''Medea'' is a German-language opera by Aribert Reimann after the play by

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He ...

. It was premiered at the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

in February 2010. The German premiere was at the

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore ...

in August 2010.

History

Aribert Reimann had already written seven literary operas, including ''

Melusine Mélusine () or Melusine or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a nixie (folklore), female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a Serpent symbolism, serpent or Fish in culture, fish fr ...

'', '' Lear'' and '' Troades'', when he received a commission from the

to write an opera for the conclusion of the era of Ioan Holender as General Director of the opera house. He chose the play ''Medea'' by

as a basis for the work, the last part of Grillparzer's trilogy ' (''The Golden Fleece'') which is focused on Greek mythology and based on the ''

Argonautica The ''Argonautica'' () is a Greek literature, Greek epic poem written by Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic epic (though Aetia (Callimachus), Callim ...

'' by

Apollonius of Rhodes Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Go ...

and ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'' by

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

. The opera was successfully premiered at the

in February 2010, staged by Marco Arturo Marelli, conducted by Michael Boder, with Marlis Petersen in the title role. The German premiere was at the

in August 2010.

Roles

Music

Grillparzer showed Medea as a foreigner without protection who becomes the victim of powerful men, a view of the tragedy appealing to Reimann. In a production at the

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces operas, operettas and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, near Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, along with the Be ...

, staged by Benedict Andrews with Nicole Chevalier in the title role, Medea is shown as a

barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

woman, a stranger to the society and therefore expelled. A reviewer of the premiere noteds that the vocal lines are highly ornamented, full of

melisma Melisma (, , ; from , plural: ''melismata''), informally known as a vocal run and sometimes interchanged with the term roulade, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in ...

, and with sharply jagged contours ("wild gezackt, scharf geschnitten"), demanding virtuosity from the singers. The

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

changes without rest, also in the orchestra. The strings are divided multiple times, while the winds often have solo function. The vocal style was described as highly artificial ("hochartifiziell").

Recordings

* DVD (cast of the premiere): Marlis Petersen, Michaela Selinger, Elisabeth Kulman, Michael Roider, Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Michael Boder, 2010 * CD (cast of the German premiere): Claudia Barainsky, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Michael Nagy, Michael Baba, Paula Murrihy, Tim Severloh, Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, Erik Nielsen. Oehms, 2CDs 2010

References

External links

The wrath of a woman scorned: Reimann’s murderous Medea at the Wiener Staatsoper
bachtrack.com 2017 * {{Authority control 2010 operas Operas based on works by Franz Grillparzer German-language operas Operas Operas based on Medea (Euripides play) Operas based on plays Operas by Aribert Reimann Works based on the Argonautica