- Das Herz (The Heart) premiered in Berlin and Munich in 1931. It was Pfitzner’s last opera.1
- Story: in Das Herz, a magician performs a spell to resurrect a Duke’s son for a year in return for a human heart. To his horror, he discovers that the heart taken by the spell turns out to be that of his wife. The rest of the opera explores the magician’s imprisonment for sorcery and search for redemption.2
- The dark mood of this opera was influenced by Pfitzner’s grief over the loss of his wife in 1926.3
Sources
- Peter Franklin, “Pfitzner, Hans,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed November 19, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000021537.
- Peter Franklin, “Herz, Das,” Grove Music Online (2002), accessed December 11, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000902188.
- Peter Franklin, “Pfitzner, Hans,” Grove Music Online.
Cut IDs
41233