Composer Alexander von Zemlinsky | ||
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Similar Die großmütige Tomyris, Der geliebte Adonis, Der König Kandaules, Eine florentinische Tragödie, Die Rose vom Liebesgarten | ||
Der Kreidekreis (Op. 21) is an opera in three acts by Alexander von Zemlinsky to a libretto by the composer after the play Der Kreidekreis by Klabund – a telling of the Chalk Circle story. The opera was written during 1930-31 and premiered on 14 October 1933 in the Zürich Opera House. Among the singers were Artūrs Cavara, Maria Madlen Madsen Maria Bernhard-Ulbrich; Fred Destal, Georg Oeggl and Peter Klein; it was directed by Karl Schmid-Bloß and the stage design was by Roman Clemens.
It was planned to premiere the work simultaneously on four German stages: Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, and Nuremberg. Because of Zemlinsky's Jewish ancestry, this became impossible when the Nazis came to power early in 1933. Nevertheless, the work was performed in January 1934 in Stettin, Coburg, Berlin and Nuremberg, and in Graz in February due to the temporary lifting of certain restrictions. The work was also performed in Prague and Bratislava.
Zürich Opera revived the opera in 2003.