A kékszakállú herceg vára. Opera 1 felvonásban. (Bluebeard’s Castle)
Budapest: Globus, 1918. First edition. In original paper. 32 pp.
First separate edition of the libretto of Bartók’s only opera, apparently printed for its world premiere at the Royal Hungarian Opera House in Budapest on 24 May 1918.
Balázs wrote A kékszakállú herceg vára in 1910 as a Symbolist mystery play based on the Bluebeard legend, drawing on the tradition of Perrault and Maeterlinck as well as Hungarian folk-ballad forms. Bartók set the text to music in 1911, but the opera remained unperformed for seven years. Following the success of The Wooden Prince, it was finally staged at the Royal Hungarian Opera House on 24 May 1918, conducted by Egisto Tango, with Oszkár Kálmán as Bluebeard and Olga Haselbeck as Judith.
The present edition, printed by Globus in 1918, is the first separate edition of Balázs’s text. Apparently produced in connection with the premiere, it identifies the work explicitly as an opera and, significantly, names both Balázs and Bartók on the title-page, documenting the text in the form in which Bartók’s opera first reached the stage.
First separate edition. In the publisher’s printed blue paper wrappers. A few underlinings and a contemporary pencil note at the end. Corners bumped. Otherwise in very good condition.
Price: €1,000.00