Der Diktator | |
---|---|
Opera by Ernst Krenek | |
Librettist | Krenek |
Language | German |
Based on | Benito Mussolini |
Premiere | 6 May 1928 |
Der Diktator (The Dictator) is a tragic opera in one act with words and music by Ernst Krenek, his Op. 49 and the first of three one-acters (with Das geheime Königreich and Schwergewicht, oder Die Ehre der Nation) which premiered on 6 May 1928 at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden as part of the Festspiele Wiesbaden.[1] The score is inscribed with the date of completion, 28 August 1926.
The title character is loosely based on Benito Mussolini, although the story is not deliberately political; Krenek later described it as "an anecdote from the private life of the 'strong man'.[2] "Only from the irrational does he retreat, not so much out of fear but because he can do nothing with it, he cannot dominate it."[3]
The music is Puccinian in idiom, particularly in its use of the voice, and makes extensive use of leitmotives such as the alternating minor third triplet first heard in the bass as the war telegram is mentioned, which becomes the sole accompaniment to the officer's narrative.