Die Hamletmaschine (opera)
{{Short description|1987 opera by Wolfgang Rihm}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox opera
| name = Die Hamletmaschine
| translated_name =
| image = Rihm Wolfgang Philharmonie koeln 0806 2007 - cropped.jpg
| image_upright = 0.8
| alt =
| caption = Rihm in 2007
| description = {{lang|de|Musiktheater}}
| composer = Wolfgang Rihm
| librettist = Wolfgang Rihm
| language = German
| based_on = Heiner Müller's play {{nowrap|Die Hamletmaschine}}
| premiere_date = {{Start date|1987|03|30|df=y}}
| premiere_location = Nationaltheater Mannheim
}}
Die Hamletmaschine is an opera composed by Wolfgang Rihm to a German-language libretto based on Heiner Müller's 1977 play of the same name. The libretto, subtitled Musiktheater in 5 Teilen (Music Drama in 5 parts), was written by the composer. The opera was written between 1983 and 1986 and premiered on 30 March 1987 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim.
Background
Müller's play, on which the opera is based, paraphrases Shakespeare's Hamlet. In the play's first staged production, directed by Robert Wilson, the first words—"Ich war Hamlet." (I was Hamlet.)—were spoken after 20 minutes of silent action.{{cite news | last=Herbort | first=Heinz Josef | title=Letzte Szenen in Momentform | newspaper=Die Zeit | date=29 May 1987 | url=https://www.zeit.de/1987/23/letzte-szenen-in-momentform | language=de | access-date=1 August 2024}} Rihm composed his opera between 1983 and 1986 and presented parts of the score for the Rolf-Liebermann-Preis of Hamburg, which he won in 1986.[http://rihmcenter.com/biografie/ Wolfgang Rihm Biografie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127010036/http://rihmcenter.com/biografie/ |date=27 November 2013 }}, Karlsruher Rihm Center {{in lang|de}}. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
Performance history
Die Hamletmaschine premiered on 30 March 1987 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim in a production directed by Friedrich Meyer-Oertel and conducted by Peter Schneider. The role of Ophelia, written for a Wagnerian soprano, was sung by Gabriele Schnaut. The Hamlet character was portrayed at different stages in his life by three separate performers: the actors Kurt Müller and Rudolf Kowalski as Hamlet I and Hamlet II, and the baritone Johannes M. Kösters as Hamlet III.Universal Edition. [http://www.universaledition.com/composers-and-works/composer/599/work/2714 Wolfgang Rihm, Die Hamletmaschine: Musiktheater in 5 Teilen]. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
A live recording of the opera's premiere was released on CD in 1995 (Wergo #6195)AllMusic. [http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/rihm-die-hamletmaschine-mr0001133203 Rihm: Die Hamletmaschine]. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
Roles
| class="wikitable"
!Role !Premiere cast, 30 March 1987 |
| Hamlet I
|male actor |Kurt Müller |
| Hamlet II
|male actor |Rudolf Kowalski |
| Hamlet III
|male actor |Johannes M. Kösters |
| Ophelia |
| Ophelia's doubles: Marx
|soprano |Carmen Fuggiss |
| Lenin
|soprano |
| Mao
|Martina Borst |
| 3 naked women, voices from the casket
|2 sopranos, mezzo-soprano | |
| 4 laughing people
|2 female and 2 male actors | |
| 3 screaming people
|male actors | |
Structure
- I. Familienalbum (Family Album)
- II. Das Europa der Frau (Europe of the Woman)
- III. Scherzo
- IV. Pest in Buda, Schlacht um Grönland (Pestilence in Buda, Battle of Greenland)
- V. Wildharrend, In der furchtbaren Rüstung, Jahrtausende (Wildstraining, In the Fearsome Armaments, Millennia)WERGO. [http://www.universaledition.com/composers-and-works/composer/599/work/2714 Wolfgang Rihm, v]. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
Music
The opera is scored for actors, singing and speaking voices, choir and orchestra.[http://www.operone.de/opern/hamlrihm.html Die Hamletmaschine (Musiktheater in 5 Teilen)] operone {{in lang|de}} The work is described in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera as following Stockhausen in that it seeks "a total theatre of sound and nonnarrative, ritualistic drama."Warrack, John and West, Ewan (eds.) (1996). [https://books.google.com/books?id=WbDbuLJPKBgC&pg=PA432 "Rihm, Wolfgang"], Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, p. 432. Oxford University Press. Sounds use the complete space of a hall by placing instrumentalists not only in the pit, but also on stage and in the audience. Sounds are mixed from live performance, electronic amplification and purely electronic sounds,Elzenheimer, Regine (2008). [https://books.google.com/books?id=pBn285x1900C&q=die+hamletmaschine+rihm Pause. Schweigen. Stille: Dramaturgien der Abwesenheit im postdramatischen Musik-Theater], Königshausen & Neumann, pp. 192–199 {{in lang|de}}. described as soundscapes.
Other musical settings
Müller's play, which formed the basis for the libretto, has subsequently had two more musical settings—an opera by Ruth Zechlin for singers and small orchestra (1991) and an oratorio for choir, soloists and orchestra by Georges Aperghis (2000).Yunker, Johanna Frances (2013). [http://ams-sw.org/Proceedings/AMS-SW_V2Spring2013Yunker.pdf "Father or Criminal: Ruth Zechlin's Post-Reunification Opera Die Reise"], p. 3. AMS-SW Conference, Spring 2013, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
References
{{reflist
| refs =
| url = https://www.schott-music.com/en/die-hamletmaschine-no93519.html
| title = Hamlet Machine
| publisher = Schott Music
| date = 2024
| access-date = 1 August 2024
}}
}}
Further reading
- Neff, Severine (1990). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/940561 "Die Hamletmaschine: Musiktheater in fünf Teilen (1983–1986) by Wolfgang Rihm"]. Notes, Second Series, Vol. 47, No. 1 (September 1990), pp. 215–217 {{subscription required}}
{{Wolfgang Rihm}}
{{Hamlet}}
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Category:Operas by Wolfgang Rihm
Category:German-language operas