Feuersnot

Feuersnot (Need for (or lack of) fire), Op. 50, is a Singgedicht (sung poem) or opera in one act by Richard Strauss. The German libretto was written by Ernst von Wolzogen, based on J. Ketel's report "Das erloschene Feuer zu Audenaerde". It was Strauss' second opera.

Thematically, the opera has been interpreted as a parody of Richard Wagner's idea of "redemption through love", with the character of Kunrad representing Strauss himself. The conceptual framework for the opera stems from the Nietzschean perspective that had inspired Strauss in his tone poems Till Eulenspiegel and Also sprach Zarathustra. Strauss and von Wolzogen shared the view that the source of inspiration was material not transcendental: in Feuersnot it is "redemption through sex" which relights the creative fire.

The librettist for the opera was Ernst von Wolzogen, who in 1901 founded the Überbrettl venue (German for "overcabaret, super-cabaret"), the start of the German Kabarett movement which was later to blossom in the Weimar Republic. The mood matched Strauss's desire for something irreverent and cynical, with much word-play (including the names of Wagner and Strauss), and a children's chorus singing “stanzas of quasi folk-song in broad dialect”.

What struck the contemporary audiences most was the bawdiness and innuendo. There was much pressure on the composer to tone it down, but Strauss and the conductor of the premiere in Dresden, Ernst von Schuch, stuck to the original. At this time, the sexual and erotic subtexts and psychology were disturbing to audiences, as well as the perceived "advanced" nature of the music itself to more conservative-minded musicians.

The premiere at the Dresden Court Opera on 21 November 1901 was a great success: Gustav and Alma Mahler attended and she recalls in her diary that Strauss was elated “after endless curtains”. The success in Dresden led to Feuersnot being staged in many theaters across Germany, including a performance in Frankfurt conducted by Strauss himself. Mounting the opera in Vienna proved more problematic for Gustav Mahler because of the need to satisfy the uncooperative censor. Mahler wrote to Strauss in mid 1901: “Concerning Fueuresnot, the censor seems, horrible dictum, to be making difficulties, since the work has not yet been passed, so that I am not in a position to send the contracts to Fuerstner. I fear you may have to accept changes....Alas, there is no placating these powers”.

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Wikipedia