Der Stier von Olivera

Libretto by Richard Batka after Heinrich Lilienfein (G)

2S,M,4T,4Bar,4B,speaking role; chorus
3(III=picc).2.corA.3(III=bcl).3-4.3.3.1-timp.perc-2harps-cel-strings

Spain, around 1800

The French general Guillaume and his officers are billeted in the castle of Olivera. The lord of the castle, Marqués de Barrios, is determined to kill the hated occupiers and tries to make them feel secure by his obliging behaviour. Before he can carry out his plan, however, he has to calm the people. The French have commited the sacrilege of killing the bull that had been selected for the corrida. At the last moment, the conspiracy is discovered. Barrios and his family are to be executed by order of the merciless general. When Juana, the Marqués’ beautiful and proud daughter, asks for mercy for her young brother, Guillaume agrees under the condition that she will become his wife. She quickly realizes the power she has over the malformed Frenchman and, driven by hate and thirst for revenge, starts a cynical and dangerous game, cuckolding the general who is suffering because of his ugliness. Again and again Guillaume forgives her. Only when she tries to persuade him to betray the French emperor, who is in the immediate vicinity of the castle at the time, does he realize his blindness, and he stabs her to death. Napoleon arrives to judge Guillaume who is suspected of high treason because of his marriage to a Spanish woman. However, he pardons him in view of the corpse of Juana. When the emperor’s retreat is in danger, Guillaume sacrifices himself. He leaves his own carriage to Napoleon and takes the emperor’s one to head right for the rebels who are waiting in ambush.

Dramatic, Poetic, Romantic, Tragic