Der Engel von Prag

Text by the composer based on subjects of Leo Perutz’s novel “Nachts unter der steinernen Brücke” (Night Under the Stone Bridge) and records about the relationship between Rudolf II. and his court painter Arcimboldo
Place and time: Prague, 1589

Characters: Emperor Rudolf II. (baritone) – Esther, wife of M. Meisl (soprano) – Arcimboldo, court painter (bass) – Earl Nostiz, chief chamberlain (tenor) – Earl Palffy, chamberlain (tenor) – Zdenko von Lobkowitz, chancelor (bass) – Earl Malaspina, chamberlain (bass) – Marshal (baritone) – chaplain Bubna (baritone) – Philipp Lang, the emperor´s confident and valet (tenor) – Rabbi Löw (bass) – Mordechai Meisl (tenor) – Veruna, dead´s wardress (alto) – Nuns, a Monastic (ensemble) – Chancre, Broschek, Janotka, Jelinek (speaking parts)

... the High Rabbi realized that the Emperor had seen the wife of Mordechai Meisl, young Esther, who was beautiful beyond words. He advised the Emperor to forget her since there was no hope for him. She was the wife of a Jew and would never yield to another man. But the Emperor did not heed these words ... The High Rabbi went out and planted a rosebush and rosemary on the banks of the Moldau beneath the stone bridge, hidden from the view of men. And then he spoke the words of magic upon them both. A red rose blossomed on the rosebush and the rosemary’s blossom crept towards it and wound itself about it. That night the Emperor’s soul flew into the red rose and the Jewess’s soul into the rosemary’s blossom. And night after night, the Emperor dreamed that he was embracing his beloved, the lovely Jewess; and night after night, Esther, the wife of Mordechai Meisl, dreamed that she was lying in the arms of the Emperor ... (From Leo Perutz’s novel “Nachts unter der steinernen Brücke” (Night Under the Stone Bridge))