Ingeborg__Greiner

Verismo in German: Der Golem

Eugen d’Albert (1864 – 1932), the German pianist and composer of English/French/Italian origin, was born in Glasgow and died in Riga (can it get any more multiculti?). He is still  “terra incognita” for most opera-goers.

Of the 20 operas he composed, only one has kept repertoire: ‘Tiefland’, a very verist work from 1903. Occasionally you will still hear some part of ‘Die Tote Augen’, but ‘Der Golem’?



It is listed in reference works, yes, but, to my knowledge, after its 1926 premiere in Frankfurt it was never performed again.

Image by Mitchellnolte

The story is based on an old Jewish legend from Prague..In a few words; Rabbi Löw  creates an artificial man (Golem) from clay, which then takes on a life of its own. Death and destruction ensue and it eventually costs the life of Lea, Löw’s daughter. Too late, the rabbi comes to the realisation that he was never allowed to play God, however good and noble his intentions.

Rabbi Löw’s grave in Prague © Basia Jaworski

Recording(s)



The opera house in Bonn, always up for the unknown repertoire, put it on stage in January 2010 and it was also recorded there live. Bravo



The performance is more than outstanding.
Ingeborg Greiner is a very moving Lea. With her very light, girlish soprano, she manages to evoke our pity. Adolescents, after all! Always in love with the wrong one!


American baritone Mark Morouse (Golem) possesses a very attractive (may I say erotic?) voice, which makes Lea’s passion only logical.

Trailer of the production:

The whole opera (audio)



The music is very recognisable and melodic. Think Mascagni, but in German. Then also add a touch of Richard Strauss and a droplet of Wagner.
Eclectic? Yes, but so very delightful!

The movie, made in 1920:




Eugen D’Albert
Der Golem
Mark Morouse (baritone), Alfred Reiter (bass), Tansel Akzeybek (tenor), Ingeborg Greiner(soprano) and others.
Chor des Theater Bonn (conductor: Sybille Wagner); Beethoven Orchester Bonn conducted by Stefan Blunier
MDG 937 1637-6

The Curse of Irrelohe

In 2010, The Opera in Bonn started a Schreker revival. Kudos! In 2010, Irrelohe was put on the stage there and recorded live by MDG (9371687-6).

The story most resembles a real horror movie. The lords of the Irrelohe castle are cursed. On their wedding day, they go mad and rape a virgin, a curse they pass on to their first-born son. Only a fire and its flames can lift the curse. And those flames do come, at the end, when the beautiful Eva (Ingeborg Greiner) prefers Count Heinrich (irresistible Roman Sadnik) to the bastard Peter (Mark Morouse). You get the idea: Peter is the first-born son of the rapist; Heinrich (who is his half-brother) was born 30 days later. All’s well that ends well, but first we shudder, shiver and enjoy…….


Roman Sadnik in scenes from Irrelohe:





Of the opera there already existed a recording on Sony, recorded live in Vienna in 1989. The Wiener Symphoniker was conducted by Peter Gülke and maybe it is his fault that it does not sound very exciting. The singers (including Luana de Vol and Monte Pederson) are certainly not to blame, although they are nothing to write home about.



Worth knowing:
Schreker wrote the libretto in a very short time (it took him only a few days) in 1919. The work takes its name from a railway station called Irrenlohe which Schreker passed by on a trip to Nuremberg in March 1919.