Adriana Hölszky (*1953) Die Wände
Music Theatre in 3 Acts 1993/94 Duration: 90' Text: Theodor Körner
18 singer – choir(36) – picc.0.0.0.B-clar.db-clar.0. – 1.1.3.0(euph) – perc(6) – cym – acc – vl.db – tape
World premiere: Vienna (Wiener Festwochen), May 20, 1995
Text by Thomas Körner after the play “Les Paravents” by Jean Genet
Place and time: Algeria, just before the War of Liberation 1954, which led to Independence 1962
Characters: The Mother (soprano) - Said, her Son (tenor) - Leila, his Wife (soprano) - Kadidja, Arabian Wailer, the "first Lady of the village (Mezzo-soprano) - Ommou (alto) - Nedima (Soubrette) - Habiba (mezzo-soprano) - Chiga (soprano), Arabian Wailer - Warda, a kind of Princess of the Whores (alto) - Malika, Whore (Soubrette) - Sir Harold, French Colonialist (baritone) - M. Blankensee, French Colonialist (tenor) - Mme Blankensee, (mezzo-soprano) - Actor (speaking and silent parts). Beside the main parts (Mother, Said, Leila, Ommou, Kadidja, Warda) the singers play more parts (also speaking parts).
(At least 9 speakers spread out over the auditorium and the stage)
The Arabs are becoming increasingly restless under French colonial rule and the first rebellions have been recorded. This is the background against which the fate of the Brennessel ("Nettle) family is played out. Said and his mother are so poor that Said is only able to marry the least attractive woman in the region, Leila, who turns out to be unconditionally devoted to him. Said's situation actually worsens because of his marriage, since his mother squabbles and picks on Leila, and Said is ridiculed by his colleagues for having such an ugly wife. Said dreams of moving to France to earn more money. Accused of a theft, however, Said is sent to jail and his mother is excluded from the group of professional mourners. Leila, meanwhile, deliberately becomes a thief in order to be close to her husband in jail. Running parallel to these events is the story of the French colonial officials Sir Harold and Sir Blankensee, who are animatedly discussing their hobby, gardening, unaware that the Arabs have begun to rebel. Finally, the libretto calls for the action to take place on three levels: the first shows Said and Leila in jail. The second depicts a French military parade. The third presents Madame Blankensee who ends her boring marriage with a well-aimed gunshot. The revolution claims many victims on both sides. They all come together in the netherworld, where they ask one another: "Why all the fuss? Said is ultimately shot by his fellow Arabs, since his desire to emigrate to France had made him become a traitor in their eyes.
Bibliography:
Baier, Christian und Klaus-Peter Kehr: Utopie, Brechung, Oper. Adriana Hölszky im Gespräch, in: Programmheft "Die Wände", Wien 1995, pp. 17-20.
Houben, Eva Maria: Klangmembranen. Anmerkungen zu den Bildern für Stimmen und Zuspielband in Adriana Hölszkys Oper "Die Wände" nach dem Schauspiel "Les Paravents" von Jean Genet, in: Adriana Hölszky, hrsg. von Eva-Maria Houben, Saarbrücken 2000, pp. 55-68.
Kostakeva, Maria: Metamorphose und Eruption. Annäherung an die Klangwelten Adriana Hölszkys, Hofheim: wolke 2013 (pp. 160-175).
Petersen, Peter: Adriana Hölszkys Opern. Theatrale Musiksprache und vokal-instrumentales Theater, in: Von der Zukunft einer unmöglichen Kunst. 21 Perspektiven zum Musiktheater, hrsg. von Bettina Knauer und Peter Krause, Bielefeld: Aisthesis 2006, pp. 85-108.
ders.: Adriana Hölszkys Opern. Theatrale Musiksprache und vokal-instrumentales Theater, in: Ankommen: Gehen. Adriana Hölszkys Textkompositionen, hrsg. von Wolfgang Gratzer und Jörn Peter Hiekel, Mainz: Schott 2007, pp. 29-43.
Steimel, Olivia: Zum Einsatz des Akkordeons als Orchesterinstrument im modernen Musiktheater, gezeigt an den folgenden Werken: Adriana Hölszky: Die Wände (1993-94), Hans Zender: Chief Joseph (2003), José M. Sánchez-Verdú: GRAMMA Gärten der Schrift (2004-06), Diplomarbeit an der Hochschule für Musik Würzburg 2012.
Die Wände [Fotodokumentation der Frankfurter Inszenierung 2000], in: rosalie Lichtkunst. light art. the universal theater of light, hrsg. von Peter Weibel, Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess 2010, pp. 336-339.
Zenck, Martin: Pierre Boulez Adriana Hölszky. Jean Genets Dramen Les nègres und Les paravants im europäischen Musiktheater, in: Ankommen: Gehen. Adriana Hölszkys Textkompositionen, hrsg. von Wolfgang Gratzer und Jörn Peter Hiekel, Mainz: Schott 2007, pp. 45-56.
ders.: Ordnungen des Unsichtbaren / Hörbaren und des Sichtbaren / Unhörbaren. Zu Adriana Hölszkys musiktheatralen Werken Tragödia. Der unsichtbare Raum und Die Wände nach Jean Genet, in: Adriana Hölszky, hrsg. von Ulrich Tadday (Musik-Konzepte, Neue Folge Heft 160/161), München: edition text+kritik 2013, pp. 107-127.