© Karin Rocholl
Clara S. Musical Tragedy
(Clara S. Musikalische Tragödie)
4F / 2M
The anachronistic gathering of three historical figures – Clara and Robert Schumann meet the Italian poet laureate and national hero, Gabriele d’Annunzio in his villa in the year 1929. The dominating theme is the tense relationship between art and money, which applies to Clara most of all. Up until her marriage, she was a famous pianist and composer. Since then, she has taken on the role of self-sacrificing artist’s wife – entirely to serve Robert’s career. Jelinek confronts and comments on the man’s “deluded search” for “or-ig-in-al-i-ty” through her own writing style. Figures appear as “representatives of speech” rather than characters and move within a mesh of strange voices. “Clara S.” dismantles the cult of the genius and illustrates how impossible it is for women to realize their creative potential within the art business.
World premiere
24.9.1982 Bühnen der Stadt Bonn (Director: Hans Hollmann)
Translations
CzechTschechische World premiere: 17.12.2004 Prazske komorni divadlo, Prague (Translator: Barbora Schnelle, Director: Tomas Svoboda)
Bulgarian: Klára S. hudební tragédie
Finnish (Translator: Jukka-Pekka Pajunen)
French (Translator: Dominique Petit)
Polish (Translator: Slawa Lisiecka)
Romanian
Rumänische World premiere: 22.04.2007 Theater Ioan Slavici, Arad (Translator: Dan Stoica, Director: Dan Stoica)
Russian
Spanish (Translator: Miguel Saenz)
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