Die Kluge
Chamber Opera
The story of a king and a clever woman
Music and Libretto by Carl Orff
Based on »Die kluge Bauerntochter« by the Brothers Grimm
Premiered October 2, 2019
in German
Age recommendation: 10 years and above
»Oh, if only I had believed my daughter!« – A peasant finds a golden mortar without a pestle in the King's field. Despite being warned by his clever daughter, he takes it, in blind loyalty, to the King. But he imprisons the peasant for stealing the pestle, just as the daughter had predicted. The King hears about this, and sets the wise girl a challenge, which she passes with flying colours. The King, captivated, makes her his wife, but this is where the problem start: Is it possible to be wise and in love at the same time?
With »Die Kluge«, based on the Grimm's fairy tale, the Munich composer Carl Orff – who would have been 125 years old in 2020 – created an opera for young and old in 1942. The work combines skilful, telling lyrics with music in the style of folk songs to create a gloriously spontaneous piece of theatricality which comes somewhere between a fairy tale, popular theatre and traditional Bavarian comedy and which soon became a classic on German stages!
with the support of
Cast
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