Zoltán Kodály opera Háry János was premiered.
Háry János is an opera in four acts by Zoltán Kodály to a Hungarian libretto by Bela Paulini and Zsolt Harsanyi, based on the comic epic The Veteran (Az obsitos) by Janos Garay. It was first performed at the Royal Hungarian Opera House, Budapest, October 16, 1926.
According to Kodály, Háry János is "the personification of the Hungarian story-telling imagination. He does not tell lies; he imagines stories; he is a poet.
The story is of a veteran hussar in the Austrian army in the first half of the 19th-century. He sits in the village inn regaling his listeners with tales of heroism: his supposed exploits include winning the heart of the Empress Marie Louise, Napoleon's wife, and then single-handedly defeating Napoleon and his armies. Nevertheless, he finally renounces all riches in order to go back to his village with his sweetheart.
The opera has a Singspiel form, with spoken dialog alternating with songs, which are often modeled or even based on Hungarian folk songs. From the music of the opera, Kodály extracted the orchestral Háry János Suite.
Structure: The movements of the Háry János Suite:
- Prelude; the Fairy Tale Begins
- Viennese Musical Clock
- Song
- The Battle and Defeat of Napoleon
- Intermezzo
- Entrance of the Emperor and His Court
Both the suite and the opera begin with a 'musical sneeze', best explained in Kodály's own words: "According to Hungarian superstition, if a statement is followed by a sneeze of one of the hearers, it is regarded as confirmation of its truth. The Suite begins with a sneeze of this kind!
Resources:
Kodaly's Opera Háry János - Suite. Universal Edition.
Tallian T. Háry János. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London and New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1997.
Video Credit:
Kodály Háry János Suites Internezzo. YouTube, uploaded by EAST56123. Accesed October 16, 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment