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Friedrich Der Grosse: an Opera

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Friedrich Der Grosse: an Opera Friedrich der Grosse: An Opera SYNOPSIS BY APRIL LINDNER WITH DAVID R. SORENSEN Based on Thomas Carlyle’s History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great (1858–65) PROEM Excerpts from Frederick II’s Mollwitz March in F Major for winds and percussion can be heard, as a series of alternating hologram images are displayed on stage, showing the Adolph Menzel’s paintings Die Tafelrunde and Flötenkonzert Friedrich des Großen in Sanssouci; Christian Daniel Rauch’s equestrian statue of the King in Unter den Linden; the Prussian iron cross; Bismarck dressed in Prussian military regalia; Kaiser Wilhelm II inspecting troops; Hitler and Hindenburg shaking hands in front of the German Garrison Church in Potsdam; an image of Hitler’s bunker and a quote from Himmler relating Hitler’s reading of Carlyle’s Frederick the Great during his last days; an image of the palace of Frederick being dynamited and the statue of Frederick by Rauch being removed; the burial of Hohenzollern statues in the Bellevue gardens, 1954. In conjunction with the music and images, the voice of Winston Churchill can be heard addressing the House of Commons, 21 September 1943: “The core of Germany is Prussia. There is the source of the recurring pestilence. But we do not war with races as such. We war against tyranny, and we seek to preserve ourselves from destruction. I am convinced that the British, American, and Russian peoples who have suffered measureless waste, peril, and bloodshed twice in a quarter of CSA 30 2014 12 CARLYLE STUDIES ANNUAL a century, through the Teutonic urge for domination, will this time take steps to put it beyond the power of Prussia or of all Germany to come at them again with pent-up vengeance and long-nurtured plans. Nazi tyranny and Prussian militarism are the two main elements in German life which must be absolutely destroyed. They must be absolutely rooted out if Europe and the world are to be spared a third and still more frightful conflict. The controversies about whether Burke was right or wrong when he said, ‘I do not know the method of drawing up an indictment against a whole people,’ these controversies seem to me at the present time to be sterile and academic. Here are two obvious and practical targets for us to fire at—Nazi tyranny and Prussian militarism. Let us aim every gun and let us set every man who will march in motion against them. We must not add needlessly to the weight of our task or the burden that our soldiers bear. Satellite States, suborned or overawed, may perhaps, if they can help to shorten the war, be allowed to work their passage home. But the twin roots of all our evils, Nazi tyranny and Prussian militarism, must be extirpated. Until this is achieved there are no sacrifices that we will not make and no lengths in violence to which we will not go.” ACT I, SCENE I The Palace at Berlin The scene opens in King Friedrich Wilhelm’s “Tobacco Parliament,” a dingy and smoke-infested chamber, with beer steins and pipes covering the table. A heated discussion is underway among the monarch and his advisers about the disgraceful behavior of the Crown-Prince. The royal advisors Grumkow and Seckerdorf, who are also Austrian spies, try to placate the King, who rages about his son’s effeminate ways, his flute-playing, and his passion for French poetry and literature. Friedrich Wilhelm becomes increasingly gloomy as he contemplates the future of Prussia in the hands of his feckless son. The Crown Prince shows no interest in military or political matters, but instead dabbles in art, music, and dancing. The King bemoans Frederick’s contempt for “barbaric” Prussia, and complains loudly about the various political and diplomatic humiliations that the country has APRIL LINDNER WITH DAVID R. SORENSEN 13 suffered at the hands of France, Austria, and England. Without leadership and discipline, the King asserts, Prussia is doomed to extinction. He then refers to the double marriage plot that his wife has been trying to arrange between England and Prussia. He contemptuously rejects any treaties with his brother-in-law, George II of England, recalling with disgust the scorn and conde- scension meted out to him by the king’s ambassador. In a drunken tirade, he imitates the refined manners of the English court, and concludes by spitting on the floor. Friedrich Wilhelm seems about to fall into one of his fits of hypochondria, and talks of abdication and retirement. Such talk alarms Grumkow and Seckerdorf, who fear that the Queen’s plan to align Prussia with England will succeed, thereby upsetting the balance of power in Europe and weakening both Austria and France. Friedrich Wilhelm confides he has been worried about reports that his son has been dallying with an unsuitable young Countess who likes to dress in men’s clothing. In an aside, Grumkow speculates that the Prince’s interest in women is the least of the King’s worries. The two advisors suggest that the King pay more attention to his son’s dissolute young friends, especially a lieutenant named Katte. They reiterate their opposition to the double-marriage scheme—an alliance with England will only encourage Frederick’s foppish tendencies—and urge Friedrich Wilhelm to prohibit the Queen from any further negotiations with the British royal family. SCENE II Outside the Walls of the Palace The eighteen-year-old Crown Prince greets Lieutenant Katte; the two are laughing and chatting amicably. They begin to mock Friedrich Wilhelm’s character and to imitate his mannerisms; there are signs of tenderness and affection between them as they engage in a duet. The two are interrupted by the arrival of Frederick’s mother. She lectures him about how he should ignore his father’s injunctions and aspire to a life of culture and refinement. She explains the double-marriage scheme and how important it is to her—it provides them both with a means to negate the influence of the brutish and boorish King and the Prussian military establishment. She promises Frederick that together, they will re-establish Berlin as the center of European 14 CARLYLE STUDIES ANNUAL artistic and cultural life, where figures such as Voltaire, Maupertuis, and Bach will congregate and where the life of the mind will reign supreme. She exhorts her son to write a letter to Princess Amelia of England, and to propose marriage to her. The Crown Prince refuses to agree and the Queen exits. Privately, he longs to escape Berlin with Katte and his sister, and to live only for art, music, and pleasure. But Frederick’s sister Wilhelmina is worried. She carries with her a letter of her own—from the Duke of Gloucester, who is in love with her. She does not love him yet, but she longs for security and respect. In an aria Wilhelmina is torn between her love of her brother and her desire to be an obedient daughter. She worries that she and Frederick will be flogged if Friedrich Wilhelm discovers that they have been arranging alliances with Britain behind his back. She fears her father’s violence, and cautions Frederick against antagonizing the King by his impulsive and capricious behavior. Frederick expresses contempt for his father and Prussia’s militaristic culture. His only desires are to compose and to play music with his music instructor Quantz and his friend Katte, to read French literature, to dress in beautiful clothes, and to sing duets with his sister. He dreams of a court in which he and Wilhelmina are free to behave as they wish. He is bitter that at age fourteen he was forced to leave school, to have his locks shorn, and to join the Army. Wilhelmina cautions him, and tries to persuade him that he should at least convey the impression of being interested in “manly” pursuits, so that their father will cease his violent ways. She warns Frederick that he and Katte are being watched by Grumkow and Seckerdorf, and that the friendship has angered the King. They quarrel. Frederick is hurt because he thinks of her as the only person in the world who is really on his side. She is sorry and begs his forgiveness. He gives it readily. Wilhelmina exits. Frederick decides that he will comply with his mother’s wishes and propose marriage to Princess Amelia. But his secret hope is that this union will enable him to leave Berlin forever, and to live in England with Katte and his sister. APRIL LINDNER WITH DAVID R. SORENSEN 15 SCENE III Friedrich Wilhelm’s Chambers The King enters, in a sour humor. The Queen unwisely mentions the double-marriage scheme and reveals that Frederick has written to Princess Amelia. This news infuriates the King, who starts chasing his son with a walking stick, threatening to beat him. When Frederick evades him, he hits Wilhelmina and knocks her down on the floor. When she recovers from the blow, Wilhelmina advises her brother to apologize for both their sakes. Frederick reluctantly approaches his father and pleads for forgiveness. The King responds that Frederick must not really love him because if he did, then he would mend his ways and begin behaving as a true Prussian soldier. The King refuses Frederick’s apology and vows that he will bend the Crown Prince to his will. The King exits. Left alone, Frederick rips the Prussian Iron Cross from his tunic, hurls it on the ground, and pledges to live only for beauty, art, love, and companionship: he then tears up the letter to Amelia, and promises to remain faithful to Wilhelmina and Katte.
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