Music Theatre since 1990 - Schott Music

Synopsis
Wilhelm Busch, the German caricaturist, painter and poet wrote his satirical short story Geigenseppel
around 1860 in Munich. At the country fair, the the playful and inebriated Geigenseppel
indulges in a drunken reverie: he is a famous violinist, and his accompanist is none other than
Franz Liszt. He plays with great success in front of the society ladies, and he is not only rewarded
with pure gold but has a rendezvous with a society belle.
When he awakes the next morning, his beautiful illusion turns into a nightmare: instead of his
violin, he holds a horse’s hoof and a dead cat in his hands. Even worse: his beautiful date turns
out to be a very old woman, who proceeds to remind him of his lover’s oath. The Geigenseppel
opts for a fast getaway.
Der Geigenseppel
04.06.2000 Deutscher Pavillon, EXPO Hannover
This opera is a fabulous burlesque, larded with motives of the literary Romantic period, coloured
with Busch’s unmistakable picaresque tone, complete with a final philosophizing addressed to the
whole of mankind. [...]: Where there is such a god-pleasing tradition, you aren’t allowed to break
in like a rude exponent of the New Music. Well, you didn’t exactly expect this of the Bavarian
composer Wilfried Hiller. His music is entertaining, sometimes ironic and fanciful.
(Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, 05.06.2000)
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