Das Christ-Elflein
- The Christ-child - Lyric Soprano
- Frieder v. Gumpach - (game) Tenor
- Jochen, in Gumpachs services - Tenor
- Lord of Gumpach, his father - Baritone
- Franz, in Gumpachs services - Bass - baritone
- Knecht Ruprecht - Bass
- The fir old man - deep bass
- The village doctor - voice
- Trautchen of Gumpach - voice
- Mrs. Van Gumpach - silent role
- Saint Peter - silent role
- The village children - Children's Choir
- Angel - Women's Choir
- Fir Junker and young women - Ballet
The Christ- Elflein is a Christmas opera by Hans Pfitzner. The original seal is by Ilse von Stach.
- 2.1 Act 1, Winter Forest
- 2.2 Act 2, Christmas room in the house Gumpach
- 4.1 First version - the incidental music of 1906
- 4.2 Second version - the comic opera of 1917
- 4.3 Effect 1917-1945
- 4.4 Effect 1945-1999
- 4.5 effect from 1999 to today
Structure
Act I
Overture
Second Act
Introduction
The individual musical numbers are connected to each other through dialogue. The performance lasts approximately 2 hours.
Action
Act 1, Winter Forest
The Elflein lives freely and happily in the forest. From the grumpy old man fir it wants to know what Christmas bells and singing mean, but he warns it only to men. Only the Frieder he may suffer because he loves nature and not as " wetterwend'sch like his fellow men " is. But coming through the forest Frieder has no time for questions from the Elfleins. He must get a doctor for his sick sister Trautchen.
Franz and Jochen, the servants of the Lord of Gumpach to come into the woods to get a Christmas tree. They meet the Bogeyman, they hold initially for a toy dealer, then for a Warlock, and finally beat him.
The Christ-child appears and announces that it will bring in this year itself the Trautchen the Christmas tree. The Elflein is fascinated by the appearance of the Christ Child. The warning from the old man pine and fir a round of Junker and young women, the fir old man is dancing, especially for the Elflein, it can not hold: as angels to announce the holy night, it goes with the Christ- to the people.
Act 2, Christmas room in the house Gumpach
Lord of Gumpach scolds his servants who have returned without a Christmas tree out of the forest. Your protestations to have seen the " incarnate Christ-child ," he may not be believed. Also Frieder mocks only. He hides the fir old man who has come to seek his Elflein, behind the stove. The sick Trautchen is carried in. Knecht Ruprecht comes and brings the children. He also explains how the fir tree became the Christmas tree.
Since the Christ child appears with the Elflein. It brings not only the Christmas tree, but also has the mandate to bring the sick Trautchen in the sky. The Elflein but takes pity and lends itself rather than Trautchens to go to heaven.
The Christ-child agrees: The Elflein gets a little soul and may descend every Christmas as a Christian - Elflein back to earth. Trautchen is healthy, Frieder takes back to his faith, and also the fir old man is reconciled to man. Under angels singing the Elflein moves into the sky.
Orchestra
- 2 Fl. (2nd and Picc. ), 2 Ob. (2nd and E. H. ), 2 Clear. , 2 Fag
- 2 Hr. , 1 Trp
- 1 Hrf.
- Pkn. , Sleeps. ( gr Tr. , Bck. , kl. Tr. , Trg. , Tam-tam, tambourine, bells in c2, e2, g2 and e3)
- Strings ( poss. strongly occupied )
Genesis and performance history
First version - the incidental music of 1906
Since about 1901 Hans Pfitzner toyed with the idea of dubbing the Christmas story Ilse von Stach, which belonged to his Berlin friends,. This plan, however, came only five years later to run. The first version, which was already completed up to the instrumentation in the summer of 1906, is designed as incidental music, and consists in the main of melodrama and song-like sections. The world premiere took place on December 11, 1906 held at the Munich Court Opera under the direction of Felix Mottl, having already on 23 November 1906, first performance of the Overture in Berlin under Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek was done.
In this version took the Christ Elflein little success, which was mainly attributed to the textbook Ilse von Stach. The conductor Bruno Walter, one of Pfitzner's closest friends in the early years was reflected in a letter to the composer: "There is no such childish child and not as lizard-like man who could abgewinnen the least of this fairy tale. Adorable, genuine Pfitznersche ideas are in the music, but since you have written it as a true man and playwright for the story and it could not come to the musical combinations and developments, so this has once killed the snake Lernaean the Hercules. "
Second version - the comic opera of 1917
The failure of the first version of Hans Pfitzner moved to a makeover, with which he in the summer of 1917, immediately after the successful premiere of Palestrina, began. He chose now the shape of the Opera, converted the predominantly melodramatic games into vocal parts and revised the text of the tale, which he shortened considerably and adapting to the needs of the new form. In this version, came the Christ Elflein on December 11, 1917 at the Dresden Court Opera under the direction of Fritz Reiner and Grete Merrem Nikisch in the title role for the successful premiere.
Numerous colleagues certified Pfitzner now the compositional qualities of the work. Thus, estimated on the conductor Otto Klemperer, the " lovely" music, and especially the " charming overture " of the opera.
Effect from 1917 to 1945
The success of the second edition of 1917 established the work as a regular part of the fixtures lists German theaters in the years leading up to World War II. It was followed by numerous productions; Pfitzner himself conducted the work of, inter alia, in Berlin in 1933 and 1938 at the Vienna Volksoper.
In the Third Reich finally the work was due to its religious subject matter quite in the criticism. So tried the Saxon imperial governor Martin Mutschmann during a planned for 1941 in Dresden show the work to ban because of " religious propaganda ". The Governor-General of Poland Hans Frank on the other hand, personal friend and admirer Pfitzner, it was in 1944 perform in Krakow in the presence of the composer.
Effect from 1945 to 1999
The end of World War II interrupted the reception of the work. Pfitzner, who had even went to bitter anti-Semitic remarks, was now a non-person whose music you dare mention only rarely. Performances such as 1952/53, at the Theater an der Wien under Rudolf Moralts line ( Elflein: Wilma Lipp, fir old man: Herbert Alsen, Knecht Ruprecht: Ludwig Weber) were exceptional; an equally star-studded recording session of the Bavarian Radio in 1979 (led by Kurt Eichhorn, Elflein: Helen Donath ) could not recover for schedules the work.
Effect from 1999 to today
With the since the late 1990s onset differentiated consideration of Pfitzner's biography and the return to its high compositional qualities eventually went hand in hand with first revivals of the Christ- Elfleins.
First, the theater brought Freiberg 2000 The Christian Elflein in a successful production over two seasons ( Conductor: Christoph Sandmann, directed by Ingolf chicken) out. 2003 The Christian Elflein was first produced back in Berlin, as a project by students at the Academy of Music " Hanns Eisler" in Berlin (Director: Ulrich Metzger, Shi Yeon Sung, Frank Markowitsch; Director: Matthias Ehm and Franziska Bill). A concert performance with the Munich Radio Orchestra conducted by Claus Peter Flor in December 2004 was followed by a new recording CD- cpo. Christmas 2006 sounded the Christ Elflein concert under several performances of the Staatstheater Darmstadt Stefan Blunier, 2008 production with students from the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg under the direction of Jan Essinger (director) and René Gulikers (conductor ).
Coinciding with the re-entry of the Christ- Elfleins in the repertoire of German theater also the overture again established as an integral part of many Christmas concerts.
Recordings / records (selection)
- Composers in Person ( including the overture, Line: Hans Pfitzner ) Emi Records 1927/1994
- The Christ- Elflein (total recording dialogues - Radio Orchestra Hamburg, Line: Wilhelm Schüchter, with Anneliese Rothenberger as a Christian - Elflein ) NDR 1955
- The Christ- Elflein ( total recording with narrative texts by Alois Fink - Munich Radio Orchestra, Cond: Kurt Eichhorn, with Helen Donath as Christ- Elflein and Alexander Malta as fir old man ) Orfeo 1979/1990
- The Christ- Elflein ( total recording with narrative texts by Alois Fink - Munich Radio Orchestra, Cond: Claus Peter Flor, with Marlis Petersen as a Christian - Elflein ) cpo 2004