Die stumme Serenade
Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold · libretto by Victor Clement · premiered 1954 · at Theater Dortmund
Die stumme Serenade, Op. 36, (The silent serenade), is a German-language musical comedy by Erich Wolfgang Korngold to a libretto by Victor Clement. The style of the work is a mix of operetta and 1920s-style revue songs. The roles are written for eight singers and eight actors and the work is scored for a small chamber orchestra: two pianos, the first doubling on celesta, two violins, cello, flute, clarinet or saxophone, trumpet, and percussion. The plot is set in 1820s Naples. Korngold worked on the piece from 1946 to 1951. A version shortened from 180 to 100 minutes was premiered by Radio Vienna in 1951. The first full version staged in 1954 by Theater Dortmund met with a negative critical response.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Die stumme Serenade", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (German: [ˈeːʁɪç ˈvɔlfɡaŋ ˈkɔʁnɡɔlt]; May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957) was an Austrian composer and conductor, who left Europe in the mid-1930s and later adopted US nationality. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and composer of classical music, along with music for Hollywood films, and the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood scores. When he was 11, his ballet Der Schneemann (The Snowman) became a sensation in Vienna; his Second Piano Sonata, which he wrote at age 13, was played throughout Europe by Artur Schnabel. His one-act operas Violanta and Der Ring…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Erich Wolfgang Korngold", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
- Der Ring des Polykrates
- Die tote Stadt (1897)
- Das Wunder der Heliane (1927)
- Die Kathrin (1933)