OPERA SEARCH
Die Judenbuche
(The Jew's Beech) (1992)Libretto by Peter Schütze after the novel by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (G)
2S,M,A,2T,3Bar,2B;
2(II=picc).2.corA.2.bcl.2.dbn-4.3.3.1-timp.perc-harp-strings
Abbreviations (PDF)
Anton J. Benjamin / Simrock
Opernhaus, Dortmund
Pet Halmen, director
Conductor: Laurent Wagner
Company: Theater Dortmund
| FRIEDRICH MERGEL and his look-alike, JOHANNES | Tenor |
| MARGRETH SEMMLER, his mother | Mezzo Soprano |
| SIMON, his uncle | Baritone |
| AARON, a Jew | Baritone |
| ERNST VON S., a landowner | Bass |
| WILM HüLSMEYER | Baritone |
| Young girl, later bride and FRAU HüLSMEYER | Soprano |
| The old FRAU HüLSMEYER | Contralto |
| KRAPP, the court scribe | Bass |
| JENTE, Aaron's wife | Soprano |
| FORESTER BRANDIS | Tenor |
Friedrich Mergel is not accepted by the youth of the village. As a result of his fondess for young Marlies, he even gets in a row with Wilm Hülsmeyer, the leader of a gang of village lads. Friedrich agrees on an engagement with Simon, a leader of a gang of wood thieves. During his first nightly job, the forester Brandis is killed after Friedrich has deliberately misled him. He does not tell the police but wants to confess. Simon manages to prevent this with some effort. At the wedding of Wilm Hülsmeyer and Marlies, Friedrich suddenly appears in fashionable clothes and accompanied by a prostitute. He shows off his watch, for which the Jew Aaron then demands to be paid; he, however, is driven away amidst scorn and laughter. Shortly afterwards, Aaron is found slain under a beech tree. Friedrich escapes, after his look-alike, Johannes Niemand (Simon’s swineherd), has also been driven out of the village. Years later, Friedrich returns to the village and pretends to be Johannes Niemand. The villagers accept him and he seems to have got away with it …
Dramatic, Tragic