World Premier Of Opera By Strauss

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30511, 5 August 1964, Page 8

World Premier Of Opera By Strauss

(By a Special Correspondent of "The Times")

The world premiere of an opera by Richard Strauss must nowadays be something of a rarity—yet precisely this took place on June 7 and 14 in the Benedictine monastery school of Ettal, Southern Bavaria, famous otherwise for its Baroque chapel and its humanistic tradition. The new work bore the title “Des Esels Schatten” — The Donkey’s Shadow. There might seem something markedly peculiar about all this, but the apparently paradoxical background of the production is easy to explain. Strauss had a great admiration for Ettal, where his son and both his grandsons were educated, and readily agreed to the suggestion of the school’s director, P. Stephan Schaller, that he might write a miniature opera specially for the boys of the school to perform. The opera was to consist mainly of dialogue, so as not to make too great demands on the young singers, and was to be amusing and light in character, possibly with a classical background. It was therefore to be educational and amusing as well as affording as much scope as possible for the imagination, tion.

The text was eventually taken from Wieland’s satire

on the Abderites, and the libretto was, composed by the Viennese writer, Dr. Hans Adler.

Unfortunately the opera encountered several difficulties and when Strauss died in 1949 it was only two-thirds finished. Recently, however, the manuscripts were unearthed from the archives. P. Schaller adapted the text himself, and Kapellmeister Karl Haussner, who has expert knowledge of Strauss’s music, undertook to complete the musical score. The result was a clever and immensely entertaining production. We see here Strauss composing for young people —the music is delightfully humorous; one “ensemble,” for example, is the chorus of the Holy Frogs of Latona, superbly dignified, utterly Straussian, and uproariously funny. The score also contains several motifs from other works, including a waltz which reminded one immediately of the “Rosenkavalier," introduced intentionally, no doubt, to “educate” the young performers. The actual performance itself also deserves a word of praise, from the home-made donkey to the very able orchestral accompaniment, though the music makes rather too heavy a demand on young singers. (Reprinted by arrangement.)