Schlafes Bruder
composer: Herbert Willi
librettist: Robert Schneider - Herbert Willi
Oper in einem Prolog, acht Szenen und einem Epilog
Text von Robert Schneider in Zusammenarbeit mit Herbert Willi
Revidierte Fassung 2006
Premiere: April 28, 1996 Zürich, Opernhaus (CH) · mit Roberto Saccà (Elias), Liliana Nichiteanu (Elsbeth), Udo Samel (Sprecher) · Conductor: Manfred Honeck · Staging: Cesare Lievi · Costumes: Florence von Gerkam · Stage design: Erich Wonder
March 29, 2008 Klagenfurt, Stadttheater (A) · Conductor: Michael Brandstätter · Staging: Aron Stiehl · Costumes: Jürgen Kirner · Stage design: Jürgen Kirner (world première of the revised version)
Orchestra instrumentation: 3 (1. auch Altfl., 2. u. 3. auch Picc.) · 1 · Engl. Hr. · 2 (2. auch Bassklar.) · Sopransax. · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) - 2 · 2 · 2 · 1 - P. S. (Trgl. · Crot. · 3 Bong. · Mil. Tr. · Holzblocktr. · Pedalglsp. · Xyl. · Vibr. · Marimba) (2 Spieler) - Hfe. · Klav. (auch Cel.) - Str. (7 · 6 · 5 · 4 · 3)
Cast of characters: Eliaskind · Knabensopran - Elias · Tenor - Elsbeth · Mezzosopran - Lukas, deren Verlobter · Bariton - Peter · tiefer Bass - Seff, dessen Vater · Contratenor - Seffin, dessen Frau · Alt - Haintzin · Koloratursopran - Corvinius, ein Prediger · Tenor - Kurat · Bass - Schlafes Bruder · Chor, unsichtbar - Chor der Dörfler · Chor (SSSAAATTTBBB), sichtbar - 4 Dörfler · Mezzosopran, Tenor, Bariton, Bass - Ein Solosprecher
Publisher: Schott Music
Duration: 80' 0''
Year of composition: 1994/1996, rev. 2006
Edition: full score
Language: German
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Description
In the manuscript of the then unpublished debut novel Schlafes Bruder [Brother of Sleep] by Robert Schneider, the Austrian composer Herbert Willi discovered a plot which was particularly suitable for a musical setting and which in certain key passages was literally ‘crying out to be set to music’ (Willi). The composer also discovered startling parallels between the story and his own biography. In intensive cooperation with the author, an independent libretto was compiled which in form and partially also in content diverged from the novel for Herbert Willi’s first work for the stage. This libretto does however also incorporate core motifs from the novel (which has subsequently received numerous awards and been transformed into an opulent film by Josef Vilsmaier).
Johannes Elias Alder, an exceptionally gifted musician, lives in an isolated mountain community and is destroyed by the wordless villagers and their inability to relate to each other. Ultimately he takes his own life by depriving himself of sleep. However, the composer has replaced Schneider’s bleak conclusion with a positive final twist incorporating the concept of love and hope.
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