Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Act 4

• Year of composition: 1945
• Work category: Opera
• Text author: Natanael Berg after the tragedy 'Genoveva' (1843) by Friedrich Hebbel (1813-1863). German translation by Fritz Tutenberg (1902-1967)
  
• First performed: 25 October, 1947 at the Kungliga Teatern [Royal Theatre/Opera]
  Erik Sundquist (Greve Siegfried [Count Siegfried]), Lilly Furlin (Genoveva), Gösta Björling (Golo), Georg Svedenbrant (Balthasar), Anders Näslund (Drago), Leon Björker (Kaspar), Folke Jonsson (Hans), Gunnar Källsing (Klaus), Hugo Hasslo (En målare [A Painter]), Margareta Bergström (Katarina, Golos amma [Golo’s Wet nurse]), Göta Allard (Margareta, hennes syster [Her Sister]), Åke Collett (Eugen), Mariane Orlando (Smärterik, Genovevas son [Genoveva’s son]), Sven-Erik Jacobsson (En hövitsman [A General]).
  Kungliga Hovkapellet [the Orchestra of the Royal Opera]. Members of the Kungliga Baletten [The Royal Swedish Ballet]. Conductor: Herbert Sandberg
• Duration: Approx. 120-180 min
• Detailed duration: 2 hours 50 minutes ((according to the programme from the premiere; probably including interval/-s)

Instrumentation

3*.3*.3*.3*. / 4.2.3.1 / timp, perc / str
picc, cor angl, bass clar, dbn

Solo voices/choir

Solo voices: 1 soprano (Genoveva), 1 boy or girl soprano (Smärterik, 7 years old), 2 mezzo-sopranos (Katarina, Margareta), 1 tenor (Golo), 5 baritones (Siegfried, Balthasar, Drago, The Painter, Eugen), 4 basses (Kaspar, Hans, Klaus, A General)
Female choir, S.A.
Male choir, T.T.B.B. (Soldiers, Hunting party)

Examples of printed editions

The libretto is available at Musik- och teaterbiblioteket, location mark C 9524:3 (online catalogue)

Location for score and part material

Score, piano reduction, and parts are available at Stim/Svensk musik

• Location autograph: Musik- och teaterbiblioteket
• Possible call no. and autograph comment: Score and piano reduction in autograph can ba found in the Natanael Berg deposition

Literature

Ralf, Klas: Kungliga teatern. Repertoar 1773-1973 [The Royal Theatre/Opera. Repertoire 1773-1973; in Swedish, only]. Stockholm (1974)

Description of work

Act 1
Sal i greve Siegfrieds slott, Pfalz. 700-talet [A great hall in Count Siegfried’s castle, The Palatinate (Pfalz). 8th Century].
Första tablån [First scene]. Siegfried, hövitsmännen [The Generals], Golo, Genoveva, Drago
Andra tablån [Second scene]. Kaspar, Balthasar, Golo, Katarina, Margareta, Genoveva, Drago, pagen [The Page], målaren [The Painter]

Act 2
Tjänstefolkets sal i slottets bottenvåning [The hall of the servants on the ground floor of the castle]
Första tablån [First scene]. Katarina, Golo, Margareta, Drago, Kaspar, Balthasar
Mellanspel [Interlude]
Andra tablån [Second scene]. Genovevas sovgemak [Genoveva’s bedchamber]. Genoveva, Margareta, Balthasar, Kaspar, Drago

Act 3
Siegfrieds läger vid skogskanten [Siegfried’s military camp on the edge of the forest]
Första tablån [First scene]. Förste hövitsmannen, andre hövitsmannen, Siegfried, budbäraren, soldater, Golo [First General, Second General, Siegfried, The Messenger, Soldiers]
Andra tablån [Second scene]. I skogen [In the forest]. Hans, Balthasar, Klaus, Genoveva, Margareta, Golo, en slottstjänare [A Castle Servant]

Act 4
I Siegfrids slott [Inside Siegfried’s castle].
Första tablån [First scene]. Eugen, Balthasar, Siegfried, Margareta
Andra tablån [Second scene]. Vid en grotta i skogen [At a cave in the forest]. Genoveva, Smärterik, två jägare [Two Hunters], Siegfried, Eugen, Kaspar, jaktfolk [Hunting party]

Links

Score example (10 pages) available at Stim/Svensk musik

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Libretto/text