Der Idiot

Prince Mishkin is incapable of subordinating himself to the rules of the game of aristocratic Russian society, to lie and to flatter: he is obsessed with bringing out the best in everyone, always to tell the truth and to react to the intrigues of his surroundings with goodness, naiveté and innocence. Nobody understands him: in the eyes of his fellow men he is an idiot. Mishkin loves Natasha, who has been brought up by the landowner Tozki, misused and is now to be married off by him for profit. Three potential suitors, Gania, confidant of General Epantshin, Epantshin himself and Rogoshin, a merchant’s son, compete for Natasha’s favours. Gania despises her because of her past and wants to marry her only for her money; Epantshim is just out for a fleeting adventure. Only Rogoshin loves her with dogged passion and outbids his two fellow suitors. Mishkin urges Natasha to listen to her heart, Natasha accepts his feelings but cannot bear his unwavering integrity and turns to Rogoshin, whose jealousy she rather fears. At the same time, she recognises that Epantshin’s daughter Aglaia has fallen in love with Mishkin, who returns her love. Mishkin and Aglaia recognise the true nature of St. Petersburg society but cannot escape it. Aglaia and Natasha offend each other: both are waiting for a decision from Mishkin. His delay unleashes a catastrophe: Aglaia finally leaves him, Natasha collapses and is finally killed by Rogoshin out of pure jealousy. Mishkin sinks into madness. Encouraged by the success of his first opera, Boulevard Solitude, Henze, then artistic director and conductor of the ballet of the Hessische Staatstheater in Wiesbaden, travelled to Berlin to show his works to Gerd Westermann, Intendant of the Berliner Festwochen. The outcome of this meeting was a commission for the ballet Der Idiot, based on Dostoyevsky’s novel, for the 1952 Festival. The choreographer Tatiana Gsovsky assembled a conglomeration of textual quotations from the novel and bible passages, which were spoken at the Berlin premiere by Klaus Kinski. In the summer of 1953, Ingeborg Bachmann, in collaboration with Tatiana, wrote new monologues which emphasise the isolation and incapacity for life of the Princess Mishkin. 

"This is the history and tragedy of an individualist, a saint, who is destroyed by the enraged passions of the people around him, and by their fate. It is told in dance, mime, monologues and music. The number of dancers can be reduced at will; the role of the protagonist may be shared between a speaker and a dancer."