Der Corregidor

Der Corregidor is a comic opera by Hugo Wolf. The German libretto was written by Rosa Mayreder-Obermayer, based on the short novel El sombrero de tres picos (The three-cornered Hat) by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón.

Wolf composed the opera in 1895 and revised it in 1897. The score is published by C.F. Peters.

The opera was first performed at the Nationaltheater Mannheim on 7 June 1896, under the baton of Hugo Röhr.

Scene 1: Tio Lukas is picking grapes and preparing his millyard for the arrival of an unnamed Bishop and conversing with a neighbor. The neighbor taunts Lukas, saying that the only reason people show him any favor is because he has such a pretty wife. Lukas shrugs off the comment. The neighbor leaves, and Lukas climbs up into an arbor to continue his preparations.

Scene 2: Frasquita enters the yard and sets the table while singing to herself. Lukas surprises her from the arbor and teases her about the affections of the Corregidor, magistrate of the province in which they live. Lukas spies the Corregidor approaching with Repela, his servant, and goes back into hiding in order to spy on the old man’s conversation.

Scene 3: Repela enters, taking a pinch of snuff and sneezing violently. Frasquita tells him that Lukas is asleep, which Repela is interested to know. He runs off to tell his master that Frasquita is apparently alone.

Scene 4: The Corregidor approaches Frasquita, who flirts with him and dances a fandango. He is afraid that her dancing might wake Lukas. She threatens to wake Lukas (with the song "In dem Schatten meiner Locken" from the Spanisches Liederbuch), but relents when the Corregidor urges her not to. The Corregidor is so taken by Frasquita that he is dumbstruck for a moment. He begins to woo her, and she seizes the opportunity to press for a favor she has obviously already requested many times: the appointment of her nephew as court notary in the nearby town of Estella. The Corregidor refuses, and his advances become ever more ardent. In his passion, he loses his balance and crashes to the ground. Lukas takes this cue to reveal himself. The couple ridicules the old man, who, realizing that Lukas has heard the entire exchange, childishly vows his revenge. Frasquita offers him some grapes in order to placate him, but he hesitates.

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