“Alcune delle mie opere portano qualche ora piacevole a molte anime oneste. Questo mi basta.”

(Gustav Albert Lortzing)

”Zar und Zimmermann” (Zar e carpentiere) o “Pietro il Grande a Saardam”, con musica e testo di Gustav Albert Lortzing (Berlino 23/10/1801-21/01/1851), fu rappresentata per la prima volta a Lipsia, allo Stadttheater, il 22 dicembre del 1837, lo stesso anno in cui Samuel Finley Breese Morse brevettava il telegrafo, la regina Vittoria veniva incoronata in Inghilterra, Hector Berlioz componeva il “Requiem” e Franz Liszt “Les Années de Pélerinage”. L’opera comica in tre atti, il cui libretto venne ispirato da una commedia di Georg Christian Römer, venne accolta con scarso entusiasmo dal pubblico. Fu solo la successiva rappresentazione a Berlino a provocare un tale scroscio di applausi da far sì che l’opera venisse presto messa in scena in tutti i palchi di Germania ed Europa. Fu così tradotta in Inglese, Francese, Russo, Svedese, Danese, Olandese, Boemo, Ungherese e ottenne immediatamente un considerevole successo a Praga, Londra, in Scandinavia e nella Russia Imperiale.

Le famose arie “O Sancta Justitia! Ich Möchte Rasen”, “Den hohen Herrscher würdig zu empfangen”, “Sonst spielt ich mit Zepter, mit Krone und Stren”, “Lebe wohl, mein flandrisch’ Mädchen” si susseguono scoprendo l’equivoco dell’intreccio: Pietro il Grande si maschera sotto il nome immaginario di Peter Michaelow, un carpentiere e così nella finzione lo Zar-Lied e lo Zimmermann-Lied finiscono con il tratteggiare i due aspetti reali dell’animo di Pietro: il rimpianto per la semplicità di un’esistenza comune, lontana da intrighi politici e circondata da affetti sinceri, e la concreta necessità di cambiamenti.

La versione proposta al Theater Erfurt, sotto la regia di Aglaja Nicolet, vede come protagonisti Peter Edelmann nei panni dello zar, Thomas Stückemann come Peter Iwanow e Michael Tews come van Bett. Per chi vuole gustarsi una serata di teatro comico e umoristico, un pezzo da non perdersi.

The Czar and the Carpenter

“Some of my operas bring a few pleasant hours to many honest souls. That’s enough for me.” (Gustav Albert Lortzing)

”Zar und Zimmerman” (The czar and the carpenter) or “Peter the Great in Saardam”, with text and music by Gustav Albert Lortzing (Berlin 23/10/1801-21/01/1851), was represented for the first time in Leipzig, at the City Theatre, on the 22nd of December 1937, the same year in which Finley Breese Morse patented the telegraph, Queen Victoria was crowded in England, Hector Berlioz composed his “Requiem” and Franz Liszt “Les Années de Pélerinage”. The light opera in three acts, whose libretto was inspired by one of Georg Christian Römer’s plays, was received with little enthusiasm by the public. It was the subsequent performance in Berlin, however, to provoke such a tempest of applause that the opera was soon placed on all the stages of Germany and Europe. It was thus translated into English, French, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Bohemian, Hungarian and immediately achieved considerable success in Prague, London, Scandinavia, and Imperial Russia.

The famous arias “O Sancta Justitia! Ich Möchte Rasen” (“Ah! Sancta Justitia, I shall go raving”), “Den hohen Herrscher würdig zu empfangen”, “Sonst spielt ich mit Zepter, mit Krone und Stren”, “Lebe wohl, mein flandrisch’ Mädchen” follow one another unveiling the misinterpretation of the plot: Peter the Great masquerades under the assumed name of Peter Michaelow, a carpenter, and so, in the fiction, the Zar-Lied and the Zimmermann-Lied end up sketching the two real aspects of Peter’s soul: the regret for the simplicity of common life, far from political intrigues and surrounded by sincere affections, and the concrete need for changes.

The version proposed in Erfurt Theatre, under the direction of Aglaja Nicolet, has as main characters Peter Edelmann in the role of the czar, Thomas Stückemann as Peter Iwanow and Michael Tews as van Bett. For those who want to enjoy an evening of comic and humoristic theatre, a piece not to be missed.

Theater Erfurt, Zar und Zimmermann

Musikalische Leitung: Dorian Keilhack

Regie: Aglaja Nicolet

Ausstattung: Hank Irwin Kittel

Chor: Andreas Ketelhut

Peter Edelmann (Zar Peter der Erste), Thomas Stückemann (Peter Iwanow), Michael Tews (Bürgermeister van Bett), Susanne Rath (Marie), Máté Sólyom-Nagy (Admiral Lefort), Kostadin Arguirov (Lord Syndham), Erik Fenton / Marco Jentzsch (Marquis von Chateauneuf), Gisela Galander (Witwe Browe), Peter Schulte-Overbeck (Offizier, Ratsdiener)

Fr, 2. Dezember 2005, 19.30 Uhr, Großes Haus

So, 11.12.2005, 18.00 Uhr – Mi, 28.12.2005, 19.30 Uhr

Fr, 06.01.2006, 19.30 Uhr – Mi, 01.02.2006, 19.30 Uhr

di Simona Margarino