(German for King's Children or “Royal Children”) is a stage work by Engelbert Humperdinck that exists in two versions: as a melodrama and as an opera or more precisely a Märchenoper. The libretto was written by Ernst Rosmer (pen name of Else Bernstein-Porges), adapted from her play of the same name.
In 1894, Heinrich Porges asked Humperdinck to write incidental music for his daughter Else's play. Humperdinck was interested in making the story into an opera but since Else Bernstein-Porges initially refused, he opted for the play to be staged as a melodrama – that is with spoken dialogue taking place along with an instrumental backdrop. (The work also included operatic arias and choruses, as well as unaccompanied dialogue.)
In the melodramatic passages, Humperdinck designed an innovative hybrid notation that called for a text delivery somewhere between singing and speech. With this notation, the singer was expected to deliver a substantial portion of the text with approximate pitched melodies. This version was first staged at the Munich Hoftheater, with Hedwig Schako as the goose girl, on 23 January 1897 and enjoyed some success. However, Else Bernstein-Porges finally relented in 1907 and agreed that Humperdinck could transform the work into an opera.
Performance history
was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 28 December 1910, conducted by Alfred Hertz, with Geraldine Farrar as the Goose-Girl, Herman Jadlowker as the King's Son, Louise Homer as the Witch and Otto Goritz as the Fiddler. Farrar trained her own flock of geese in preparation for the role; according to a New-York Tribune review of the first performance, "Miss Farrar caused 'much amusement' by appearing before the curtain with a live goose under her arm."
A Berlin premiere followed on 14 January 1911, conducted by Leo Blech with Lola Artôt de Padilla as the Goose-Girl and as the King's Son. Though the work lay in the shadow of its "sister" fairy-tale work for many years, it has been regularly revived in Germany, and with increasing frequency abroad since 1986 (Wexford Festival). Other notable productions include the 1992 English National Opera, directed by David Pountney and conducted by Sir Mark Elder; a 1997 staging at Sarasota Opera; from 2005 to 2007 at the Bavarian State Opera; and in 2007 at the Zürich Opera House. In 2010, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble gave a performance celebrating the hundredth anniversary of its premiere in New York City. A production by Christof Loy with Olga Kulchynska (Gänsemagd) and Daniel Behle (Königssohn), conducted by Marc Albrecht, was performed in October 2022 at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. It has also been frequently recorded.
Roles
Synopsis
Act 1
The scene plays in a sunny meadow outside a rustic little hut, in the hills above a town called Hellabrunn. In the distance we can see a mountain, the Hellagebirge. Twelve geese are milling around, splashing in the pond, nibbling at grass; the Goose-Girl is lying face down and aimlessly kicking the earth. The Witch calls from the hut to scold the Goose-Girl. The Witch lives here in this remote location because she hates human society; through magic she keeps the Girl here as her slave, although the Goose-Girl longs for sunshine and human contact. The Witch compels her, very much against her will, to bake a magic loaf of bread. It will not grow hard or stale, but it will kill anyone who eats just half of it. The Witch then takes her basket and heads off for the swamp, to gather more poisonous snakes, worms, and creepy-crawlies.
The Goose-Girl is staring at her reflection in the stream when a young man enters from the direction of the mountains. This character, the King's Son, has left his father's castle and is travelling incognito, disguised as a simple huntsman, in search of adventure. In an extended scene he falls in love with the Goose-Girl; they kiss, and her wreath of flowers blows away. He offers her a crown instead. But she says it's too much for her, so he throws it down on the grass and begs her to run off with him. She says she will go; but she cannot break the spell which keeps her prisoner in the Witch's domain, and does not know how to explain her situation to the King's Son. Finally he grows angry and storms off, vowing that she will not see him again—not until a star has fallen into a lily growing on her lawn.
Hearing the Witch returning, the Goose-Girl hides the crown left behind by the King's Son. But the Witch figures out what has happened, and casts another magic spell to prevent the Goose-Girl's escape. They hear the offstage voice of the Fiddler, and the Witch drags the Goose-Girl inside.