Bertold Hummel
1925-2002
DES KAISERS NEUE KLEIDER
Kammeroper in 5 Bildern nach Christian Andersen von Oskar Gitzinger
op. 10 (1955)
1. Bild
2. Bild 13:00
3. Bild 21:47
4. Bild 31:37
5. Bild 38:45
Musikalische Leitung: Günther Wich
Inszenierung: Reinhard Lehmann
Der Kaiser: Carl Schlottmann (Bass)
Der Hofmarschall: Karl Wolters (Tenor)
Der General: Josef Rees (Tenor)
Der Finanzminister: Anton Lehmbach (Bariton)
Der Theaterdirektor: Paul Haan (Bass)
Christian: Josef Horbach (Tenor)
Jacques: Heiner Kuhn (Bariton)
Eine Frau: Katharina von Mikulicz (Sopran)
Ein Diener: Hans Arnold (Sprechrolle)
Ein Kind (Sprechrolle)
Kammerorchester (Flöte, Oboe, Klarinette in B, Fagott, Trompete in C, Schlagzeug, Klavier, Viola, Violoncello, Kontrabass) und Chor der Städtischen Bühnen Freiburg
Live-Aufnahme: Freiburg i. Brsg, Juni 1957
Erzähler: Martin Hummel (2024)
www.bertoldhummel.de/werkbesc...
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Bertold Hummel
1925-2002
THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES
Chamber Opera after H. Christian Andersen by Oscar Gitzinger
Op. 10 (1955)
Plot of the Chamber Opera:
1st Scene
In an anteroom of the clothing cabinet, the courtiers await the appearance of the Emperor. In a terzetto, the General, the Finance Minister and the Theatre Director complain of their forced idleness and the neglect of the affairs of state, which are as a result of the Emperor's obsession with clothes very close to ruin. The Lord Chamberlain enters and tells of two men who have turned up at court and promised to make the Emperor clothes more beautiful than any ever seen before. These clothes have in addition a very remarkable property: for anyone who is unforgivably stupid or unfit for his office, they remain invisible!
2nd Scene 13:00
Christian and Jacques in private. The two miraculous tailors admit frankly their "craft of air and blue vapour" and make jokes over the credulity of the court. The music parodies modern dance rhythms and represents at the same time the working of the imaginary looms on which, out of the materials of human vanity and curiosity, the "Emperor's new clothes" are created. When the Lord Chamberlain appears, a scene of ironic reverence develops. Christian and Jacques willingly display their "magnificent fabrics" and surpass each other in praising them to the courtier. The shock of the Chamberlain is rapidly transformed into hypocritical and forceful admiration. The reliance of the miraculous tailors on human weakness is rewarded, in triumph Christian and Jacques sing mocking songs after the departing Chamberlain.
3rd Scene 21:47
Curiosity brings the people together in front of the Emperor's palace, where behind a window the shadows of Christian and Jacques are to be seen. A servant announces the approach of the Emperor, who, dressed in exaggerated magnificence, attracts the attention of the people. The Emperor is surprised at the crowds before his palace so late in the evening. Discovering the reason, he promises the people a triumphal procession for the next day, in which he will display the wonderful new clothes.
4th Scene 31:37
Emperor and attendants in the throne-room in nervous anticipation of the great moment. Christian and Jacques frisk into the room, carrying the Emperor's "new clothes" on their arms. Confusion overcomes the company: where then are the new clothes? For the third time, a transformation from critical soberness to euphoric hypocrisy takes place. Emperor and courtiers outdo each other with exclamations of ecstatic enthusiasm, at the climax of which Christian and Jacques, in a solemn Arioso, are named court tailors and weavers and receive rich rewards.
5th Scene 38:45
With jubilation, the people acclaim the triumphal procession of the Emperor. Strutting in with great dignity under the baldachin, the Emperor receives the ovations, proud and touched. All voices unite in spirited jubilation. But here events take a new turn: a child's simple conclusion that the Emperor does not have any clothes on at all causes the veil of hypocrisy and self-deceit to tear and opens the doors for outpourings of mockery upon the conceit of the clothes-mad monarch. The Emperor, awaking out of his fantasy, declares himself to be at fault. He is prepared to take the public humiliation upon himself without mitigation. But now the child speaks for the second time and awakes in the crowd a sense of their share of the blame. The lie is exposed. With renewed shouts of loyalty, the people gather protectively round the Emperor. In the closing fugue, a conclusion is drawn, deliberately moralising and thus coming close to dissolving everything into irony: let every man beat his own breast. Above the derision and laughter, a conciliatory perspective is opened upon the weakness that all mankind shares in common.
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