König Hirsch

König Hirsch Il re cervo
Opera by Hans Werner Henze
The composer in 1960
Librettist	de
Language	German
Based on	fable by Carlo Gozzi
Premiere	23 September 1956 (1956-09-23) Theater des Westens, Berlin

König Hirsch (in English, The Stag King) is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by de after a fable by Carlo Gozzi.

Performance history

König Hirsch was first performed in a shortened version by the Städtische Oper Berlin on 23 September 1956 in the Theater des Westens. It was rewritten as Il re cervo, oder Die Irrfahrten der Wahrheit (The Stag King or The Odysseys of Truth) and performed at the Staatstheater Kassel on 10 March 1963. This version was also produced at the Santa Fe Opera on 4 August 1965. The complete work was given for the first time on 5 May 1985 at the Staatsoper Stuttgart.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 23 September 1956 (Conductor: Hermann Scherchen)
The king (Leandro)	tenor	Sándor Kónya
The governor (Tartaglia)	bass-baritone	Leopold Clam
The maiden (Costanza)	soprano	Helga Pilarczyk
The preceptor	bass	Tomislav Neralic
Checco	tenor	Helmut Krebs
Coltellino	tenor	Martin Vantin
Scollatella I	soprano	Nora Jungwirth
Scollatella II	soprano
Scollatella III	mezzo-soprano
Scollatella IV	contralto
Woman in black	contralto
Statue I	soprano
Statue II	soprano
The stag	mime
Voices in the forest, courtiers, animals, huntsmen, soldiers, city dwellers (chorus)

Synopsis

The king, who has been cast into the forest as a child by the governor, returns to his kingdom. However he is tricked by the governor and forced to go back to the forest where he turns into a stag. Eventually he goes back once again, the governor is killed, and he is transformed again into human form.

Instrumentation

• woodwinds: 3 flutes (3rd doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon
• Brass: 4 horns, 3 trumpets (3rd doubling on piccolo trumpet in C [ad lib.]), 2 trombones, tuba
• percussion (7 players): triangle, tubular bells, suspended cymbals, pair of cymbals, tamtam, 3 tom-toms, tambourine, snare drum, military drum, bass drum (with or without cymbals), claves, maracas, legno, Gegenschlagstöcke, rumba bells, glockenspiel, xylophone
• Other: harp, piano, celesta, organ (ad lib.), harpsichord, accordion, guitar, mandolin
• On-stage Band: flute, clarinet, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, percussion: triangle, small bells, tubular bells, suspended cymbals, pair of cymbals, tambourine, 2 snare drums, military drum, bass drum, glockenspiel, vibraphone, mandolin, celesta, organ, violin

References

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "König Hirsch, 23 September 1956". Almanacco Amadeus (Italian).
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5