
, over the new conductor Sergio Failoni, who was insisting on fidelity to the printed score. On the Dorati recording Székely displays an assured sense of parlando rubato; less certain is whether Bartók sanctioned some of the changed pitches (or indeed if Székely does them on another recording made with János Ferencsik).
Bluebeard's Castle was first performed in Italy at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
on 5 May 1938. The production was conducted by Sergio Failoni and starred Miklós Székely in the title role and Ella Némethy as Judith. The Teatro di San Carlo
mounted the opera for the first time on 19 April 1951 with contralto Isa Malafunk and bass Mario Petri
. The work's La Scala
debut occurred on 28 January 1954 with American soprano Dorothy Dow
as Judith and Petri as Bluebeard. This was followed by several other productions at major opera houses in Italy, including the Teatro Regio di Torino (1961), Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
(1962), Teatro Comunale di Bologna
(1966), La Fenice
(1967), and the Teatro Regio di Parma
(1970).
The opera was first performed in the United States in a student production at Southern Methodist University
in 1946. The first professional American performance was for NBC radio in 1949 in a performance conducted by Antal Dorati in Dallas, Texas. The first fully staged American production was at the New York City Opera
on 2 October 1952 with conductor Joseph Rosenstock
and singers Catherine Ayres and James Pease
. The Metropolitan Opera
mounted the opera for the first time on June 10, 1974 with conductor Sixten Ehrling
and singers David Ward and Shirley Verrett
.
Bluebeard's Castle received its French premiere on 17 April 1950 in a radio broadcast on Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française
. Ernest Ansermet
conducted the performance which featured Renée Gilly as Judith and Lucien Lovano as Bluebeard. The first staged production of the work in France was at the Opéra national du Rhin
on 29 April 1954 with Heinz Rehfuss
in the title role, Elsa Cavelti as Judith, and conductor Ernest Bour
. The first performance in Paris was at the Opéra-Comique
on 8 October 1959 with soprano Berthe Monmart and bass Xavier Depraz. The production was directed by Marcel Lamy and used a French translation by Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi
.
The London première took place on 16 January 1957 at the Rudolf Steiner Theatre during the English tour of Scottish composer Erik Chisholm
directing the UCT Opera Company whose Désirée Talbot
was Judith. A few years earlier, Erik Chisholm
had premièred this work in South Africa at the Little Theatre in Cape Town
. The opera's Austrian premiere took place at the Salzburg Festival
on the 4 August 1978 with conductor George Alexander Albrecht
leading soprano Katalin Kasza and baritone Walter Berry. In Israel the opera premiered on December 15, 2010 at the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv. Vladimir Braun was Bluebeard and Svetlana Sandler sang in Judith. Shirit Lee Weiss directed and Ilan Volkov conducted. The sets, originally used in the Seattle Opera performance were designed by famous glass artist Dale Chihuly
.
Bartók includes the Castle on the dramatis personæ page.
The basic plot is loosely based on the folk tale "Bluebeard
", but is given a heavily psychological
reworking—some would say psychoanalytic or psychosexual, (see Bruno Bettelheim
and The Uses of Enchantment
).
Judith and Bluebeard arrive at his castle, which is all dark. Bluebeard asks Judith if she wants to stay and even offers her an opportunity to leave, but she decides to stay. Judith insists that all the doors be opened, to allow light to enter into the forbidding interior, insisting further that her demands are based on her love for Bluebeard. Bluebeard refuses, saying that they are private places not to be explored by others, and asking Judith to love him but ask no questions. Judith persists, and eventually prevails over his resistance.
The first door opens to reveal a torture chamber, stained with blood. Repelled, but then intrigued, Judith pushes on. Behind the second door is a storehouse of weapons, and behind the third a storehouse of riches. Bluebeard urges her on. Behind the fourth door is a secret garden of great beauty; behind the fifth, a window onto Bluebeard's vast kingdom. All is now sunlit, but blood has stained the riches, watered the garden, and grim clouds throw blood-red shadows over Bluebeard's kingdom.
Bluebeard pleads with her to stop: the castle is as bright as it can get, and will not get any brighter, but Judith refuses to be stopped after coming this far, and opens the penultimate sixth door, as a shadow passes over the castle. This is the first room that has not been somehow stained with blood; a silent silvery lake is all that lies within, "a lake of tears". Bluebeard begs Judith to simply love him, and ask no more questions. The last door must be shut forever. But she persists, asking him about his former wives, and then accusing him of having murdered them, suggesting that their blood was the blood everywhere, that their tears were those that filled the lake, and that their bodies lie behind the last door. At this, Bluebeard hands over the last key.
Behind the door are Bluebeard's three former wives, but still alive, dressed in crowns and jewellery. They emerge silently, and Bluebeard, overcome with emotion, prostrates himself before them and praises each in turn, finally turning to Judith and beginning to praise her as his fourth wife. She is horrified, begs him to stop, but it is too late. He dresses her in the jewellery they wear, which she finds exceedingly heavy. Her head drooping under the weight, she follows the other wives along a beam of moonlight through the seventh door. It closes behind her, and Bluebeard is left alone as all fades to total darkness.
These lighting instructions are notably ignored in the movie (not staged) version {reference} of the opera, for which more elaborate, literal sets were constructed.
The slow orchestral introduction to the work is often preceded or overlapped by a spoken prologue, (also by Balázs, but published as "Prologue of the Bard" independently of the play). This poses to the audience the questions "Where is the stage? Is it outside, or inside?" as well as offering a warning to pay careful attention to the events about to unfold. The prologue warns the audience that the morals of the tale can apply to the real world as well as to that of Bluebeard and Judith. The character of the bard (or "regős" in the Hungarian language) is traditional in Hungarian folk music, and the words of the prologue (notably its opening lines "Haj, regő, rejtem") are associated with traditional Hungarian "regősénekek" (Regős songs), which Bartók had previously studied. The prologue is frequently omitted from performances; to some it seems heavy-handed and unnecessary, while to others it fits well with the reworked folktale atmosphere.
The stage directions call also for occasional ghostly sighs that seemingly emanate from the castle itself when some of the doors are opened. These have been implemented differently by different productions, sometimes clearly instrumentally, sometimes vocally and sometimes not easily identifiable.
, an interval whose dissonance is used repeatedly in both slow and fast passages to evoke aching sadness/disquiet or danger/shock respectively. The minor second is referred to as the 'blood' motif, for it is used whenever Judith notices blood in the castle. Overall the music is not atonal, although it is often polytonal, with more than one key center operating simultaneously (e.g. the leadup to the climactic opening of the fifth door). However, there are some passages (for example, door 3) where the music is tonal and mostly consonant. Many critics have found an overall key plan, as one would find in a tonal piece of music. The opera starts in a mode of F, modulating towards C in the middle of the piece (tonally, the greatest possible distance from F), before returning to F towards the end. The text and setting at these points has suggested to some that the F-C dichotomy represents darkness/light.
The vocal parts are very challenging due to the highly chromatic and speech-rhythm-inflected style that Bartók uses. For non-native speakers, the Hungarian-language libretto can also be difficult to master. These reasons, coupled with the static effect of the stage action, combine to make staged performances of the opera a comparative rarity; it more often appears in concert form.
To support the psychological undertones, Bartók calls for a large orchestra. The instrumentation is as notated below:
4 flute
s (the last two double two piccolos), 2 oboe
s, cor anglais
, 3 clarinet
s in A and B-flat (first and second double two E-flat clarinets, third doubles bass clarinet
), 4 bassoon
s (last bassoon doubles contrabassoon
), 4 horns
, 4 trumpet
s in B-flat, 4 trombone
s, tuba
, timpani
, bass drum
, tamburo piccolo, tamtam
, cymbal
s, suspended cymbal
s, xylophone
(originally a tastiera - usually played by two players), triangle
, 2 harp
s, celesta
, organ
, and strings
.
Eight offstage brass players are also called for (4 trumpets and 4 trombones).
, another singing translation is that made by John Lloyd Davies for the Scottish Opera
in 1989 (in British National Opera Guide #44, 1991). One might expect the subtitling of filmed versions to be literal, but far more often one instead gets plenty of subtext along with Balazs' dialogue. A reasonably faithful version in French is that of Natalia and Charles Zaremba (L'Avant-Scène Opéra, 1992)
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs
Béla Balázs
----Béla Balázs , born Herbert Bauer, was a Hungarian-Jewish film critic, aesthete, writer and poet....
, a poet and friend of the composer. It is in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, based on the French fairy tale "Bluebeard
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" is a French literary folktale written by Charles Perrault and is one of eight tales by the author first published by Barbin in Paris in January 1697 in Histoires ou Contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the...
" by Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
. The opera lasts only a little over an hour and there are only two singing characters onstage: Bluebeard (), and his new wife Judith (); the two have just eloped and Judith is coming home to Bluebeard's castle for the first time.
Bluebeard's Castle was composed in 1911 (with modifications made in 1912 and a new ending added in 1917) and first performed on May 24, 1918 in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. Universal published the vocal (1921) and full score (1925). The Boosey & Hawkes' full score includes only the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and English singing translations while the Dover edition reproduces the Universal Edition Hungarian/German vocal score (with page numbers beginning at 1 instead of 5). A revision of the UE vocal score in 1963 added a new German translation by Wilhelm Ziegler, but seems not to have corrected any errata. Universal Edition and Bartók Records has published a new edition of the work in 2005 with new English translation by Peter Bartók, accompanied by extensive errata list.
Composition history
Balázs originally conceived the libretto for his roommate Zoltán KodályZoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
in 1908, and wrote it during the following two years. It was first published serially in 1910 with a joint dedication to Kodály and Bartók, and in 1912 appeared with the prologue in the collection "Mysteries". Bartók was motivated to complete the opera in 1911 by the closing date of the Ferenc Erkel Prize competition, for which it was duly entered. A second competition, organised by the music publishers Rózsavölgyi and with a closing date in 1912, encouraged Bartók to make some modifications to the work in order to submit it to the Rózsavölgyi competition.
Little is known about the Ferenc Erkel Prize other than that Bluebeard's Castle did not win. The Rózsavölgyi judges, after reviewing the composition, decided that the work (with only two characters and a single location) was not dramatic enough to be considered in the category for which it was entered: theatrical music. It is thought that the panel of judges who were to look at the musical (rather than the theatrical) aspects of the competition entries never saw Bartók's entry.
In 1913 Balázs produced a spoken performance at which Bartók played some piano pieces on a separate part of the program. A 1915 letter to Bartók's young wife, Márta, (to whom he dedicated the opera) ends:
Performance history
The success of the ballet The Wooden PrinceThe Wooden Prince
The Wooden Prince Op. 13, Sz. 60, is a one-act pantomime ballet composed by Béla Bartók in 1914-1916 to a scenario by Béla Balázs...
in 1917 paved the way for the May 1918 première with the same conductor, Egisto Tango
Egisto Tango
Egisto Tango was the conductor of several premieres by Bartók, including The Wooden Prince and Bluebeard's Castle....
. Oszkár Kálmán was the first Bluebeard and Olga Haselbeck the first Judith. Following Balázs' exile in 1919 and the ban on his work there were no revivals until 1936. Bartók attended rehearsals and reportedly sided with the new Bluebeard, Mihály Székely
Mihály Székely
Mihály Székely was a Hungarian bass singer famous for Mozartian roles.He debuted as Ferrando in 1920 at the Budapest Opera, where he remained a principal singer until his death. His Metropolitan Opera debut was as Hunding in 1947...
, over the new conductor Sergio Failoni, who was insisting on fidelity to the printed score. On the Dorati recording Székely displays an assured sense of parlando rubato; less certain is whether Bartók sanctioned some of the changed pitches (or indeed if Székely does them on another recording made with János Ferencsik).
Bluebeard's Castle was first performed in Italy at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...
on 5 May 1938. The production was conducted by Sergio Failoni and starred Miklós Székely in the title role and Ella Némethy as Judith. The Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
mounted the opera for the first time on 19 April 1951 with contralto Isa Malafunk and bass Mario Petri
Mario Petri
Mario Petri was an Italian operatic bass particularly associated with Mozart and Rossini roles....
. The work's La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
debut occurred on 28 January 1954 with American soprano Dorothy Dow
Dorothy Dow
Dorothy Dow was an American classical soprano who had an active international career in concerts, operas, and recitals during the 1940s through the 1960s. A dramatic soprano with an imposing stage presence, she had an opulent voice that she used with great expressiveness...
as Judith and Petri as Bluebeard. This was followed by several other productions at major opera houses in Italy, including the Teatro Regio di Torino (1961), Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements...
(1962), Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
(1966), La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
(1967), and the Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
(1970).
The opera was first performed in the United States in a student production at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
in 1946. The first professional American performance was for NBC radio in 1949 in a performance conducted by Antal Dorati in Dallas, Texas. The first fully staged American production was at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
on 2 October 1952 with conductor Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock was a Polish Jewish conductor.-Early years:He worked at the State Opera in Wiesbaden before being brought into the Metropolitan Opera in New York to replace Artur Bodanzky in 1928...
and singers Catherine Ayres and James Pease
James Pease
James Pease was an American bass-baritone, notable for his Wagnerian roles but also a very distinguished Balstrode in Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, a role he recorded under the composer’s direction in 1958.A law graduate of Indiana University in 1939, he won a scholarship at the Academy of...
. The Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
mounted the opera for the first time on June 10, 1974 with conductor Sixten Ehrling
Sixten Ehrling
Sixten Ehrling, , was a Swedish conductor who, during a long career, served as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera and the principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, amongst others....
and singers David Ward and Shirley Verrett
Shirley Verrett
Shirley Verrett was an African-American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles i.e. soprano sfogato...
.
Bluebeard's Castle received its French premiere on 17 April 1950 in a radio broadcast on Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the French national public broadcasting organization established on 9 February 1949 to replace the post-war "Radiodiffusion Française" , which had been founded in 1945...
. Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet was a Swiss conductor.- Biography :Ansermet was born in Vevey, Switzerland. Although he was a contemporary of Wilhelm Furtwängler and Otto Klemperer, Ansermet represents in most ways a very different tradition and approach from those two musicians. Originally he was a...
conducted the performance which featured Renée Gilly as Judith and Lucien Lovano as Bluebeard. The first staged production of the work in France was at the Opéra national du Rhin
Opéra national du Rhin
LOpéra national du Rhin is an opera company which performs in Alsace, eastern France, and which includes the Opéra in Strasbourg, the company's ballet in Mulhouse , and the "Opéra Studio" , a training centre for young singers, in Colmar...
on 29 April 1954 with Heinz Rehfuss
Heinz Rehfuss
Heinz Julius Rehfuss was a Swiss operatic bass-baritone, who later became an American citizen. He was particularly associated with the title roles in Don Giovanni and Boris Godunov, and Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande....
in the title role, Elsa Cavelti as Judith, and conductor Ernest Bour
Ernest Bour
Ernest Bour was a French conductor. Born in Thionville, Moselle, Bour studied at both the University and the Conservatoire of Strasbourg...
. The first performance in Paris was at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
on 8 October 1959 with soprano Berthe Monmart and bass Xavier Depraz. The production was directed by Marcel Lamy and used a French translation by Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi
Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi
Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi was a music writer and music critic of Greek descent....
.
The London première took place on 16 January 1957 at the Rudolf Steiner Theatre during the English tour of Scottish composer Erik Chisholm
Erik Chisholm
Professor Erik William Chisholm was a Scottish composer and conductor often known as "Scotland’s forgotten composer"...
directing the UCT Opera Company whose Désirée Talbot
Désirée Talbot
Professor Désirée Talbot is a retired South African opera soprano and one of the founding members of the UCT Opera Company.-Early life and education:...
was Judith. A few years earlier, Erik Chisholm
Erik Chisholm
Professor Erik William Chisholm was a Scottish composer and conductor often known as "Scotland’s forgotten composer"...
had premièred this work in South Africa at the Little Theatre in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. The opera's Austrian premiere 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...
on the 4 August 1978 with conductor George Alexander Albrecht
George Alexander Albrecht
George Alexander Albrecht is a German conductor. His brother Ernst Albrecht is a politician. His son is the conductor Marc Albrecht....
leading soprano Katalin Kasza and baritone Walter Berry. In Israel the opera premiered on December 15, 2010 at the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv. Vladimir Braun was Bluebeard and Svetlana Sandler sang in Judith. Shirit Lee Weiss directed and Ilan Volkov conducted. The sets, originally used in the Seattle Opera performance were designed by famous glass artist Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly is an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur.-Biography:Chihuly graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington. He enrolled at the College of the Puget Sound in 1959...
.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 24 May 1918 (Conductor: Egisto Tango Egisto Tango Egisto Tango was the conductor of several premieres by Bartók, including The Wooden Prince and Bluebeard's Castle.... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Prologue of the Bard | spoken | |
| Bluebeard | bass or 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... |
Oszkár Kálmán Oszkár Kálmán Oszkár Kálmán was a Hungarian bass, remembered as the first Bluebeard. He was born in Kisszentpéter and in 1913 made his debut as Sarastro at the Royal Opera House in Budapest,... |
| Judith | 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... or 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... |
Olga Haselbeck |
| Bluebeard's wives | silent | |
Bartók includes the Castle on the dramatis personæ page.
Synopsis
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" is a French literary folktale written by Charles Perrault and is one of eight tales by the author first published by Barbin in Paris in January 1697 in Histoires ou Contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the...
", but is given a heavily psychological
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
reworking—some would say psychoanalytic or psychosexual, (see Bruno Bettelheim
Bruno Bettelheim
Bruno Bettelheim was an Austrian-born American child psychologist and writer. He gained an international reputation for his work on Freud, psychoanalysis, and emotionally disturbed children.-Background:...
and The Uses of Enchantment
The Uses of Enchantment
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales is a 1976 work by Bruno Bettelheim in which the author analyses fairy tales in terms of Freudian psychology....
).
- Place: A huge, dark hall in a castle, with seven locked doors.
- Time: Not defined.
Judith and Bluebeard arrive at his castle, which is all dark. Bluebeard asks Judith if she wants to stay and even offers her an opportunity to leave, but she decides to stay. Judith insists that all the doors be opened, to allow light to enter into the forbidding interior, insisting further that her demands are based on her love for Bluebeard. Bluebeard refuses, saying that they are private places not to be explored by others, and asking Judith to love him but ask no questions. Judith persists, and eventually prevails over his resistance.
The first door opens to reveal a torture chamber, stained with blood. Repelled, but then intrigued, Judith pushes on. Behind the second door is a storehouse of weapons, and behind the third a storehouse of riches. Bluebeard urges her on. Behind the fourth door is a secret garden of great beauty; behind the fifth, a window onto Bluebeard's vast kingdom. All is now sunlit, but blood has stained the riches, watered the garden, and grim clouds throw blood-red shadows over Bluebeard's kingdom.
Bluebeard pleads with her to stop: the castle is as bright as it can get, and will not get any brighter, but Judith refuses to be stopped after coming this far, and opens the penultimate sixth door, as a shadow passes over the castle. This is the first room that has not been somehow stained with blood; a silent silvery lake is all that lies within, "a lake of tears". Bluebeard begs Judith to simply love him, and ask no more questions. The last door must be shut forever. But she persists, asking him about his former wives, and then accusing him of having murdered them, suggesting that their blood was the blood everywhere, that their tears were those that filled the lake, and that their bodies lie behind the last door. At this, Bluebeard hands over the last key.
Behind the door are Bluebeard's three former wives, but still alive, dressed in crowns and jewellery. They emerge silently, and Bluebeard, overcome with emotion, prostrates himself before them and praises each in turn, finally turning to Judith and beginning to praise her as his fourth wife. She is horrified, begs him to stop, but it is too late. He dresses her in the jewellery they wear, which she finds exceedingly heavy. Her head drooping under the weight, she follows the other wives along a beam of moonlight through the seventh door. It closes behind her, and Bluebeard is left alone as all fades to total darkness.
Staging
Traditionally, the set is a single dark hall surrounded by the seven doors around the perimeter. As each door is opened, a stream of symbolically colored light comes forth (except in the case of the sixth door, for which the hall is actually darkened). The symbolic colors of the seven doors are as follows:- (The torture chamber) Blood-red
- (The armory) Yellowish-red
- (The treasury) Golden
- (The garden) Bluish-green
- (The kingdom) White (the stage directions read: "in a gleaming torrent, the light streams in", "blue mountains")
- (The pool of tears) Darkness; the main hall is darkened, as if a shadow had passed over
- (The wives) Silvery (stage directions: "silver like the moon")
These lighting instructions are notably ignored in the movie (not staged) version {reference} of the opera, for which more elaborate, literal sets were constructed.
The slow orchestral introduction to the work is often preceded or overlapped by a spoken prologue, (also by Balázs, but published as "Prologue of the Bard" independently of the play). This poses to the audience the questions "Where is the stage? Is it outside, or inside?" as well as offering a warning to pay careful attention to the events about to unfold. The prologue warns the audience that the morals of the tale can apply to the real world as well as to that of Bluebeard and Judith. The character of the bard (or "regős" in the Hungarian language) is traditional in Hungarian folk music, and the words of the prologue (notably its opening lines "Haj, regő, rejtem") are associated with traditional Hungarian "regősénekek" (Regős songs), which Bartók had previously studied. The prologue is frequently omitted from performances; to some it seems heavy-handed and unnecessary, while to others it fits well with the reworked folktale atmosphere.
The stage directions call also for occasional ghostly sighs that seemingly emanate from the castle itself when some of the doors are opened. These have been implemented differently by different productions, sometimes clearly instrumentally, sometimes vocally and sometimes not easily identifiable.
Music and instrumentation
The most salient characteristic of the music from Bluebeard's Castle is the importance of the minor secondMinor second
In modern Western tonal music theory a minor second is the interval between two notes on adjacent staff positions, or having adjacent note letters, whose alterations cause them to be one semitone or half-step apart, such as B and C or C and D....
, an interval whose dissonance is used repeatedly in both slow and fast passages to evoke aching sadness/disquiet or danger/shock respectively. The minor second is referred to as the 'blood' motif, for it is used whenever Judith notices blood in the castle. Overall the music is not atonal, although it is often polytonal, with more than one key center operating simultaneously (e.g. the leadup to the climactic opening of the fifth door). However, there are some passages (for example, door 3) where the music is tonal and mostly consonant. Many critics have found an overall key plan, as one would find in a tonal piece of music. The opera starts in a mode of F, modulating towards C in the middle of the piece (tonally, the greatest possible distance from F), before returning to F towards the end. The text and setting at these points has suggested to some that the F-C dichotomy represents darkness/light.
The vocal parts are very challenging due to the highly chromatic and speech-rhythm-inflected style that Bartók uses. For non-native speakers, the Hungarian-language libretto can also be difficult to master. These reasons, coupled with the static effect of the stage action, combine to make staged performances of the opera a comparative rarity; it more often appears in concert form.
To support the psychological undertones, Bartók calls for a large orchestra. The instrumentation is as notated below:
4 flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (the last two double two piccolos), 2 oboe
Oboe
The 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, cor anglais
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
, 3 clarinet
Clarinet
The 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 and B-flat (first and second double two E-flat clarinets, third doubles bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The 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...
), 4 bassoon
Bassoon
The 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 (last bassoon doubles contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
), 4 horns
Horn (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 ....
, 4 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s in B-flat, 4 trombone
Trombone
The 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, tuba
Tuba
The 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...
, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, 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...
, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, tamburo piccolo, tamtam
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, suspended cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
(originally a tastiera - usually played by two players), triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, 2 harp
Harp
The 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, celesta
Celesta
The 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...
, organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, and strings
String section
The 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...
.
Eight offstage brass players are also called for (4 trumpets and 4 trombones).
Translations
The original German translation by Wilhelm Ziegler appears in the 1921 first edition of the vocal score. In 1963 a revised singing translation by Wilhelm Ziegler replaced it. The English translation printed in the 1963 miniature score is by Christopher Hassall. The one in the full score is by Chester KallmanChester Kallman
Chester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
, another singing translation is that made by John Lloyd Davies for the Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
in 1989 (in British National Opera Guide #44, 1991). One might expect the subtitling of filmed versions to be literal, but far more often one instead gets plenty of subtext along with Balazs' dialogue. A reasonably faithful version in French is that of Natalia and Charles Zaremba (L'Avant-Scène Opéra, 1992)
Recordings
| Year | Cast (Bluebeard, Judith) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Endre Koréh, Judith Hellwig |
Walter Susskind Walter Susskind Jan Walter Susskind was a Czech-born British conductor.-Biography:Susskind was born in Prague, Austria–Hungary, now the Czech Republic. His father was a Viennese music critic and his Czech mother was a piano teacher. At the State Conservatorium he studied under composer Josef Suk, the son-in-law... , New Symphony of London |
Audio LP: Bartók Records Cat: |
| 1956 | Mihály Székely Mihály Székely Mihály Székely was a Hungarian bass singer famous for Mozartian roles.He debuted as Ferrando in 1920 at the Budapest Opera, where he remained a principal singer until his death. His Metropolitan Opera debut was as Hunding in 1947... , Klará Palánkay |
János Ferencsik János Ferencsik János Ferencsik was a Hungarian conductor.Ferencsik was born in Budapest; he actively played music even as a very young boy. He took violin lessons and taught himself to play the organ. He studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Budapest, where his major subjects were organ performance... , Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra |
Audio LP: Hungaroton Hungaroton Hungaroton was the one and only record and music publisher company in Hungary for about 40 years.Hungaroton was founded in 1951, since then, its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and Eterna from other socialist countries. Previously called... Cat: |
| 1962 | Jerome Hines Jerome Hines The American Jerome A. Hines was a basso opera singer who performed at the Metropolitan Opera from 1946 to 1987... , Rosalind Elias Rosalind Elias Rosalind Elias is an American mezzo-soprano, a rich-voiced singer of fine musicianship who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera.-Life and career:... |
Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five... , Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900... |
Audio LP: Sony Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... Cat: (sung in English) |
| 1962 | Mihály Székely Mihály Székely Mihály Székely was a Hungarian bass singer famous for Mozartian roles.He debuted as Ferrando in 1920 at the Budapest Opera, where he remained a principal singer until his death. His Metropolitan Opera debut was as Hunding in 1947... , Olga Szőnyi |
Antal Doráti Antal Doráti Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:... , London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:... |
Audio LP: Philips Records Philips Records Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also... |
| 1965 | Walter Berry, 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... |
István Kertész, London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:... |
Audio CD: Decca Records Decca Records Decca 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.... Cat: |
| 1973 | Yevgeny Kibkalo Yevgeny Kibkalo Yevgeny Gavrilovich Kibkalo was a Ukrainian baritone and National Artist of the Soviet Union.... , Nina Poliakova |
Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky is a Russian conductor.-Biography:Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagogue Nikolai Anosov and soprano Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya... , Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world... |
Audio LP: Westminster Records Westminster Records Westminster Records was an American classical music record label, issuing original recordings from 1949 to 1965.It was founded in 1949 by Mischa Naida, the owner of the Westminster Record shop in New York City, businessman James Grayson, and conductor Henry Swoboda... Cat: (sung in Russian) |
| 1976 | Siegmund Nimsgern Siegmund Nimsgern Siegmund Nimsgern is a German bass-baritone, born in Sankt Wendel, Saarland, Germany.After leaving school in 1960 he studied singing and musical education at the Hochschule für Musik Saar with Sibylle Fuchs, Jakob Stämpfli and Paul Lohmann.He made his debut at the Saarländisches Staatstheater in... , Tatiana Troyanos Tatiana Troyanos Tatiana Troyanos was an American mezzo-soprano of Greek and German descent.-Early life:... |
Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics... , BBC Symphony Orchestra BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:... |
Audio CD: Sony Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... Cat: |
| 1979 | Kolos Kováts, Sylvia Sass Sylvia Sass Sylvia Sass is a Hungarian operatic soprano who has sung leading roles both in her native country and internationally.-Life and career:... |
Georg Solti Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his... , London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera... |
Audio CD: Decca Records Decca Records Decca 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.... |
| 1979 | Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"... , Júlia Varady Julia Varady Júlia Várady is a German soprano of Hungarian origin born in Nagyvárad, Hungary .At the age of six she began violin lessons at the music conservatory in Cluj-Napoca and then, aged fourteen, voice training with Emilia Popp... |
Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch is a retired German conductor and pianist.-Biography:Sawallisch was born in Munich, and studied composition and pianoforte there privately: at the conclusion of the war, in 1946 he continued his studies at the Munich High School for Music and passed his final examination for... , Bavarian State Orchestra Bavarian State Orchestra The Bayerisches Staatsorchester is the orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera.- History :Founded in the times of Ludwig Senfl the orchestra, specializing in musica sacra, belonged to the finest ones in Europe already under Orlando di Lasso . In 1651 the Italian opera was introduced in Munich... |
Audio CD: 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... Cat: |
| 1981 | Yevgeny Nesterenko Yevgeny Nesterenko Yevgeny Nesterenko is a renowned Russian operatic bass.Nesterenko's first profession was architecture, graduating from the Engineering and Construction Institute in Leningrad. But he was called to music, and he studied under Vasily Lukanin at the Leningrad Conservatory... , Elena Obraztsova Elena Obraztsova Elena Vasiliyevna Obraztsova is a Russian mezzo-soprano, widely recognised as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, thanks to her outstanding stage presence and the vocal abilities.... |
János Ferencsik János Ferencsik János Ferencsik was a Hungarian conductor.Ferencsik was born in Budapest; he actively played music even as a very young boy. He took violin lessons and taught himself to play the organ. He studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Budapest, where his major subjects were organ performance... , Orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera Hungarian State Opera House The Hungarian State Opera House is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. It is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886.-History:... |
Audio CD: Hungaroton Hungaroton Hungaroton was the one and only record and music publisher company in Hungary for about 40 years.Hungaroton was founded in 1951, since then, its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and Eterna from other socialist countries. Previously called... Cat: |
| 1987 | Samuel Ramey Samuel Ramey Samuel Edward Ramey is an American operatic bass with a long, distinguished career.During his best years, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing the music of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, yet power... , Éva Marton Éva Marton Éva Marton is a Hungarian dramatic soprano, particularly known for her operatic portrayals of Puccini's Turandot and Tosca, and Wagnerian roles.- Vocal training and early years :... |
Ádám Fischer Ádám Fischer Ádám Fischer is a Hungarian conductor of Jewish family origin. He is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, with which he has recorded the complete Haydn symphonies for the Nimbus label, the first digital recording of the cycle... , Orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera Hungarian State Opera House The Hungarian State Opera House is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. It is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886.-History:... |
Audio CD: Sony Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
| 1996 | John Tomlinson (bass), Anne Sofie von Otter |
Bernard Haitink Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink, CH, KBE is a Dutch conductor and violinist.- Early life :Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna Haitink. He studied music at the conservatoire in Amsterdam... , Berlin Philharmonic |
Audo CD: EMI Classics EMI Classics EMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases.... Cat: |
| 1999 | László Polgár László Polgár (bass) László Polgár was an Hungarian operatic bass.Born in Budapest, Hungary, he studied with Eva Kutrucz at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, 1967–72, and later privately with Hans Hotter and Yevgeny Nesterenko. He made his debut at the Hungarian State Opera in 1971, as Count Ceprano in Rigoletto... , Jessye Norman Jessye Norman Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music... |
Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics... , Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival... (Winner, Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been awarded since 1961. The award was originally titled Best Classical Opera Production. The current title has been used since 1962.... , 1999 |
Audio CD: 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... Cat: |
| 2002 | Peter Fried, Cornelia Kallish |
Péter Eötvös Peter Eötvös Péter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer and conductor.Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, Transylvania . He studied composition in Budapest and Cologne. From 1962, he composed for film in Hungary. Eötvös played regularly with the Stockhausen Ensemble between 1968 and... , Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart SWR (Live Recording; Grammy Nomination 2003) |
Audio CD: Hänssler Cat: 93070 |
| 2005 | László Polgár László Polgár (bass) László Polgár was an Hungarian operatic bass.Born in Budapest, Hungary, he studied with Eva Kutrucz at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, 1967–72, and later privately with Hans Hotter and Yevgeny Nesterenko. He made his debut at the Hungarian State Opera in 1971, as Count Ceprano in Rigoletto... , Ildikó Komlósi Ildikó Komlósi -Biography:Originary of Hungary from Békés County, she studied and was graduated at "Franz Liszt Academy of Music" in Budapest; improving her aptitudes for song at the "Scala" of Milan and at he "Guildhall School of Music and Drama" in London.-Career:... |
Iván Fischer Iván Fischer Iván Fischer is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Born in Budapest into a Jewish musical family, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest... , Budapest Festival Orchestra |
Audio CD: Philips Philips Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company.... Cat: 470 633-2 |
| 2006 | Peter Fried, Jessye Norman Jessye Norman Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music... |
Pierre Boulez, Orchestre de Paris Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra performs most of its concerts at the Salle Pleyel.-History:In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, conductor Charles Munch was called on by the Minister of Culture,... (Live Recording by Radio France) |
Audio CD: House of Opera Cat: CD4063 |
| 2007 | Gustáv Beláček, Andrea Meláth |
Marin Alsop Marin Alsop Marin Alsop is an American conductor and violinist. She is the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.In 2012, Alsop will replace Yan Pascal Tortelier as principal conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra.... , Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979.... |
Audio CD: Naxos Naxos Records Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest... Cat: |
| 2009 | Willard White Willard White Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE is a Jamaican-born British bass-baritone.-Early life:He was born into a poor but supportive Jamaican family in Kingston. His father was a dockworker, his mother a housewife. White first began to learn music by listening to the radio and singing Nat King Cole... , Elena Zhidkova |
Valery Gergiev Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,... , London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:... |
Audio CD: LSO Live Cat: |
See also
- Herzog Blaubarts BurgHerzog Blaubarts BurgHerzog Blaubarts Burg is a film of the opera Bluebeard's Castle by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, written in 1911 to a symbolist libretto by the poet and later film theorist Béla Balázs. The film was made for West German television, Süddeutscher Rundfunk, and was produced by Norman Foster,...
, a 1963 film version by Michael PowellMichael Powell (director)Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
External links
- Hungarian libretto
- The Birth of Cinema from the Spirit of Opera (includes literal trans. of prolog) — the 1989 Prix ItaliaPrix ItaliaThe Prix Italia is an international Italian television, radio-broadcasting and Website award. It was established in 1948 by RAI - Radiotelevisione Italiana in Capri...
winning BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production with Robert Lloyd in the title role