Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund

LibrettistBoris Blacher

LanguageGerman

Based onWitold Gombrowicz's 1935 play Iwona, księżniczka Burgunda

Premiere

15 September 1973 (1973-09-15)

Opernhaus Wuppertal

Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund
Opera by Boris Blacher
Boris Blacher, the opera's composer photographed in 1922
Librettist	Boris Blacher
Language	German
Based on	Witold Gombrowicz's 1935 play Iwona, księżniczka Burgunda
Premiere	15 September 1973 (1973-09-15) Opernhaus Wuppertal

Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund (Yvonne, Princess of Burgundy) is an opera in four acts composed by Boris Blacher to a German-language libretto by the composer based on Witold Gombrowicz's 1935 Polish play Iwona, księżniczka Burgunda (Yvonne, Burgundy Princess). Composed in 1972, it was Blacher's last opera.^[1] It premiered on 15 September 1973 at the Opernhaus Wuppertal,^[2] directed by Kurt Horres.^[3]

The story is set in the royal court of an imaginary country and combines elements of tragic farce, fantasy, and moral criticism. The title role is portrayed by a mute dancer.^[4] Pina Bausch danced the title role at the Wuppertal premiere, one of her last performances before establishing her dance company Tanztheater Wuppertal.^[1]

Gombrowicz's Iwona, księżniczka Burgunda was published in 1935 but did not receive its first performance until 1957 when it premiered in Warsaw. It has since served as the basis for four operas, of which Blacher's was the first. The others are the chamber opera Yvonne by Ulrich Wagner (b. 1967) with a German libretto, first performed in Krefeld in 1998; Iwona, księżniczka Burgunda by Zygmunt Krauze with a Polish libretto, first performed in Paris in 2004; and Yvonne, Princesse de Bourgogne by Philippe Boesmans with a French libretto, first performed at the Paris Opera in 2009.^[1]