Kienzl: Der Evangelimann

Opera no  67

Kienzl: Der Evangelimann

Soloists

Munich Radio Orchestra

Lathar Zagrosek

This is another opera which had a huge initial impact but which has almost disappeared from view. I had heard it years ago and was glad to make its reaquaintance. Stylistically it was rather hard to pin down. Wagner was certainly a major influence. The music at the end of the first act to illustrate the fire was clearly indebted to the Magic Fire music from Die Walkure and parts of the anguished monologue in Act 2 could have come from Tannnauser or even Parsifal. Yet elsewhere there was delightlful lighthearted music for the village scenes which could almost have come from The Bartered Bride. There were moments of verismo and the big tune in the overture (reprised later in the opera) seemed almost a straight lift from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. But all of these elements do come together to make an entertaining and dramatic work. Tastes change and the music associted with the Evalgelist – complete with children’s choir – now seems over-sentimental and indeed almost kitch. Perhaps it could still work in a sympathetic production but somehow I doubt it,

This is the last in this group of German operas , where I have tried to follow almost a century of development. What is striking is how little 19^th century German opera has remained in the repertory. Wagner casts an enormous shadow. In fact the only non-Wagner operas from the 19^th century which are still part of the standard repertoire are Hansel and Gretel and Fidelio,

So for the next part of this project I will be looking at some of the operas which form the background to Fidelio.