Michael Obst (*1955) Caroline
Opera in 2 Parts 1997-99 Text: Ralph Günther Mohnau
12 soloists – choir SATTBB – 3(picc.2A-fl)3(cor ang).3.B-clar.2(dble bsn) – 4.3.3(T-B-tbne).1. – perc(3) – hp – str: 12.10.8.8.6. stage music: acc
World premiere: Weimar, July 10, 1999
Duration: full evening
Text by Ralph Günther Mohnnau
Place and time: Caroline’s residence in Jena, Jail of the castle Königstein, in the open country, in Mainz, end of the 18th until early 19th Century
Characters: Caroline (soprano) - Auguste (soprano) - British Officer, also Schleiermacher (tenor) - Goethe (baritone) - Schelling (baritone) - Friedrich Schlegel (baritone) - Custine (bass) - August Wilhelm Schlegel (bass) - Landgrave of Hessen, also August von Weimar, also King of Prussia (bass) - 4 old-fashioned People (mezzo-soprano, baritone, basses)
"Caroline" is about one of the most interesting women of the early romantic era. Married to August Wilhelm Schlegel and to Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling, she knew and befriended many great personalities of her time. The libretto emphasizes both Caroline’s remarkable self-confidence - unusual for a woman of her time - as well as her fears and anguishes in a politically turbulent era. (Weimar National Theater)