Dornröschen

Dornröschen (Sleeping Beauty) is a 1902 opera by Engelbert Humperdinck. The libretto, based on the story of Sleeping Beauty, was by fairy tale writer Elisabeth Ebeling^[1] and Bertha Lehrmann-Filhés, mother of Rudolf Lehmann-Filhés, with a dialogue version by Ralf Eger who worked on Franz Lehár's operettas such as Der Zarewitsch.

Premiere

Dornröschen premiered on 11 December 1902 at the Stadttheater in Frankfurt-am-Main, with Humperdinck conducting.^[2]

Principal roles with premiere cast members:

Role	Premiere cast
Dornröschen	Hedwig Schacko
Dämonia	Pelagie Greef-Andriessen
Prince Reinhold	Heinrich Hensel
Kellrmeister	Alfred Hauck
Tellermeister	Hermann Schramm
Patin	Beatrix Kernic

Recordings

Complete opera

• Dornröschen – Brigitte Fassbaender (speaking role, Dämonia, the wicked fairy), Christina Landshamer (Rosa, Queen of the fairies), Kristiane Kaiser (Sleeping Beauty), Tobias Haaks (Reinhold), Stephanie Hampl (Morphina), Anna Borchers (Quecksilber), Miriam Clark (the Sun), Brigitte Bayer (a forget-me-not), Guibee Yang (a rose), Wolfgang Klose (Vogt of the Ancestral Castle), Jerzy May (Ringold), Barbara Malisch (Armgart). Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Muenchner Rundfunkorchester; Ulf Schirmer, conductor. CPO, 2011.

Incidental music

• Märchenmusiken = Fairy-tale music - Hänsel und Gretel. Ouvertüre = Overture—Der blaue Vogel = The Blue Bird. Vorspiel : Der Weihnachtstraum = The Christmas Dream; Sternenreigen -- Königskinder = The King's Children. Konzertouvertüre = Concert Overture; Einleitung zum 2. Akt = Act II: Introduction : Hellafest und Kinderreigen; Einleitung zum 3. Akt. = Act II: Introduction : Verdorben-Gestorben! -- Dornröschen. Vorspiel = Prelude; Ballade; Irrfahrten = Wanderings; Dornenschloss = The Thorn Castle; Festklänge = Festival Sounds. Bamberger Symphoniker; Karl Anton Rickenbacher, conductor. Virgin Classics, 1992.

References

1. Jarvis, Shawn C.; Blackwell, Jeannine (2001). The Queen's Mirror: Fairy Tales by German Women, 1780–1900. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 241. ISBN 0-8032-1299-2. Elisabeth Ebeling was an extremely prolific writer of fairy tale literature, including plays, novellas, poems, and anthologies. Little is known about her life: the daughter of a merchant family, she traveled extensively in Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, and ...
2. Parsons, Charles H. (1992). Mellen Opera Reference Index, Volume 13: Opera Premieres: An Index of Casts: A - L. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. p. 604. ISBN 0-88946-412-X.