Das Diplom

Rosario Chiàchiaro is said to possess the ‘evil eye’: everyone avoids him and he and his family are threatened by starvation. He then thinks up an idea of how to make capital from an official recognition of this negative gift and demonic force: wherever he turns up, everyone will do anything to get rid of him, namely give him money to make him go away. To this end, he consults the investigating magistrate D’Andrea and institutes proceedings against his slanderers, at the same time providing them with material containing evidence against himself, with the result that he loses the case, is thereby officially confirmed as possessing the ‘evil eye’ – he anticipates gaining riches and fame with this judgment, quasi as his “diploma”.
Straightforwardness and transparency are the objectives of Hans-Jürgen von Bose in his musical setting of Pirandello’s comedy providing the basis for his opera. A further vital element is the comprehensibility of the text. The work is not through-composed, it contains numerous melodramatic passages and the vocal lines are composed throughout in an informal buffo-parlando tone. This enables the composer to create music possessing great serenity and an almost Mediterranean flair which is only interrupted towards its conclusion in a sudden eruption of overwhelming intensity.