Work of the Week – Wolfgang Fortner: In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa

A true re-discovery for the opera stage: Wolfgang Fortner's In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa (‘Don Perlimplin’s Love for Belisa in His Garden’), will celebrate its premiere at Oper Frankfurt on 22 March 2024. The opera can be seen at the Bockenheimer Depot in a new production by Dorothea Kirschbaum, performed by the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra under the direction of Takeshi Moriuchi. The two title roles are sung by Karolina Bengtsson as Belisa and Sebastian Geyer as Don Perlimplín.

As with his successful opera Bluthochzeit, Wolfgang Fortner's In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplín Belisa also draws on a play by Federico García Lorca. In this case Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín from 1933. Fortner created his own "characteristic musical signum" for each of the four pictures in his twelve-tone chamber piece: a lyrical scherzo is followed by a night piece, a duet and a serenade. Parts alternate between strict form and free formal improvisation. 

In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa by Wolfgang Fortner: true love in the face of death

With a playing time of around 75 minutes, the relatively short opera was quickly successful after its premiere in 1962 and was performed at around 20 theatres until the 1990s. However, there have been no performances since 1994, so the piece can now be rediscovered in Frankfurt after 30 years. 

The opera is about the single nobleman Don Perlimplín, who has already reached a certain age. For this reason, he enters into a distant marriage of convenience with the much younger Belisa. It is only Belisa's adultery that makes Don Perlimplín realise his true love for her. Belisa, on the other hand, loves a mysterious lover who, after losing a duel with a rival, turns out to be Don Perlimplín. In the knowledge of her lost true love, Belisa buries her husband. Don Perlimplín, however, has united his soul with Belisa forever by dying in a duel for love. 

Do you understand? I am my soul and you are my body. Let me die in its embrace at this last moment, for you loved me very much. (Don Perlimplín)

In seven performances until 7 April 2024, In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplín Belisa can be seen at Oper Frankfurt. If you don't want to miss this rarity, you should hurry, as some performances are already sold out.
  

Further Reading: 

Wolfgang Fortner: Composer Profile https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/wolfgang-fortner   

In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa: Werkdetails und Online-Partitur https://www.schott-music.com/en/in-seinem-garten-liebt-don-perlimplin-belisa-no151735.html   

Website Oper Frankfurt: https://oper-frankfurt.de/en/season-calendar/in-seinem-garten-liebt-don-perlimplin-belisa/?id_datum=3631

illustration: Artwork created using Artificial Intelligence (Adobe Firefly)