Der Drache

For centuries, the dragon has dominated the town. The citizens have become accustomed to this threat. They enjoy the benefits of secure wealth and have learned to live with the fact that the dragon demands an annual sacrifice in the form of a virgin. The arrival of the dragon slayer Lancelot briefly rekindles the interest of several citizens in resistance, although the majority of the town’s inhabitants have become so accustomed to their dragon that they request the knight to leave the town without a battle. Lancelot does not let himself be distracted from his aim. He challenges the dragon, a battle takes place and the dragon is slayed. The seed of freedom which began to germinate is however soon nipped in the bud. A new regime is established, far more severe than before, and the game recommences from the beginning.
Jevgeni Lvovitch Schwarz (1896 – 1958) was a Russian author and dramatist. He primarily wrote fairy tales, utilising their symbolism, motifs and figures to attack the political and ideological circumstances of his time. With his fairy tale Der Drache, written in Leningrad in 1943 during the occupation by German troops, he created a parable on the dictatorship of Hitler and Stalin. His challenge to display more civil courage and detach oneself from the false sense of security of material wealth has today lost nothing of its significance. In his setting of this highly political tale, Jost Meier’s chief concern was that his opera should be effective and simultaneously easy to understand, in the manner of ‘folk opera’. His highly gesticulatory music is infused with direct emotionality and spontaneity and a transparency which benefits the comprehensibility of the text.