Synopsis
Luigi Dallapiccola - Béla Bartók
Il prigioniero - Il castello del duca Barbablù
One-act opera
A large gothic hall in the castle.
The opera begins with a declamatory and mysterious prologue. When the curtain rises, the stage is shrouded in darkness. The orchestra strikes up and Duke Bluebeard appears with Judit, his new bride who has left her father’s house and her former fiancé for him.
She says she wishes to bring light and warmth into the dark and gloomy place she now finds herself in. On seeing a number of large closed doors, Judit asks Bluebeard to open them. Her husband tries to put her on her guard, but her mind will not rest until she has opened them all. So he hands her the keys to the first door, out of which a blood-red light shines from the torture chamber. After a moment’s terror, Judit regains her composure and asks to continue.
She receives the keys to the second door, which reveals a darker red but equally horrible colour. Beyond it are Bluebeard’s weapons. With growing insistence, Judit wishes to carry on and open the third door. Enveloped in a golden light, it gives onto Bluebeard’s treasure, the jewels of which however are stained with blood.
The fourth door opens in a bluish light onto a scented flower garden. But we soon realise that the earth that nourishes the flowers is all drenched in blood. And now the fifth door abruptly opens onto a broad landscape, bathed in a dazzling light. In the sky however, reddish clouds are seen. There remain two doors still to be opened. Bluebeard begs his wife to desist, but she replies that for her it is by now a matter of life or death.
The sixth door opens onto a lake of tears, cold and still, while the stage darkens again. Judit questions her husband about his past. She wants to know the whole truth and to open the seventh door. She knows it is closed on the previous wives, murdered by Bluebeard! Her husband then hands her the last key. The stage grows darker. The door opens and the three previous wives appear, alive but silent. Bluebeard says they represent morning, midday and evening. Night will be incarnated by Judit herself, who follows the other three brides in silence. The stage is swallowed up by a total darkness in which everything vanishes.
A large gothic hall in the castle.
The opera begins with a declamatory and mysterious prologue. When the curtain rises, the stage is shrouded in darkness. The orchestra strikes up and Duke Bluebeard appears with Judit, his new bride who has left her father’s house and her former fiancé for him.
She says she wishes to bring light and warmth into the dark and gloomy place she now finds herself in. On seeing a number of large closed doors, Judit asks Bluebeard to open them. Her husband tries to put her on her guard, but her mind will not rest until she has opened them all. So he hands her the keys to the first door, out of which a blood-red light shines from the torture chamber. After a moment’s terror, Judit regains her composure and asks to continue.
She receives the keys to the second door, which reveals a darker red but equally horrible colour. Beyond it are Bluebeard’s weapons. With growing insistence, Judit wishes to carry on and open the third door. Enveloped in a golden light, it gives onto Bluebeard’s treasure, the jewels of which however are stained with blood.
The fourth door opens in a bluish light onto a scented flower garden. But we soon realise that the earth that nourishes the flowers is all drenched in blood. And now the fifth door abruptly opens onto a broad landscape, bathed in a dazzling light. In the sky however, reddish clouds are seen. There remain two doors still to be opened. Bluebeard begs his wife to desist, but she replies that for her it is by now a matter of life or death.
The sixth door opens onto a lake of tears, cold and still, while the stage darkens again. Judit questions her husband about his past. She wants to know the whole truth and to open the seventh door. She knows it is closed on the previous wives, murdered by Bluebeard! Her husband then hands her the last key. The stage grows darker. The door opens and the three previous wives appear, alive but silent. Bluebeard says they represent morning, midday and evening. Night will be incarnated by Judit herself, who follows the other three brides in silence. The stage is swallowed up by a total darkness in which everything vanishes.
