(''The Snow Queen'') is a

fairy-tale opera Fairy-tale opera may refer to any of several traditions of opera based on fairy tales. *Opéra féerie is a French genre of opera or opéra-ballet, often with elements of magic in their stories. *The English genre of "fairy opera" includes Gilbert ...

George Alexander Albrecht George Alexander Albrecht (15 February 1935 – 21 December 2021) was a German conductor and composer, who also worked as a musicologist and academic teacher. A prolific composer at a young age, he was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Staatsope ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Peter Truschner based on Andersen's "

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...

". It premiered at the

Nationaltheater Weimar The (DNT), or German National Theater and Weimar State Orchestra, is the most significant arts organization in Weimar. The institution unites the (German National Theater) with the (Weimar State Orchestra). It plays on a total of six stages ...

in 2015. The vocal parts are scored for professional soloists and children's choir, with choir members acting.

History

On an initiative by Gudrun Schröfel, the conductor of the

Mädchenchor Hannover Der Mädchenchor Hannover is a girls' choir of girls and young women, based in Hannover, the state capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Girls and young woman between ages 14 and 20 perform a wide range of repertoire from Renaissance to contemporary m ...

composed his only opera as an opera for children, to be performed by soloists and a chorus of children who also have to act. At the time, he was already aged 78, and had worked mostly as an opera conductor. The libretto was written by Peter Truschner, who wrote a rhymed version of Andersen's "

". The opera premiered at the

in 2015, conducted by Dominik Beykirch, and directed by Maximilian von Mayenburg with set designs and costumes by Thilo Reuther. The premiere was prepared by a series of lectures at the

Musikhochschule Weimar The University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar (in German: Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar) is an institution of music in Weimar, Germany. The Hochschule Franz Liszt, who spent a great deal of his life in Weimar, encouraged the founding of ...

Roles

Source:

Music

The vocal parts are scored for professional soloists and children's choir, with choir members acting in roles such as flowers (''Blumen''), ravens (''Raben''), robbers (''Räuber''), snow flakes (''Schneeflocken''), wind and ice crystals. The music around the Snow Queen character is set

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...

, contrasting with the human world. The children, Gerda and Kay, are characterised by song-like music, the troll declaims like Mime in Wagner's ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

'', the Snow Queen sings in extremely high register, and scenes for ravens and robbers resemble

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

. The opera takes around 80 minutes to perform. The score calls for an orchestra including flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, tuba, timpani, 2 drums, harp and strings.

Reception

Roland H. Dippel wrote in a review published in ''

Leipziger Volkszeitung The ''Leipziger Volkszeitung'' or ''LVZ'' (German language, German for ''Leipzig People's Newspaper'') is a daily regional newspaper in Leipzig and western Saxony, Germany. First published on 1 October 1894, the LVZ was formerly an important pu ...

'', ''Oper & Tanz'' and '' Neue Musikzeitung'', that the opera deals with great emotions, proving oneself in dangers, and faith in the good. ("") He summarised: "A real opera with a large orchestra that fascinates its young audience for the art form" ("").

References

External links