Opera in the 20th century

1935, the year in which all ‘non-Aryan’ writers in Germany are barred from the writers union, which means they can no longer publish books or articles. Also, the Nuremberg Laws are decreed, prohibiting marriages and relationships between Jews and Aryans. Jews are banned from the civil service and Jewish doctors are no longer allowed to work in public hospitals. Many Jews are sent to prison or a concentration camp for relatively minor misdemeanors. The Church Conflict, started in 1933, continues, especially in the Roman Catholic Church. They refer to the ‘German Nazi religion’ as the ‘new heathenism’. The state in its turn, acts forcefully against any Catholic activity that could be considered political in stead of purely religious. Various Catholic organizations are forbidden.

In music and opera a lot of beautiful things can be discovered though. Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess sees the light of day, just as Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

In today’s episode we play selections from:

·      Pietro Mascagni- Nerone

·      Richard Strauss- Die Schweigsame Frau

·      Gian Francesco Malipiero- Giulio Cesare

Other operas and operettas from 1935:

·      Kurt Weill- Der Kuhhandel

·      Georg Gershwin- Porgy & Bess

·      Jakov Gotovac – Ero s onoga svijeta (Ero the Joker)

·      Bohuslav Martinů- Comedy on the Bridge (Veselohra na mostě)

·      Leevi Madetoja- Juha

·      Edmund Nick- Das kleine Hofkonzert

·      Alexander von Zemlinsky- Der König Kandaules

·      Reynaldo Hahn- Le marchand de Venise

• Reynaldo Hahn- Malvina

·      Muslim Magomayev- Nargiz (Nərgiz)

·      Boris Papandopulo- Sunčanica

·      Paul Abraham- Viki

·      Walter Goetze- Schach der König

·      Oscar Strauss- Drei Walzer

·      Charles Cuvillier- Le Train de 8h47

·      Emil von Reznicek- Das goldene Kalb

·      Ildebrando Pizzetti- Orsèolo

·      Manuel Penella- The Unloved

·      George Lloyd- Iernin

·      Werner Egk- Die Zaubergeige

·      Douglas Moore- White Wings

·      Pablo Sorozábal-No me olvides

·      Pablo Sorozábal-La casa de las tres muchachas

·      Bohuslav Martinů- Hlas lesa (The Voice of the Forest)

·      Bohuslav Martinů- Veselohra na mostě (Comedy on the Bridge)

·      Kurt Weill- Der Weg der Verheissung

·      Reynaldo Hahn- Malvia

·      Emmanuel Bondeville- L’École des maris

·      Paul Abraham-Történnek még csodák

·      Paul Abraham- Dschainah, das Mädchen aus dem Tanzhaus

·      Nicolai Bretan- Eroii de la Rovine

·      Walter Braunfels- Verkündigung

·      Viktor Ullmann- Der Sturz des Antichrist

·      Douglas Moore- White Wings