Neues vom Tage (English: News of the Day) is a comic opera (Lustige Oper) in three parts by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer.
The opera is a satire of modern life, celebrity and marriage, involving parodies of both Puccini's music and Berlin Kabarett. The opera became notorious for a scene with a naked soprano (Laura) singing in the bath about the wonders of modern plumbing, though Hindemith replaced her with the tenor (Hermann) in the revised version.
The on-stage nudity particularly aroused the ire of Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstängel, Hitler’s musical advisor, and was later indirectly cited by Joseph Goebbels as evidence that the "degenerate art" of "cultural bolshevist" composers should be excluded from Germany.Geissmar, Bertha: Two Worlds of Music, Creative Age Press, New York 1946.
Performance history Neues vom Tage was first performed on 8 June 1929, at the Kroll Opera House, Berlin, under the musical direction of Otto Klemperer. Hindemith revised the opera, changing the text and adding a little new music, for the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, on 7 April 1954. The premiere of the work in the United States was at the Santa Fe Opera in 1961.
Roles +RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 8 June 1929Georg Quander (Ed): 250 Jahre Operhaus Unter den Linden. Propyläen, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-549-05209-X, p. 422(Conductor: Otto Klemperer)Revised version, 7 April 1954(Conductor: Paul Hindemith)LaurasopranoGrete StückgoldMercedes FortunatiEduard, Laura's husbandbaritoneFritz KrennGiuseppe ValdengoHermann, a professional co-respondenttenorErik WirlGino SinimberghiHerr M.tenorArtur CavaraAlessandro PellegriniFrau M.mezzo-sopranoSabine KalterAdamoBaron d'Houdoux, an entrepreneurbassnot in this versionGiuseppe ModestiFrau Pick, a newspaper reportercontraltonot in this versionMyriam PirazziniUlibassnot in this versionCoriolano JorioHotel directorbassDezső ErnsterGerardo GaudiosiRoom maidsopranoDolly LorenzGuidebassOtto FreundPlinio ClabassiHead waitertenorAlfred BartolitiusRegistrarbassHeinrich SchultzGiovanni AmodeoFirst managertenorBernhard BötelNino AdamiSecond managertenorAlbert PetersSilvio SantarelliThird managertenorIso GollandGianni AvolantiFourth managertenorWalter BeckPiero De PalmaFifth managerbassOscar KalmanAldo TerrosiSixth managerbassDenzsö Ernster
Recordings Hindemith: Neues vom Tage – WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln Conductor: Jan Latham-Koenig Principal singers: Elisabeth Werres (Laura), Claudio Nicolai, (Eduard), Ronald Pries (Hermann) / Horst Hiestermann (Herr M), Martina Borst (Frau M), Oscar Garcia de Gracia (Hotel director), Arwed Sandner (registrar) / Celso Antunes (1st manager; head waiter), Wolf Geuer (2nd manager), Thomas Donecker (3rd manager), Christoph Scheeben (4th manager; guide), Dieter Gillessen (5th manager), Heribert Feckler: bass (6th manager), Sabine Bitter (room maid) Recording date: 1987 Label: WERGO – 28 61922 (CD)
References Notes
Sources
Skelton, Geoffrey (1992). "Neues vom Tage" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie, London: Macmillan Reference Hindemith, Paul (2003). Neues vom Tage. Lustige Oper in drei Teilen (Sämtliche Werke I,7-1) ed. Giselher Schubert, Mainz: Schott Musik International
External links
Page about the Aachen production in 2000