Organization

Singer

Tenor

John Uhlenhopp

Frederick William

Contralto

Helene Schneiderman

The electress

Baritone

Christian Gerhaher

Prince Frederick Arthur of Hombourg

Bass

Frode Olsen

Colonel of Kollwitz

Johannes Chum

Count Hohenzollern

Andreas Scheibner

Field Marshal Dörfling

Conductor

Marc Albrecht

Stage director

Christof Loy

Set designer

Dirk Becker

Costume designer

Herbert Murauer

Lighting designer

Olaf Winter

Choreographer

Thomas Wilhelm

Soprano

Britta Stallmeister

Princess Natalie of Orange

MusikTheater an der Wien

Orchestra

Vienna Symphony Orchestra

German

Der Prinz von Homburg -  (The Prince of Homburg)

Vienna

Austria

Theater an der Wien

The Prince of Homburg

Approved

A few years after Heinrich von Kleist's play Prince Friedrich von Homburg was published in 1811, music began to be added to it. Around 150 years later, Hans Werner Henze, one of the most important contemporary German opera composers, also took up the story of the legendary officer and dreamer in search of suitable operatic material: “When I was looking for a language that would combine my music with something new a language my music was after, the 'prince' got in my way. "

While battle, obedience and punishment are still the focus of Kleist, Henze's opera focuses on dreams, love, the garden and playful people. He created a moving musical drama about love, freedom and responsibility, which premiered in Hamburg in 1960. “What kind of piece is this that is accused of the spirit of bondage and the spirit of freedom in the same way?” Asks Henze's librettist and friend Ingeborg Bachmann. This ambivalence of representation can also be found in the music: Henze combines serial elements, twelve-tone technique and tonality in a virtuoso manner, thus creating a balance between lyrical and dramatic moments.

On the eve of the Battle of Fehrbellin, the Prince of Homburg strolls dreamily in the garden, the Elector couple and Princess Natalie watch him. The sleepwalking prince takes Natalie's hand, strips off a glove and keeps it. The next morning at the military briefing, he thinks longingly of Natalie and ignores the directives of the upcoming battle. So, contrary to the order, he strikes prematurely on the battlefield and is successful. But the elector announced that the unauthorized leadership of the troops would be atone for with death. The prince is disarmed and arrested. Despite Natalie's objections, he declares his sentence to be just and wants to face the consequences. Only when the military corps spoke out in favor of the prince was the death sentence withdrawn. Blindfolded, the prince is led into the garden, where he once sleepwalked. When Natalie takes the bandage off him, the initial dream becomes a reality.

English

The Prince of Homburg by Henze, From (2009/2009), Directed by Christof Loy,, Conductor Marc Albrecht, Theater an der Wien, Vienna, Austria

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Program, About & Synopsis

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues