Singspiel in 2 acts
Text by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie d.J.
First performed July 11 1786, Burgtheater, Vienna
Sung in German with German surtitles
Introductory talks (in German) begin in the Bockenheimer Depot 30 mins before curtain up and will appear here shortly after opening night
There's a chamber music concert at 11am on March 23 inspired by this work.
Conductor Alden Gatt / Lukas Rommelspacher
Dr Krautmann Thomas Faulkner
Stössel, the Pharmacist Božidar Smiljanić
Claudia, his Wife Kelsey Lauritano
Leonore Elizabeth Reiter
Rosalie Lubov Karetnikova
Gotthold Michael Porter
Sichel Andrew Bidlack
Captain Sturmwald Peter Marsh
Krähahn (crowing cock), a Comedian Sakhiwe Mkosana°
°Member of the Opera Studio
Doctor Krautmann and Stössel, the pharmacist, are deadly enemies. That their children have fallen in love, doesn’t help matters at all ...
These fathers are German counterparts to Cimarosa and Rossini’s funny old men, who steal the show with wit and situation comedy. Even more so than Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Dittersdorf’s Doctor and Pharmacist marks an important turning point in the history in German opera-cum-plays. It resulted in three further commissions for von Dittersdorf, who’s all but forgotten today. This composer, violin virtuoso and contemporary of Mozart was internationally admired, not just in Viennese circles. He combined elements of north German Singspiel in his works with the tradition, wit and vocal virtuosity of Italian opera seria and buffa. He composed light-hearted music which, married to his hearty sense of humour, went down well with audiences. This, his best known work, was commissioned by the Emperor and the manager of the Burgtheater in Vienna, the librettist Johann Gottlieb Stephanie.
