View source for Dantons Tod (opera)

{{Short description|Opera by Gottfried von Einem}}
{{Infobox opera
| name = {{lang|de|Dantons Tod}}
| composer = [[Gottfried von Einem]]
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R72176, Staatsoper Hamburg, "Dantons Tod".jpg
| image_upright = 1.3
| caption = A scene in the first performance in Germany at the [[Hamburg State Opera]] in 1948
| translated_name = ''Dantons Death''
| librettist = {{plainlist|
* [[Boris Blacher]]
* von Einem
}}
| language = German
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Danton's Death]]''|[[Georg Büchner]]}}
| premiere_date = {{Start date|1947|08|06|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[Salzburg Festival]]
}}
'''''{{Lang|de|Dantons Tod}}''''' (German for ''Danton's Death'') is an [[opera]] by [[Gottfried von Einem]] to a [[libretto]] by [[Boris Blacher]] and Gottfried von Einem after [[Georg Büchner]]'s 1835 [[Danton's Death|play of the same name]]. Its first performance took place in Salzburg on 6 August 1947. It was revised in 1955.

The successful premiere of Gottfried von Einem's opera ''{{Lang|de|Dantons Tod}}'' at the 1947 [[Salzburg Festival]] and its quick staging by European houses were due to more than the strong drama of Einem's score. This was a first step toward the rehabilitation of German musicians after [[World War II]]; an opera by a young Austrian composer who had not collaborated in the former regime's cultural policies. ''{{Lang|de|Dantons Tod}}'' dramatizes legalized governmental terror, a plague which the world at the time realized had not been eradicated with the end of the war.

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, premiere cast}}
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast 6 August 1947<ref>{{Almanacco|dmy=06-08-1947|match=Dantons Tod}}</ref><br />[[Conducting|Conductor]]: [[Ferenc Fricsay]]
|-
|[[Georges Danton]] || [[baritone]] || [[Paul Schöffler]]
|-
|[[Camille Desmoulins]] || [[tenor]] || [[Julius Patzak]]
|-
|Lucile || [[soprano]] || [[Maria Cebotari]]
|-
|[[Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles|Hérault de Séchelles]] || tenor || [[Peter Klein (tenor)|Peter Klein]]
|-
|[[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre]] || tenor || [[Josef Witt]]
|-
|[[Louis Antoine de Saint-Just|Saint-Just]] || [[bass (voice type)|bass]] || [[Ludwig Weber]]
|-
|Simon || bass || [[Georg Hann]]
|-
|Julie || [[mezzo-soprano]] || Gisela Thury
|-
|Hermann || bass || [[Herbert Alsen]]
|-
|Simon's wife || [[contralto]] || [[Rosette Anday]]
|-
|Young man || tenor || Erwin Nowaro
|-
|Two executioners || tenor, bass || [[William Wernigk]], Wilhelm Felden
|-
|Woman || soprano || Trude Ballasch
|-
|colspan="3" | Chorus ([[SATB]])
|}

==Synopsis==
''Dantons Tod'' was adapted from Georg Büchner's play by von Einem and his teacher, composer Boris Blacher. The [[protagonist]] is Georges Danton, a leader in the French government during the [[French Revolution|Revolution]]. When he turned against [[Robespierre]]'s tactics—including terror—he was [[guillotine]]d in April 1794. The opera's first act establishes Danton's confrontation with Robespierre. In the first scene Danton and Camille Desmoulins express their desire for an end of the daily executions to a group of their friends playing cards. Scene two introduces the volatile crowd. Robespierre enters and in an [[aria]] sways the crowd and promises more [[Capital punishment|executions]]. Danton confronts him. After Danton leaves, Robespierre and his colleague Saint-Just decide that he and Camille must be killed. In the last scene of the act Danton announces to Camille and his wife Lucile that he is to be arrested, but he refuses to flee.

Act 2 depicts Danton's trial and death. Two scenes before the [[Revolutionary Tribunal]] are separated by one with Danton and Camille in prison. Lucile comes to see Camille; she has lost her reason. In the trial scenes the crowd swings between demanding Danton's death and falling under the spell of his eloquent oratory. At the end, in the [[Place de la Révolution]], the condemned prisoners sing "[[La Marseillaise]]" in counterpoint to the crowd dancing the [[Carmagnole]]. Danton and Camille are guillotined. After the crowd disperses, Lucile enters and sits on the steps of the guillotine. She cries ''Es lebe der Konig'' (Long live the king) and is arrested as the curtain falls.

Von Einem revised the score slightly after the premiere, replacing an orchestral [[Prelude (music)|prelude]] with the [[Chord (music)|chords]] that now open the opera, cutting an orchestral passage after Danton's death, and revising the final scene with Lucile.

== Recordings ==
*[[Paul Schöffler]] as Danton, [[Julius Patzak]] as Desmoulins and [[Maria Cebotari]] as Lucile. This is a live recording taken from the premiere in Salzburg on August 6, 1947 with the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] and [[Vienna State Opera]] Chorus conducted by [[Ferenc Fricsay]]. A recording is available on Allegro Corporation's Opera D'Oro label.<ref>[http://www.allegro-music.com/online_catalog.asp?sku_tag=OPD31316 ''Dantons Tod''], allegro-music.com {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523230621/http://www.allegro-music.com/online_catalog.asp?sku_tag=OPD31316 |date=2011-05-23 }}</ref>
*[[Theo Adam]], Werner Hollweg, Horst Hiestermann, [[Krisztina Laki]], [[ORF (broadcaster)|ORF]] Chorus and Orchestra, [[Lothar Zagrosek]] Orfeo 1983

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.universaledition.com/gottfried-von-einem-197/works/dantons-tod-1783 ''Dantons Tod''], work details, including full score, [[Universal Edition]]
*[https://opera-guide.ch/en/operas/dantons+tod/ Work details], opera-guide.ch
*{{YouTube|lsb47VyBu90|Complete recording (video)}}, [[Theater an der Wien]], conductor: [[Ferdinand Leitner]], director: [[Otto Schenk]] (1963)

{{Gottfried von Einem}}
{{Portal bar|Opera}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1947 operas]]
[[Category:Death in music]]
[[Category:German-language operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Operas set in the French Revolution]]
[[Category:Operas based on real people]]
[[Category:Operas based on plays]]
[[Category:Operas set in France]]
[[Category:Operas set in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Operas by Gottfried von Einem]]
[[Category:Works about Georges Danton]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Maximilien Robespierre]]
[[Category:Operas based on works by Georg Büchner]]