Alexander Zemlinsky's opera The Chalk Circle, first performed in Zurich in 1933 after the play of the same name by Klabund, is about the arbitrariness of the powerful and the perpetual battle of good versus evil and rich versus poor - themes that still concern us today.
At the beginning of the opera, the middle-class Chinese girl Haitang is sold by her mother to the owner of an establishment. Immediately beforehand, her father, who could no longer pay his taxes, has hanged himself. A prince falls in love with her, but Haitang is bought at auction as a second wife by Ma, the rich tax tenant who drove her father to suicide. The barren first wife Mas fears for her inheritance when Haitang gives birth to a son. Filled with hatred, she poisons her husband and blames Haitang. She also claims that she herself is the child's biological mother and bribes witnesses and judges in order to be recognized as the heir and mother. But in a hopeless situation, the fate of the innocent Haitang unexpectedly changes.
The play, which premiered in 1925 and was subsequently performed on around 100 stages, mixes stylistic levels between fairy tale and criminal social drama, with caricature and emotional pathos. Klabund was inspired by a Chinese singspiel from the 14th century. In Zemlinsky's last completed opera, this fascinating mix of drama and lyricism is intensified. Right at the beginning, sultry saxophone sounds provide the necessary coloring for the brothel owner's slow-motion ballet. The composer interweaves late Romanticism with cabaret scenes à la Kurt Weill's Mahagonny, which Zemlinsky conducted in 1931. He mixes Mahler and Strauss with Far Eastern sounds, but knows how to achieve a balance through the differentiated use of voice and orchestra. The varied and colorful score thus oscillates between musically subtly supported spoken parts, delicate chamber music lyricism and highly dramatic outbursts. Directed by Sebastian Ritschel, artistic director at Theater Regensburg since 2022.
Premiere June 2, 2024
Further performances: June 15 and 21, July 4, 14, 16 and 20, 2024
