Der Zwerg (The Dwarf)

A party is thrown to celebrate the birthday of the 18-year-old Crown Princess. A Sultan has sent her a dwarf as a present – a creature endowed with a sensitive heart, yet doomed to nothing but providing entertainment. Never having seen his image in a mirror, the dwarf is not aware of his physical deformity and inhabits the illusory world of innocent self-confidence. Infatuated by the Infanta’s beauty, he falls in love with her and naively dreams of becoming her brave champion. The girl, however, merely only toys with the dwarf and gifts him a white rose – a symbol of purity and false hope. When the dwarf gets to see his reflection in a mirror for the first time, he is appalled, whereupon his delusional universe comes tumbling down. Heartbroken and clutching the white rose, he dies, while the Infanta’s party continues indifferently. The story lays bare the cruelty of the world of power and beauty, and the tragic discrepancy between the inner human value and outer semblance.

Zemlinsky composed Der Zwerg during his tenure at the Neues deutsches Theater (NDT) in Prague, where from 1911 to 1927 he served as director of the opera company. The work received its world premiere in May 1922 in Cologne, while the NDT only staged it four years later.

The opera was then revived in Prague almost 80 years later, in March 1992, when it was presented by Hilary Griffiths alongside another well-known Zemlinsky one-acter, Eine florentinische Tragödie. The new production of Der Zwerg has been undertaken by Ersan Mondtag, a major German director, renowned for his visually riveting sceneries, as well as the Music Director of the State Opera, the conductor Hermann Bäumer. Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

Co-production with the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen