Fairy tales often contain hidden psychological truths; all three of Bartók’s stage works – an opera and two ballets – contain, beneath their narrative surface, an examination of the human psyche.
The opera, entitled A kékszakállú herceg vára [Duke Bluebeard’s Castle], with a libretto based on Charles Perrault’s story by the poet and film critic, Béla Balázs, was written in 1911 (with revisions in 1912 and 1917). It’s a remarkable Symbolist work with a spoken prologue, just two singers, a single stage set (with seven doors), and one act.
Balázs was also responsible for the story-line of the ballet/pantomime A fából faragott királyfi [The Wooden Prince]. and is the only one of the three that features the traditional princesses, fairies and princes.
Bartók’s third theatrical work, another ballet/pantomime, was this time based on a modern, urban tale of thugs, seduction, murder and the supernatural described as a “pantomime grotesque” by its author, the screen writer Melchior Lengyel – it’s entitled A csodálatos mandarin [The Miraculous Mandarin]
1:00 Prologue
2:35 “See this is Bluebeard’s Castle”
6:05 “So this is Bluebeard’s Castle. No windows? No daylight?”
9:41 “Why did you come with me?”
11:54 “I see seven dark doorways”
16:31 1st Door – The Torture Chamber
19:56 “The dark foundations of my castle tremble…”
20:48 2nd Door – The Armory
23:18 ” The dark foundations of my castle tremble…”
24:35 “Why are you waiting? Why not open it?”
24:53 3rd Door – The Treasury
27:13 4th Door – The Garden
32:00 5th Door – The Duke’s Land
36:19 “Look how my castle shines”
37:41 “I will not have any doors closed to me”
38:35 “I will give you just one more key”
39:19 6th Door – The Lake of Tears
43:31 “Come, Judith”
44:05 “I will not open the seventh door.”
48:37 “I know, Bluebeard, what is hidden behind the seventh door.”
52:38 7th Door
55:40 Dawn, Noon and Evening
57:28 Night
59:45 “And now it will always be night.”
… and here are links to the two ballets/pantomimes. A ‘classical dance’ version of The Wooden Prince and a modern take on The Miraculous Mandarin:
Wooden Prince
Miraculous Mandarin
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The Art of Listening 