Neues vom Tage

Neues vom Tage (News of the Day) is a comic opera (lustige Oper) in three parts by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer.

The opera is a satire of modern life, celebrity and marriage, involving parodies of both Puccini's music and Berlin cabaret. The opera became notorious for a scene with a naked soprano (Laura) singing in the bath about the wonders of modern plumbing, though Hindemith replaced her with the tenor (Hermann) in the revised version.

The mischievous nudity particularly aroused the ire of Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstängel, Hitler’s musical advisor, and was later cited by the Nazis as evidence that the "degenerate art" of the "cultural bolshevist" Hindemith should be excluded from Germany.[1]

Performance history

It was first performed on 8 June 1929, at the Kroll Opera House, Berlin, under the musical direction of Otto Klemperer. Hindemith revised the opera, changing the text and adding a little new music, for the Teatro San Carlo, Naples on 7 April 1954. The United States premiere of the work was at the Santa Fe Opera in 1961.

Roles

Role Voice type Premiere Cast,
8 June 1929
(Conductor: Otto Klemperer)		 Revised version,
7 April 1954
(Conductor: Paul Hindemith)
Laura soprano Grete Stückgold Mercedes Fortunati
Eduard, Laura's husband baritone Giuseppe Valdengo
Hermann, a professional co-respondent tenor Erik Wirkl Gino Sinimberghi
Herr M tenor Arthur Cavara Alessandro Pellegrini
Frau M mezzo-soprano Sabine Kalter Adamo
Baron d'Houdoux, an entrepreneur bass Dezső Ernster Giuseppe Modesti
Frau Pick, a newspaper reporter contralto Myriam Pirazzini
Uli bass Fritz Krenn Coriolano Jorio
Hotel director bass Gerardo Gaudiosi
Room maid soprano
Guide bass Plinio Clabassi
Head waiter tenor
Registrar bass Giovanni Amodeo
First manager tenor Nino Adami
Second manager tenor Silvio Santarelli
Third manager tenor Gianni Avolanti
Fourth manager tenor Piero De Palma
Fifth manager bass Aldo Terrosi

Recordings

Hindemith: Neues vom Tage - WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln

References

  1. ↑ Geissmar, Bertha: Two Worlds of Music, Creative Age Press, NY 1946.
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