Dantons Tod
Music by Gottfried von Einem · libretto by Boris Blacher · premiered 1947 · at Salzburg Festival
Dantons Tod (German for Danton's Death) is an opera by Gottfried von Einem to a libretto by Boris Blacher and Gottfried von Einem after Georg Büchner's 1835 play of the same name. Its first performance took place in Salzburg on 6 August 1947. It was revised in 1955. The successful premiere of Gottfried von Einem's opera Dantons Tod at the 1947 Salzburg Festival and its quick staging by European houses were due to more than the strong drama of Einem's score. This was a first step toward the rehabilitation of German musicians after World War II; an opera by a young Austrian composer who had not collaborated in the former regime's cultural policies. Dantons Tod dramatizes legalized governmental terror, a plague which the world at the time realized had not been eradicated with the end of the war.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Dantons Tod (opera)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Gottfried von Einem", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Gottfried von Einem
- Der Prozeß (1925)
- Der Besuch der alten Dame (1956)