Verkündigung (Braunfels)

Verkündigung ("Annunciation") is a 1935 mystery opera (ein Mysterium) in a prologue and four acts by Walter Braunfels to the composer's own libretto after the German translation of Paul Claudel's L'Annonce faite a Marie.[1][2] Claudel's play tells the story of a woman, Violaine, who moved by pity kisses a leper and contracts leprosy herself, but heals the leper she had embraced. Violaine also brings back to life the child born to her sister Mara and Jacques, the man who betrayed her, and then dies herself.[3] The names of Claudel's characters are germanified so the father Andre Vercors becomes Andreas Gradherz, Pierre de Craon becomes Peter von Ulm, and so on. The opera was premiered on 4 April 1948 in Cologne, conducted by Hellmut Schnackenburg, with Trude Eipperle as Violaine.[4]

Verkündigung
Opera by Walter Braunfels
Walter Braunfels in 1920
LibrettistBraunfels
LanguageGerman
Based onPaul Claudel's L'Annonce faite a Marie
Premiere
4 April 1948 (1948-04-04)
Cologne Opera

Roles
Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 4 April 1948[5]
Conductor: Hellmut Schnackenburg
Andreas Gradherz, Violäne's fatherbass-baritoneGerhard Göschel
Violäne's motheraltoIrmgard Gerz
ViolänesopranoTrude Eipperle
Mara, Violäne's sistersopranoWalburga Wegner
Jakobäus, Violäne's former fiance, Mara's husbandbaritoneFelix Knäpper
Peter von UlmtenorWilhelm Otto
Peter von Ulm's assistanttenorKarl Schiebener
Voice of an angelsopranoElisabeth Urbaniak
First workerbassAnton German
Schulze von Rothensteinspeaking roleHeinz Froitzheim

Recordings

References
  1. Operas in German: a dictionary – Page 336 Margaret Ross Griffel – 1990
  2. Gramophone – Volume 72, Issues 853–856 -1994 Page 108 "In the period between the two world wars, Walter Braunfels (1882–1954) was among the most widely performed of all living opera composers. ... Verkündigung ("Annunciation") was written between 1934 and 1937, presumably in full knowledge that it had no foreseeable ... The libretto is based on a German translation of Paul Claudel's L Annonce faite a Marie."
  3. Michael Haas Forbidden Music: The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis 2013 0300154305 " ... life included a powerful String Quintet, three string quartets, a number of church cantatas and three large-scale stage works: Die Verkündigung (1933—5), Der Traum ein Leben (1937), and Szenen aus dem Leben der heiligen Johanna (1939—43).
  4. Rohde, Gerhard (2012). "Wiedererweckung, wiederentdeckt". neue musikzeitung. Regensburg. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  5. "Walter Braunfels" (PDF). Braunfels Website. Walter Braunfels Gesellschaft. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.