Orff's Classic Tragedies in Darmstadt

Early in December, the Darmstadt State Theatre stages two operas by Carl Orff as part of its cross-season series 'The Greeks – our Origins': Oedipus der Tyrann is premiered on 2 December, Antigonae on 3 December in the re-opened theatre.

Fresh re-opening: Staatstheater Darmstadt Photo: Barbara Aumüller

The two rarely played pieces will be performed in a production by John Dew. The orchestra of the Darmstadt State Theatre – which was directed by Orff himself as 'Kapellmeister' in 1918 and 1919 – will perform under the baton of Stefan Blunier. The State Theatre has even developed an extraordinary marketing concept: The performances are always offered as a pair, with both works being performed in one-day intervals. The audience can buy tickets either for one or, at a reduced price, for both evenings.

Orff often emphasized that he actually regarded his Antigonae, his Oedipus and his Prometheus as a coherent cycle. To him, the three operas were a counterpart of Richard Wagner's 'Ring' tetralogy, and so he liked it best to see them performed accordingly.

'The Greek dramas are my best works'
(Carl Orff, 1978)

As a pupil, Orff was already fascinated by ancient languages. As a consequence, ancient literature played a central role in his oeuvre. In 1914, Orff saw a performance of Richard Strauss' Elektra. Deeply impressed, he took the decision to set Greek tragedies to music himself. Between 1949 and 1968, he eventually created the trilogy of the Greek dramas.

Orff's compositions do not follow the tradition of the highly romantic operas, but are entirely in the spirit of Classicism of the early and mid-20th century. He went back to the beginnings of the opera: The comprehensibility of the texts is clearly to the fore. In this context, Orff kept exactly to the translation of Sophocles' dramas by Friedrich Hölderlin. Typically Orff, the orchestra is dominated by the percussion and requires the huge number of six pianos and four harps. This is why the Darmstadt State Theatre has to be given even greater credit for taking the risk to continue the reception of these rare, yet important works.


 Carl Orff: biographiy and works 
 Staatstheater Darmstadt Website

(11/08/2006)