Cardillac
Encyclopedia
Cardillac is an opera
by Paul Hindemith
in three acts and four scenes. Ferdinand Lion wrote the libretto
based on the short story Das Fräulein von Scuderi
by E.T.A. Hoffmann
.
on 9 November 1926. It was promptly performed throughout Germany. Britain saw it in 1935, starring Miriam Licette
. Hindemith revised both the score and the text, for the reason that, according to Ian Kemp, the musical idiom "seemed crude and undisciplined". This second version was first performed at the Zurich Stadttheater
on 20 June 1952. Hans-Ludwig Schilling has published a comparison of the two versions. After 1953, Hindemith sanctioned only the 1952 revised version for theatrical performances. However, after the composer's death in 1963, the original version became available again for production.
The opera's Italian premiere took place in 1948 at the Venice Biennale
as part of the Venice Festival of Contemporary Music
XI. The American premiere was at the Santa Fe Opera
in 1967. the New Opera Company presented the first UK performances in March 1970 at Sadler's Wells, though London saw a concert performance of the opera by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
in 1936.
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...
by Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
in three acts and four scenes. Ferdinand Lion wrote the 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...
based on the short story Das Fräulein von Scuderi
Mademoiselle de Scuderi
E. T. A. Hoffmann's novella, Mademoiselle de Scudéri. A Tale from the Times of Louis XIV [Das Fräulein von Scuderi. Erzählung aus dem Zeitalter Ludwig des Vierzehnten], was first published in 1819 in Yearbook for 1820. Dedicated to Love and Friendship [Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1820. Der Liebe und...
by E.T.A. Hoffmann
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann , better known by his pen name E.T.A. Hoffmann , was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist...
.
Performance history
The first performance was at the Staatsoper, DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
on 9 November 1926. It was promptly performed throughout Germany. Britain saw it in 1935, starring Miriam Licette
Miriam Licette
Miriam Licette was an English operatic soprano whose career spanned 35 years, from the mid-1910s to after World War II. She was also a singing teacher, and created the Miriam Licette Scholarship.-Career:...
. Hindemith revised both the score and the text, for the reason that, according to Ian Kemp, the musical idiom "seemed crude and undisciplined". This second version was first performed at the Zurich Stadttheater
Zurich Opera House
Opernhaus Zürich is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zurich. It has been the home of the Zurich Opera since 1891.- History :...
on 20 June 1952. Hans-Ludwig Schilling has published a comparison of the two versions. After 1953, Hindemith sanctioned only the 1952 revised version for theatrical performances. However, after the composer's death in 1963, the original version became available again for production.
The opera's Italian premiere took place in 1948 at the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
as part of the Venice Festival of Contemporary Music
Venice Festival of Contemporary Music
Venice Festival of Contemporary Music . Founded in 1930 as an adjunct of the older Venice Biennale festival. Some works by Prokofiev and Stravinsky were premiered at the festival...
XI. The American premiere was at the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
in 1967. the New Opera Company presented the first UK performances in March 1970 at Sadler's Wells, though London saw a concert performance of the opera by the 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:...
in 1936.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 9 November 1926 (Conductor: Fritz Busch Fritz Busch Fritz Busch was a German conductor.Busch was born in Siegen, Province of Westphalia. He held posts conducting opera at Aachen, Stuttgart and Dresden. In 1933 he was dismissed from his post at Dresden because of his opposition to the new Nazi government of Germany... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Cardillac, the goldsmith | 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 Burg |
| Cardillac's 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... |
Claire Born |
| The officer | 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... |
Max Hirzel |
| The gold merchant | bass | Adolph Schoepfin |
| The courtier (cavalier) | tenor | Ludwig Max Eybisch |
| The lady | soprano | Grete Merrem-Nikisch |
| Provost marshal | bass | Paul Schöffler Paul Schöffler Paul Schöffler was a German operatic baritone, particularly associated with Mozart, Wagner, Strauss roles.... |
Act 1
Scene I: The crowd is agitated about a series of recent mysterious murders. The police calm the crowd. The goldsmith Cardillac enters the scene and the atmosphere becomes hushed. The Lady asks the Cavalier about the goldsmith Cardillac, and the Cavalier tells of the goldsmith and his priceless jewelry. The Lady promises the Cavalier a tryst that evening if he can bring her Cardillac's most beautiful work. Scene II: The Lady and the Cavalier enjoy their tryst and the Cavalier delivers one of Cardillac's belts. A masked figure steals into the bedroom and fatally stabs the Cavalier. The Lady faints and the mysterious figure leaves with the belt.Act 2
The Gold Merchant mentions to Cardillac the latest murder that involved the theft of a recent work of Cardillac. The Gold Merchant has his suspicions about the identity of the murderer. Cardillac orders his daughter to watch over his work. She does so and awaits her lover, the Officer. Cardillac returns, and it becomes clear that he values the articles he has crafted more than he does his daughter. Cardillac then meets the King and offers to create his greatest work of art for him. The Officer enters to ask Cardillac for his daughter's hand in marriage, and Cardillac consents. Though the Officer realizes how much Cardillac values his creations over his own daughter, he offers money for one of the goldsmith's chains. After the Officer leaves, Cardillac indicates that he himself is the murderer.Act 3
In a tavern, the Officer wears the chain, presenting himself as a target for the murderer. Cardillac enters and wounds the Officer, but the Officer beats back the attack and holds on to the chain. He advises Cardillac to flee. The Gold Merchant then brings on a crowd and accuses Cardillac of the murders. Cardillac is brought in, followed by his daughter. The Officer defends Cardillac, rebuts the Gold Merchant's accusation, and accuses the Gold Merchant of being the murderer's accomplice. In the ensuing ensemble, Cardillac's daughter realizes her father is the murderer. The crowd sings Cardillac's praises, but as they continue, his words make them wonder about the identity of the murderer. Finally, Cardillac reveals to the crowd that he is the murderer. They demand he repent his crimes, but he makes no such gesture. The crowd then lynches Cardillac. With his final gesture before dying, he reaches out for the chain around the Officer's neck, not his daughter. The Officer and Cardillac's daughter swear mutual devotion.Recordings
- Joseph KeilberthJoseph KeilberthJoseph Keilberth was a German conductor who specialized in opera.He started his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe. In 1940 he became director of the German Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague. Near the end of World War II he became principal conductor of the Dresden...
, conductor; Dietrich Fischer-DieskauDietrich Fischer-DieskauDietrich 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"...
, Leonore Kirschstein, Donald GrobeDonald GrobeDonald Roth Grobe was an American lyric tenor who sang at the Deutsche Oper Berlin during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s....
, Karl Christian Kohn, Eberhard Katz, Elisabeth SöderströmElisabeth SöderströmElisabeth Anna Söderström CBE was a Swedish soprano, who performed both opera and song. She was particularly well known for her recordings of the lead soprano roles in the three Janáček operas Jenůfa, Káťa Kabanová, and The Makropoulos Affair, all of which received Gramophone Awards...
, Willi Nett; Cologne Radio Choir; Cologne Radio Symphony OrchestraWDR Symphony Orchestra CologneThe WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne is a German orchestra based in Cologne. The orchestra was founded in 1947 by Allied occupation authorities after World War II, as the orchestra of Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunk . The orchestra later acquired the names of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and...
; (Deutsche GrammophonDeutsche GrammophonDeutsche 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...
). This recording is of the original 1926 version. - Kent NaganoKent 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:...
, conductor; Alan Held, Angela DenokeAngela DenokeAngela Denoke is a German opera singer .She studied at the University of Music and Drama of Hamburg. Her first contract was at the Theater Ulm , where she sang Fiordiligi , Donna Anna and Agathe in , among other roles...
, Christopher VentrisChristopher VentrisChristopher Ventris is a British tenor. He is particularly known for his role as Parsifal which he performed at the Bayreuth Festival in 2008....
, Hannah Esther Minutillo, Charles Workman; orchestra and chorus of the Opera National de ParisParis OperaThe Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
; Bel Air Classiques, (2007). - Wolfgang SawallischWolfgang SawallischWolfgang 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...
, conductor; Donald McIntyreDonald McIntyreThis page is about the singer. For others of similar name see Donald MacIntyreSir Donald McIntyre, CBE is a celebrated operatic bass-baritone. He made his formal debut as Zaccaria in Nabucco, at the Welsh National Opera, in 1959...
, Robert Schunk, Maria de Francesca-CavazzaMaria de Francesca-CavazzaMaria de Francesca-Cavazza is a German operatic soprano and voice teacher. Raised in the United States, she is a graduate of the Sherwood Conservatory of Music at the Columbia College Chicago where she was a pupil of Maria Hussa-Greve and Garvin Williamson. In 1961 she won the Metropolitan Opera...
, Hans Günther Nöcker; Chorus of the Bavarian State OperaBavarian State OperaThe Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
, Bavarian State OrchestraBavarian State OrchestraThe 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...
; Staged and designed by Jean-Pierre PonnelleJean-Pierre PonnelleJean-Pierre Ponnelle was a noted French opera director.-Biography:Ponnelle was born in Paris. He studied philosophy, art, and history there and, in 1952, began his career in Germany as a theatre designer for Hans Werner Henze's opera Boulevard Solitude...
; DVD (2008). This recording is of the original 1926 version.