Der König Kandaules

Zemlinsky completed the short score of the opera in 1936, but the orchestration remained unfinished when the composer, due to his Jewish ancestry, fled the Nazis into exile in the United States in 1938. Zemlinsky hoped for a production at the Metropolitan Opera in New York but when the principal conductor Artur Bodanzky (a former pupil of Zemlinsky's), told him that a nude scene in the second act would make the opera unstageable there, Zemlinsky abandoned the project. He began work on a new opera, Circe, but only the short score of the first act was completed by the time of his death in 1942.

In 1990, the British conductor and musicologist Antony Beaumont discovered that it was possible to complete the orchestration of Der König Kandaules without additional composition. He did so after receiving an official commission from the Hamburg State Opera in 1991.

Thus, the work had its belated premiere on 6 October 1996 at the Hamburg State Opera, conducted by Gerd Albrecht. It has enjoyed several productions since, becoming Zemlinsky's third most performed stage-work, statistically ranking only behind his two one-act operas Eine florentinische Tragödie and Der Zwerg.

The opera has been given in various opera houses in Europe and South America:

• May 1997 at the Vienna Volksoper, Asher Fisch conducting{{cite web

| url = http://theoperacritic.com/reviewsa.php?schedid=vvokonig1104

| title = Opera Reviews

| date = November 2004

| publisher = The Opera Critic

| accessdate = 15 August 2010}}

• July/August 2002 at the Salzburg Festival, with Kent Nagano conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (see also section Recordings){{cite web

|url = http://www.festspielfreunde.at/english/frames/200112/ef_200112_02.htm

|title = Unveiled Artefact

|author = Christian Wildhagen

|year = 2002

|publisher = Friends' Magazine for Friends and Patrons of the Salzburg Festival

|accessdate = 15 August 2010

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080405114959/http://www.festspielfreunde.at/english/frames/200112/ef_200112_02.htm

|archivedate = 5 April 2008}}

• February 2004 at the Festival de Música de Canarias (concert performance) with Antony Beaumont conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife
• September 2005 at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Günter Neuhold conducting{{cite web

| url = http://theoperacritic.com/reviewsa.php?schedid=buekonig0905

| title = Opera Reviews

| date = September 2005

| publisher = The Opera Critic

| accessdate = 15 August 2010}}

• January/February 2006 at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Belgium, Bernhard Kontarsky conducting{{cite web

| url = http://theoperacritic.com/reviewsa.php?&schedid=orwkonig0106

| title = Opera Reviews

| date = January 2006

| publisher = The Opera Critic

| accessdate = 15 August 2010}}

• November 2007, a concert performance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, with Bernhard Kontarsky conducting the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest{{cite web

| url = http://www.xs4all.nl/~fvdwaa/art/vk1986.htm

| title = Drie formidable zangers in zwanenzang Von Zemlinsky

| author = Frits van der Waa

| date = 26 November 2007

| work = De Volkskrant

| accessdate = 15 August 2010

| language=nl}}

• January 2009 at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, Uwe Sandner conducting{{cite web

| url = http://www.kultiversum.de/Oper-Opernwelt/Panorama-Zeichenhafte-Klarheit.html

| title = Kaiserslautern, Zemlinsky: König Kandaules

| author = Dieter Lintz

| date = March 2009

| work = Opernwelt

| language = de

| accessdate = 15 August 2010}}

• June 2010 at the Bielefeld Opera, {{ill|Peter Kuhn (conductor)|de|Peter Kuhn (Dirigent)|lt=Peter Kuhn}} conducting{{cite web

| url = http://www.nw-news.de/owl/kultur/3610728_Umjubelte_Premiere_der_Zemlinsky-Oper_Der_Koenig_Kandaules.html

| title = Umjubelte Premiere der Zemlinsky-Oper Der König Kandaules

| author = Anke Groenewold

| date = 21 June 2010

| work = {{ill|Neue Westfälische|de}}

| accessdate = 15 August 2010

| language=de}}

• May 2012 at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Asher Fisch and Francesco Cilluffo conducting{{cite web

|url = http://www.bellininews.it/articoli/Erodoto.htm

|title = Zemlinsky o dell'innocenza perduta

|author = Giuseppe Montemagno

|date = 27 May 2012

|publisher = BelliniNews

|accessdate = 2 August 2012

|language = it

|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130218192921/http://www.bellininews.it/articoli/Erodoto.htm

|archive-date = 18 February 2013

|url-status = dead}}

• April 2016 at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent, Dmitri Jurowski conducting{{cite web

| url = https://operaballet.be/nl/programma/2015-2016/der-konig-kandaules/team#tab

| title = Der König Kandaulus, team

| language= nl}}

:Place: Lydia

:Time: Ancient times

During the preparations for a feast, the Lydian king Kandaules announces that he wants to show his wife Nyssia unveiled to his favourites for the first time. When a magic ring (that makes whoever wears it invisible) is found in the belly of a fish, the king summons the fisherman Gyges. At first, the fisherman is indifferent, but when it is revealed that his wife Trydo has been unfaithful to him, he kills her in front of all the guests. Kandaules is fascinated and invites Gyges to his castle.

Kandaules wants to share his immense wealth, including his beautiful wife, with all his friends. He convinces Gyges to use the magic ring in order to behold the naked Nyssia. Events turn against the king, when the invisible Gyges spends the night with Nyssia, who mistakes the fisherman for Kandaules.

Gyges reveals his true identity to Nyssia and expects to be executed. Nyssia however feels humiliated and betrayed by her husband, and orders Gyges to kill the king. She then crowns Gyges the new king of Lydia.

• In 1997 the German record label Capriccio released the world premiere recording: a live recording made on 18 and 25 October 1996 during the initial run of performances at the Hamburg State Opera. Gerd Albrecht conducted the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg. The principal roles were sung by James O'Neal (Kandaules), Monte Pederson (Gyges) and Nina Warren (Nyssia).{{cite web

| url = http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/lang/en/currency/EUR/hnum/8056528/art_hex/416c6578616e6465722d766f6e2d5a656d6c696e736b792d4465722d4bf66e69672d4b616e6461756c6573

| title = Alexander von Zemlinsky: Der König Kandaules (2CDs)

| publisher = JPC

| location = Germany

| accessdate = 13 August 2010

}}

• In 2004 the Austrian record label Andante released a live recording from the 2002 Salzburg Festival, with Kent Nagano conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The principal roles were sung by Robert Brubaker (Kandaules), Wolfgang Schöne (Gyges) and Nina Stemme (Nyssia).{{cite web

| url = http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Dec04/Zemlinsky_Kandaules.htm

| date = December 2004

| author = Christopher Webber

| title = Zemlinsky – Der König Kandaules

| publisher = MusicWeb International

| accessdate = 13 August 2010}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{ill|András Batta|hu|Batta András|lt=Batta, András}}, Opera – Komponisten, Werke, Interpreten (Könemann, 2000, Dutch translation)

{{Alexander von Zemlinsky}}

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Category:Operas by Alexander Zemlinsky

Category:1936 operas

Category:1996 operas

Category:German-language operas

Category:Opera world premieres at the Hamburg State Opera

Category:Operas set in antiquity

Category:Operas

Category:Unfinished operas

Category:Operas based on plays